My welding job was all finished up today, so I rushed over to buy some fuel before the price went up again. I just drove by car down and up California and did not see any diesel for less than $4.00. The one by my house here must be one of the last around since they are selling it at $3.99. Well 75 gallons and $300. makes me think that since I am using unprotected parking, it's like leaving jewelry in the street, so I have been thinking of adding a lock to the fuel tank. The easiest would be to use a cam lock, but I was wondering if anyone had any other ways they handle it.
Lin,
The way they accomplished it on my Custom Coach conversion is to install a lock that takes the same Ford key as the entry door and all the baggage doors. I'm not a lock expert; all I can tell you is that there is a square bolt, measuring about 1/4 ", or maybe 5/16" on each door. The local charter company I drove for years ago took the same approach for the entry doors on their buses.
Dennis
The problem with a camlock on the fuel door is that most fuel thieves carry a pry bar and can quickly overcome a small lock and do a lot of body panel damage in the process. I suppose a person could create a fuel door and frame around it out of heavy steel, but I'm not sure that could be done in a way that would look nice. Maybe something could be built of heavy steel that would go behind the existing fuel door. Have locks on the heavy inner door. Don't know that it would work. Just thinking out loud.
just put a sign above the door that says "Waste Water Storage"
Yes, the pry bar scenario is one of the reasons I was looking for something other than the cam lock. I like the "waste water" idea, but have my doubts if it would work. Maybe a lock and a sewage sign would help each other.
Some thing else you might think about is an electric fence charger connected to the body. I had a slightly modified version of one on my old Diamond Reo. It had a fiber glass hood so I put the keyed shutoff switch under a fender. I guess you could rig up a wireless switch like a keyless entry system to turn it on & off.
It works REALLY well..... DAMHIK! :-[ :-[ :-[
TOM
I put a lock on my fuel when the price was over $2 but I know they can break in
I guess I just want to know when they do so I can put in more fuel
Who wants to run out of fuel on the road
Just my way
Melbo
At least on my bus a fuel fill door lock would be a moot point since my fuel tank hangs under the bus open to the road, making it easy for anyone just to crawl under and open the drain plug. Good Luck, TomC
I'm not going to lock the fuel door. Instead, I'll have a bar (pipe) extend across the filler cap. It'll seat on the right (if you're facing the fuel door) on a carriage bolt with a nut holding the bolt in place. The other end will be in the battery compartment and will (somehow) be locked in place. Perhaps I'll extend it into the first bay. That door will be a lot easier to secure than the battery compartment. I don't know that I've explained it well, but just think of a bar extending across the fuel filler cap. At least if a thief goes to the trouble to cut through that, it'll be hidden damage on a scrap piece of pipe!
David
Quote from: DavidInWilmNC on March 19, 2008, 06:32:24 AM
I'm not going to lock the fuel door. Instead, I'll have a bar (pipe) extend across the filler cap. It'll seat on the right (if you're facing the fuel door) on a carriage bolt with a nut holding the bolt in place. The other end will be in the battery compartment and will (somehow) be locked in place. Perhaps I'll extend it into the first bay. That door will be a lot easier to secure than the battery compartment. I don't know that I've explained it well, but just think of a bar extending across the fuel filler cap. At least if a thief goes to the trouble to cut through that, it'll be hidden damage on a scrap piece of pipe!
David
Excellent idea, kind of like the drawer lock bar on a tool chest.
The fuel cap on my Eagle is a locking cap. It has a lever that is lifted and turned to release the cap from the fill tube. With the lock engage the lever cannot be turned.
Tom Hamrick
http://fueltankaccessories.com/ (http://fueltankaccessories.com/)
Check out the products from these guys. They have some interesting anti-siphon products.
Quote from: tomhamrick on March 19, 2008, 08:59:12 AM
The fuel cap on my Eagle is a locking cap. It has a lever that is lifted and turned to release the cap from the fill tube. With the lock engage the lever cannot be turned.
Tom Hamrick
I always felt secure with a locking cap on my pickup. But then one time my tow bar broke and I ended up leaving my pickup in the general parking lot of a campground overnight. The next morning when I went to get my truck, it was down by half a tank. I looked and the gas cap was in place but had gouge marks on it and the key slot was messed up a little.
That's why I like David's locking bar approach. Done with a heavy steel bar or pipe, it could take some major tools to defeat it. Of course, they still might mess up the body panel with the opening trying to use a pry bar on it.
