Fuel Theives

[superpickle]

Im sorry, but I would have found it HIGHLY suspicous to see my Fuel door and cap open.. 
Sherlock Holms time for sure..

I dont have a Fuel gauge and the neck on my Fill spout is so long and it curves, you cant get a stick in there to check ?
Do most tanks have a place/cover, you can put a guage in ?
How do you know What type to get ?
Can I get a Troll to live in the tank and send me Emails ?
Or, would I need an Diesel Gremlin   
I suppose I could cut a hole in the floor over tha tank and ask my Wife to dangle her tootsies in it, But I KNOW, shed complain 


Paul.....

[Dallas]

Paul,
I use a piece of Romex about 4' long painte flat black. It follows the bend nicely, and the fuel shows up on the black paint quite well.

Dallas

Im sorry, but I would have found it HIGHLY suspicous to see my Fuel door and cap open.. 
Sherlock Holms time for sure..

I dont have a Fuel gauge and the neck on my Fill spout is so long and it curves, you cant get a stick in there to check ?
Do most tanks have a place/cover, you can put a guage in ?
How do you know What type to get ?
Can I get a Troll to live in the tank and send me Emails ?
Or, would I need an Diesel Gremlin   
I suppose I could cut a hole in the floor over tha tank and ask my Wife to dangle her tootsies in it, But I KNOW, shed complain 


Paul.....

[NewbeeMC9]

Reminds me of the old story about the fuel thief that got a mouth full of black water after going to the WRONG tank. Don't know how that is possible but makes a good story. Today's courts would probably go after you for setting up the thief to hurt himself.

Makes the bus run like $**t too

[jjrbus]

 I'm very cynical, when I seen that door open I would have known some evildoer lurked around! Just becuse I am paranoid does not mean they are not after me! My first reaction is the truck parked there would not have stole the fuel, nobody would be that stupid!! But then again I've seen the worlds dumbest crooks on video.
As I look over the fuel security options, I'm at a loss. When I park my bus somewhere, I generally do not lock the bay doors. I would rather have what is inside stolen than have a door destroyed. This is only when sitting somewhere, not when traveling. The entrance door has a weak lock for when I leave bus. If someone went after it with a bar of any kind it would snap without damageing door. If they are that determined they are getting in anyhow. The inside lock, for when I am in bus is substantial and backed up by traumatized combat veteran with large ?.
  The MCI5C fuel door is thin stainless steel. Any lock mounted to it would be easily defeated. The fuel would be gone and the door destroyed.  The fill cap is not lock ready. There must be an easy way to do this. Any suggestions? Or am I better off just loseing the fuel?

[superpickle]

LOL  Tripple Dittos on the Traumatized Combat Vet LOL  LOL 
A couple of Large Dogs helps as well.. 
That way I dont need to take my 50 Cal and Bazooka on vacation.. 
If I may Ax, When and Where did you get your "trauma" ?
E 3 Paul, D co/ 1st Batt/ 22nd Brg/ 4th Inf Div.  RVN 68/69... 

I'm very cynical, when I seen that door open I would have known some evildoer lurked around! Just becuse I am paranoid does not mean they are not after me! My first reaction is the truck parked there would not have stole the fuel, nobody would be that stupid!! But then again I've seen the worlds dumbest crooks on video.
As I look over the fuel security options, I'm at a loss. When I park my bus somewhere, I generally do not lock the bay doors. I would rather have what is inside stolen than have a door destroyed. This is only when sitting somewhere, not when traveling. The entrance door has a weak lock for when I leave bus. If someone went after it with a bar of any kind it would snap without damageing door. If they are that determined they are getting in anyhow. The inside lock, for when I am in bus is substantial and backed up by traumatized combat veteran with large ?.
  The MCI5C fuel door is thin stainless steel. Any lock mounted to it would be easily defeated. The fuel would be gone and the door destroyed.  The fill cap is not lock ready. There must be an easy way to do this. Any suggestions? Or am I better off just loseing the fuel?

