Keithl Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Help please. I have just been out to my Motorhome parked on my own front drive and found some thieving b**tard has stolen my left hand rear light and very kindly left me a smashed one carefully refitted in it's place. And before anyone asks No it is not my original smashed, I can tell the difference! The light is a Hella similar to this one in Towsure but obviously with a round reflector not a triangular. Please does anybody know the best place to obtain a replacement and then has anybody got tips for preventing a recurrence? At this moment in time I am enraged and cannot believe another MH owner has the B*lls to do such a despicable act. And YES it is a MH owner as the broken light has a round reflector! How low can people get? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 What from where and when keith? C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 Sorry Clive, I hit Tab to move from title to body of message and it posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Anyone got a 2004 Auto-Trail Cheyenne on a Merc 313 living around or near you Keith, Just wondering!! especially if their rear lights look as if they've been recently changed.Or any Auto-Trail.DaveCan you back it up to your house or fence perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 Hi Dave, Unfortunately they're Hella Caraluna rear lights and are used on a lot of other MH's as well. I've looked round the area but not seen any others with the same. The problem is we live on a main road so any passer by would have seen it parked on the drive. The best price I've found so far is £50 + £5 delivery at Caravan-Components, does anyone know of anywhere better please? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 had something worse years ago...someone stole the 4 square headlighs and grill from our VW camper during the night. the worse think was our neighbour admitted seeing them do it! over £1200 (insurance job) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Try Hella themselves. Have found them very obliging in the past with my Hymer rear lamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhorsf Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Probably some pikey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Our motorhome is parked on our drive and apart from its own alarm system we have the area covered by a security light. The one we have has an additional box that plugs into any mains socket in the house. When anyone comes within the range of the sensor it sounds a small alarm noise inside the house. We have ours on a timer to prevent it keep going off during the day. It was not much more expensive than a traditional security light making for a cheap but effective system. We bought ours from either B&Q or Homebase I can't remember which. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 In future can you back it up close to a wall or garage door so that no-one can get round the back ? It might put them off if it's a bit more difficult to get access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I thought 50 quid was a bit steep but having looked around,some are asking £65+!!.. When you do get it replaced,could you replace the screws with some fasteners with anti-tamper heads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Thanks for all the comments. Unfortunately I can't get it close enough to the garage doors to stop anyone unscrewing the lights as it has a towbar protruding 5 or 6" from the back and there are obstructions on the garage wall as well. My plan is to remove the rubber 'Rawl-nut' fixings from the body and then use the original screws with large washers and Nyloc nuts on the back as I can reach 3 of the 4 fixings through the spare wheel access. It might then be a 2 person job to change a light bulb but how often do they fail! If anyone tries to unscrew the light then all will happen is the screw and Nyloc nut will go round and round and never come out! Success!!! Thanks again for the comments, it helped me enormously just venting my anger. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Keithl - 2011-01-31 5:46 PM ... It might then be a 2 person job to change a light bulb but how often do they fail! Sod's Law says that they'll fail as soon as you've implemented your thief-proofing ploy. I had a rear stop-light bulb fail between my home and Portsmouth ferry-port. I know it was OK when we left home because I always check just before we go abroad. Another motorcaravanner warned me of the fault as we were waiting in the queue to board the ferry and I replaced the bulb as soon as we got on board. Fortunately Brittany Ferries hadn't cuddled up an HGV 10mm from the Hobby's rear bumper (as they so love to do!) so replacement only took 3 or 4 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJP Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Keithl - 2011-01-31 5:46 PM If anyone tries to unscrew the light then all will happen is the screw and Nyloc nut will go round and round and never come out! Success!!! Keith. Then they smash it in sheer frustration :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manu Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Hi Keith,sorry its late, away at the mo...you assisted me greatly with probs on the Autotrail, have you tried O'learys or Ebay. Maybe you are sorted now, how annoying, good luck my friend ! Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryW Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Derek Uzzell - 2011-01-31 6:49 PMKeithl - 2011-01-31 5:46 PM.I had a rear stop-light bulb fail between my home and Portsmouth ferry-port. I know it was OK when we left home because I always check just before we go abroad. Another motorcaravanner warned me of the fault as we were waiting in the queue to board the ferry and I replaced the bulb as soon as we got on board. Fortunately Brittany Ferries hadn't cuddled up an HGV 10mm from the Hobby's rear bumper (as they so love to do!) so replacement only took 3 or 4 minutes. Tell me about it. We arrived at Dover to find one rear light out and a quick change of bulb didn't solve the problem. Pulled into a French site early next day to investigate. First replaced blown fuse and that promptly blew as well. Started to look for short with spare bulb and long wire (now I always travel with a meter). After half a day discovered that the habitation wiring had been revered at build and no longer agreed with the Fiat handbook. In fact the short was on the other site to the failed rear light and was caused by the side/rear light high up on the other side that had been bashed by a branch. Two lessons, one always carry a meter and never trust a handbook wiring diagram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Manu - 2011-02-03 9:59 AM Hi Keith,sorry its late, away at the mo...you assisted me greatly with probs on the Autotrail, have you tried O'learys or Ebay. Maybe you are sorted now, how annoying, good luck my friend ! Phil Thanks Phil, I did try both but they were more expensive than caravan components in Hull. I phoned to check that C C had the light in stock and was assured that if it was on the website then it was in stock so went ahead and ordered online. The light arrived within 48 hours of ordering and was very well packaged so I would thoroughly recommend C C if anyone else needs spares. Caravan Components Keith. And once again thanks to all for your comments, it helped in my hour of need. All I've got to do now is fit it before we go away in a few days time :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Just in case we have Video/camera/pir light to the front of our property. Very clear image, and not to expensive £120 ish from memory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlowie Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Keithl - 2011-01-30 5:11 PM At this moment in time I am enraged and cannot believe another MH owner has the B*lls to do such a despicable act. And YES it is a MH owner as the broken light has a round reflector! How low can people get? Keith. Probably was a pikey. If it was he wouldn't be bothered if it was a round or triangular reflector, as long as it fitted his caravan >:-( Thieves are not intelligent. Cunning, yes; intelligent, no. Incidentally, I once saw a brand new Chausson m/h fitted with Caralunas with triangular reflectors on a site on Exmoor 8-) I backed my 'van into a lamp-post in Southampton at the end of last year, and smashed my offside rear light to pieces, luckily Towsure had one, but only the triangular version. I p/exed the 'van shortly afterwards, I wonder if it's still on there (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 oldlowie - 2011-02-03 7:23 PM Probably was a pikey. If it was he wouldn't be bothered if it was a round or triangular reflector, as long as it fitted his caravan >:-( Thieves are not intelligent. Cunning, yes; intelligent, no. (?) But, as I said the smashed light they so carefully tried to refit had a round reflector hence my assumption it had come off another MH. Why steal one with a round reflector and replace with a broken one with a round reflector if it wasn't for a MH? It would probably have been far easier to find a caravan if that is what they had wanted one for. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlowie Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Keithl - 2011-02-03 7:40 PM But, as I said the smashed light they so carefully tried to refit had a round reflector hence my assumption it had come off another MH. Why steal one with a round reflector and replace with a broken one with a round reflector if it wasn't for a MH? Keith. Oooops! Must have been a pikey with a motorhome then *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.