How to secure bus for parking in storage yard?

[belfert]

I'm seriously considering selling my house and moving to a place where I can build a woodshop and a bus garage.  The realtor comes tomorrow to give me a valuation estimate.

I believe the house would sell better without my bus parked in the backyard so I plan to move it to a storage yard before I list the house.  Any opinions on what I should do about security before moving the bus out to a storage lot?  My bay doors don't have any locks and neither does the main door.  I plan to secure the main door from the inside and then climb out a window.  It would be hard for anyone to get in without a tall ladder.

Brian Elfert

[H3Jim]

I'd probably look more at the storage yard itself, how secure is it, what kind of neighborhood is it?  Are tehre otehr similar vehicle there.  HOw attractive is your bus to someone who is looking to do mischief.  Almost no matter what you do, a determined person can break in, just do damage etc. 

I might also look at securing your fuel tank if its not already.  From fuel theft, or someone adding something.

Engine compartment too.

HOw about your neighbors house that complained.

[skihor]

On the other hand, the bus might be a conversation starter...  A chance to show off your work which in turn might convey a sense of pride in your house. Customer rapport, sense of trust etc...

Don & Sheila

[belfert]

I might also look at securing your fuel tank if its not already.  From fuel theft, or someone adding something.

Engine compartment too.

Both the fuel tank and the engine compartment do have locks.  I don't have keys for the fuel doors so I would need to order new locks.

The storage yard I am looking at using has 100s of RVs and they claim to have laser security, whatever that is.  Not sure yet if they have a full time caretaker or not.  

HOw about your neighbors house that complained.

Not sure what you are talking about here.  Nobody has complained about storage of my bus in my backyard that I know of.  Even if they did, it is perfectly legal under city code.  Both of my immediate neighbors have stored vehicles that violate city code, but I'm not going to complain.  The one neighbor lodged a complaint with the city 6 years ago about my building a new house, but I've not heard anything from her since.  The new house I built is kept up much nicer than the old owner with the old house.

The reason I want to move is so I can build a garage for my bus and build a woodshop.  My housing costs and total costs will go down, even with higher commuting costs.  (I figured $4/gallon.)

Brian elfert

[belfert]

On the other hand, the bus might be a conversation starter...  A chance to show off your work which in turn might convey a sense of pride in your house. Customer rapport, sense of trust etc...

I'm not sure how this would help.  Home showings are generally done by the realtor with the owner gone.

I would not have a problem leaving the bus there if it had a nice paint job, but it has a mishmash of colors from the panels used to cover the windows.  Also, if I move the bus, it will make the backyard look a lot bigger.  The bus blocks most of the view of the backyard.

Brian Elfert

[buswarrior]

Hello Brian

Right on! Get that bus out of there!

If the poplulation liked buses, everyone would have one, and we'd be priced out of the market!

Brian, you probably want to think about some permanent locking solutions and do this job once. You really want to be going down the road with the vehicle and your stuff secure against theft or mischief.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[bobofthenorth]

Locks will ultimately only keep the honest people out.  If there is a modicum of security at the yard and there are other coaches that look better than yours then I wouldn't worry too much.  I also wouldn't leave my digital camera or laptop computer loose in one of the bays.  Thieves are opportunists - how likely are they to steal your shower stall?

[belfert]

Brian, you probably want to think about some permanent locking solutions and do this job once. You really want to be going down the road with the vehicle and your stuff secure against theft or mischief.

I had air locks on the doors, but I removed them as they were a pain in the rear.  They defaulted to closed and required both air and electric to open .

Someday I will get new door handles from MCI that have locks in them.  I really don't want to spend the money right now if I don't have to.  Also, I really, really don't want to try to replace five door locks in 15 degree weather.  I suppose if I remove everything from the bays including the inverter I would be okay.

Brian Elfert

[jjrbus]

 In general, I do not lock my bay, engin, fuel doors. I would rather lose what is in there than have to repair the damage of someone breaking in. I do lock the entrance door, just to keep the honest people out. The entrance door lock would break eaisely if forced. After being foiled by a strong lock and  ruining a door a determined thief would break a window to gain entrance. This is after seeing what happened to a bus stored in Miami.

[kyle4501]

A thief doesn't care how much they damage getting to the stuff they want to steal, so I wouldn't worry too much about the locks as a thief will just tear-up the body & that will cost more to fix. Leave the good stuff hidden at home & sleep well with your bus in storage.

A video camera would be my choice over someone at the lot 24-7 as a camera never sleeps.

Good luck with your dream palace 

[belfert]

The idea of not locking is a good one.  Right now, I don't have anything inside the bus that someone could take unless they want a large fridge or a sofa and good luck getting the fridge out.  I could bolt the fridge down like it is supposed to be I guess.  Everything loose in the bays can be stored elsewhere and I could even remove the inverter I guess.

I don't lock my enclosed cargo trailer at home unless I have something really valuable in there.  If the trailer is empty I leave it unlocked so someone doesn't break in thinking I have tools in there or something.

Brian Elfert