[belfert]

As far as storage goes, I have my bus in a large storage lot right now.  I cleaned everything not bolted down out of my storage bays.    I don't have a way to lock my luggage bays right now, but I figured leaving them unlocked would stop damage to the doors.  I hope my fuel is still there.

I'm thinking I should go up there next Saturday, start the thing up and take it for a drive.

[jjrbus]

 I went on an extended camping trip in the beautiful sub tropical Paradise of Viet Nam in 1967. I decided to spend my time helping the people learn about democracy with Hotel Co. 2nd Batt 3rd Marines.
I spent  the Lunar New Year (TET) of 1968 outside the charming city of Hue. Then for the remainder of TET I decided to camp and hike in the gorgeous mountains surrounding  Khe Sanh. I spent much time there interacting with the people of N Viet Nam, exercising my bowels and learning to pray.
My tour ended during TET, my employer offered me many incentives to stay. But I was sick of people trying to kill me.

[Gary '79 5C]

Jjrbus,
Thanks for your service. I also have a 5C and I will check if the fuel flap is close enough to the bay so as a "rod" could be extended thru the bulkhead, from just above the service disconnect, thru to the filler cap.
I lock the baggage bays on a trip, but never thought of the fuel thief...

Take care,

Gary

[HighTechRedneck]

The MCI5C fuel door is thin stainless steel. Any lock mounted to it would be easily defeated. The fuel would be gone and the door destroyed.  The fill cap is not lock ready. There must be an easy way to do this. Any suggestions? Or am I better off just loseing the fuel?

It is a tough call.  Thieves once did a thousand dollars damage to the door of my pickup to get at my cheap stereo.  But here are couple thoughts.

• Idea #1 - For stopping the theft - It wouldn't stop them from putting scratches around your fuel door, but they wouldn't get in or bend anything.  Reinforce the back of the fuel door and the surrounding panel out to 4-6 inches with very heavy gauge steel and install a serious hardened steel key lock.
• Idea #2 - Cheap lock that would break before damage to the door or surrounding metal.  This would be just to keep kids and other curious people out.  Then install an alarm system on it tied in to a VERY loud screeching alarm speaker inside the panel.  Perhaps also tie it in to the bus horn as well.  The screecher will make it very hard for them to stay there.  The horns will draw attention they don't want.  Put a decal informing them that the fuel door and bus is protected by an alarm system (in English and Spanish) just above the fuel door.

[TomCat]

Although I do have a spiral wire in my fuel neck to prevent siphoning fuel, I'm still concerned with an attempt at theft, or perhaps tampering.
While at the local hardware today, I saw just the lock I needed for my fuel door. Cost? $5.00

Jay
87 SaftLiner

[TomC]

Before I had my big sleeper on my truck, I used to check into Motels nearly every night on the road.  One time, I was in the Motel pool with the kid of the truck driver playing games while the father syphoned a full 150 gal tank dry on the truck.  If you see a truck with a 4 inch or so hose on it, look out, it may be used for obtaining fuel!  Good Luck, TomC

[NJT 5573]

These guys have a snap in anti siphon. They want your fill neck ID and length. Nothing broken and still have your fuel. fueltankaccessories.com


http://fueltankaccessories.com/

Added URL, Richard

[buddydawg]

That looks like a nifty invention.  Any idea on how much one cost?  I did not see any prices listed, only an inquiry.

[jjrbus]

Seems like a really good idea, but we have no filler neck on MCI's. How would that affect it?
                                     Jim

[RJ]

Jim -

If you read the "Request Pricing" page of their website, it says to send them the measurement in inches of the inside diameter of the filler neck, and also it's length.  It also asks for your vehicle's make, model and year, be it a truck or bus.  From that info, it appears that they will either say "yay" or "nay" on availability.

FWIW & HTH. . .