Awning theft / stolen

[Blue796]

Hello, looking for some thoughts and solutions on the following.

I bought and had installed a Thule 4200 awning onto my 6.1 SWB, less than one month later someone stole it in the night by simply unscrewing 4 screws holding it in.

I hadnt appreciated that someone would want to steal an awning and was shocked to see that it was 4 miserable screws holding it in, you would think for the price of these awnings that the likes of Thule would have security of some description to make them less easy to steal.

Have other awning owners had similar experiences or any ideas on how to secure these items from theft when attached to the vehicle.

I appreciate I could take it off and store it when not in use but im keen to hear other owners thoughts.

Thanks

B

 

[Wills]

Mine’s fixed with ordinary torx bolts but you could use security headed bolts. Security Screws - Westfield Fasteners Ltd

 

[Bargy62]

I don't know how the awning fixes to the brackets but if it uses nuts somewhere shear nuts are your best bet for security any security bolts you can get the bits to undo them on ebay so can a thief
Just bear in mind shear nuts shear at a certain torque so you may want to add a locking nut to be on the safe side

 

[Bargy62]

@Blue796 how exactly did they remove it from bracket or bracfrom as well from roof?

 

[Blue796]

@Blue796 how exactly did they remove it from bracket or bracfrom as well from roof?

The bracket is still there as you can see in the photo, the 2 holes at the bottom of it had spline head screws/bolts holding the awning in place. Obviously a spline bit is easy enough to obtain and then unscrew the bolts

 

[Blue796]

I don't know how the awning fixes to the brackets but if it uses nuts somewhere shear nuts are your best bet for security any security bolts you can get the bits to undo them on ebay so can a thief
Just bear in mind shear nuts shear at a certain torque so you may want to add a locking nut to be on the safe side

Is there a link to the security locking nuts that you suggest?

 

[Bargy62]

Is there a link to the security locking nuts that you suggest?

@Blue have a look at the link @Wills put up it the stainless shear nuts the head snaps off and and leaves a cone shaped nut

 

[sorcos]

Amazon.co.uk : Anti-theft Security Nut Set

 

[roadtripper]

If I got those security nuts I'd be tempted to get a couple of different patterns and mix them up...

 

[Bargy62]

Their no good a pair of long nose pliers in the holes will undo them or a rounded nut removal socket will get it off

 

[Lubrown]

Their no good a pair of long nose pliers in the holes will undo them or a rounded nut removal socket will get it off

It’s all relative. Sure, if they are 100% committed to having your awning then even if you welded it to the roof the little swines would use a Sthil saw they acquired elsewhere and chop around your roof. You will never stop a targeted determined theft of something like that.

But, if it’s a lazy oik just wandering round looking for easy pickings then they might not have packed a full tool kit so long nose pliers might be off the menu. You could even fill those holes with epoxy to slow them down if they did bring pliers. Likelihood is they’d see it’s not going to be as easy as four plain screws and move a few streets to the next van.