"waste water drain/storage" sign is near genius idea. It will at very little cost and effort eliminate all but knowledgeable thieves.
Quote from: Dallas on March 18, 2008, 06:27:30 PM
just put a sign above the door that says "Waste Water Storage"
I LOVE IT!..... ;D ;D ;D
Nick-
Actually crooks aren't that dumb and my coach has a large, convenient drain plug hex nut right in the center bottom of the 100 gallon (US) diesel tank. All they would have to do is provide some sort of drain pan and they could get it all over night. Hummm.....maybe I better check my fuel level and.......AUUGHHHHHH! Just kidding. :) :) :)
Having worked in a high-risk job in a high-crime area, I would say just the opposite... Most crooks do what they do because they are not smart enough to do much else.
Many years ago I had a 1962 Chevrolet 1 ton with a really nice Redwood flatbed mounted on it.
In one short period of time, about 3 weeks, I lost nearly 125 gallons of fuel.
My fix for this was to mount a school bus tank on the right side that held nothing but water with about a gallon of gas mixed in. My second change was to put a factory aux tank behind the rear axle with the fuel inlet at the back of the truck instead of the side, like the factory did.
My last modification was to block off the incab fuel tank, which is what they always stole from, and proceeded to pee in that tank every chance I got. I also added a few doggy landmines from our local black and tan with a rich diet.
Funny thing, I never, ever had a problem with theft after the next week.
I'm not a big one for using locks to keep outlaws out, I would rather use behavior modification. It works much better and the word gets around much faster.
there was a time that I could get the gas out of my bosses fuel tank even though he had a locking cap, a spring, (remember those), and an alarm system. I could drain his tank in less than 20 minutes.
The problem with locks and springs and other such stuff is that they are just too easy to get into.
I just built a set of locks for Mike Hill on a Flex that actually are nothing more than a piece of 1 1/2" bar stock with a 1" 90° angle turned into them.
I then cut little holes to fit the rub rail and slid them in from the interstice between the bays. When any one bay is closed and locked, no other bay will open. this continues all the way along to the battery bay and the fuel tank.
To open the bays, open one bay door, slide the metal piece back and the next will open.
Dallas
Quote from: Dallas on March 20, 2008, 03:03:20 PM
Many years ago I had a 1962 Chevrolet 1 ton with a really nice Redwood flatbed mounted on it.
In one short period of time, about 3 weeks, I lost nearly 125 gallons of fuel.
My fix for this was to mount a school bus tank on the right side that held nothing but water with about a gallon of gas mixed in. My second change was to put a factory aux tank behind the rear axle with the fuel inlet at the back of the truck instead of the side, like the factory did.
Dallas
I had a similar problem years ago. I added an aux tank for myself and filled the main tank with kerosene with just enough gas to smell OK. I hope they had one hell of a time keeping their car running. Never had another problem.
Len
Quote from: HB of CJ on March 20, 2008, 01:39:16 PM
Actually crooks aren't that dumb
You really need to watch some of the Cop shows on TV!!!!!
Quote from: jjrbus on March 21, 2008, 07:32:42 AM
Quote from: HB of CJ on March 20, 2008, 01:39:16 PM
Actually crooks aren't that dumb
You really need to watch some of the Cop shows on TV!!!!!
Some are, some aren't. You have to remember, the TV shows pick the idiots because they are more entertaining.
As for the drain plug. It might be worth seeing if there are any replacement plugs available that require a special tool to remove. Of course depending on the tenacity of the crook, they can get your fuel one way or another. If the setting is such that they aren't worried about a little noise, they could even make their own drain opening in your tank.
With my RTS, it airs down within 24 hours. Once down, there is no way they could get at it from underneath.
There is very little that could be done to stop a truly determined, and reasonable intelligent thief. The hope is to make it more worthwhile to move onto the next vehicle. I am trying a simple lock system that took only a few minutes to install and cost about $2.00 not including the lock. Since the gas cover is hinged, I removed one of the corner bolts, inserted one end of a 7 inch piece of small chain. I tightened it down positioning the chain so a link folded over the bolt head, removed and did the same thing to the bottom bolt with about a 3 inch length of chain. Now I take the upper chain, wrap it around the fork on the fuel cap and lock it to the bottom one. Next, I will have to find a sewage sign to cover MCI's built in plaque the announces capacity and what fuel to use. I will pretend that this will help, and add it to the long list of other things I am in denial about.