# Thats what friends are for



## lesanne (May 1, 2008)

Hi .been touring Spain / Portugal last 5 weeks ,driving from Caen through france all down coast into portugal ,got as far as Nazare, was parked alongside a dozen other vans ,,no more than 50cm between each van ,wife woken by a clicking sound and the interior light comming on ,this was at 4.30am .for a split second she though that i had woken early and was sitting in the drivers seat and suddenly realized she was wrong ,,shouting at me that there was someone inside the van ,i woke and saw a silloette of someone in the cab area .instinct took over ..shouted, darted forward picked up spare crook lock but sadly was too slow ,,he had gone ..frenchman in next van came out .also German the otherside .who called the police .. police came but were not interested at all ,,He got inside the van with alarm on ,also seatbelts through armrest for extra security , must hsve used some device to open door ..door lock all mangled took 2 days to get alarm sorted . driver side seatdelt slashed ,nothing taken as we caught him/her early ,so we moved quickly to a campsite in Lisbon .on keeping intouch with Rugbyken and Jan who were in the Algarve telling them of our probs ..No.hesitation ,the drove saqme day upto Lisbon and spent 3 nights with us to make sure we were ok ..can.t thank them both enough ,on hindsight prob good job i was too slow for him/her as to slash the seatbelts that were through the armrests they must have had a dloody long blade ,,i dare to think about it ..


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Very bad news, but the good side is you are OK and two great members came to help.
But why did the alarm not go off :?: 
There is only one way to secure doors and it is with metal, either dedicated locks, or a chain, and not threaded through the arm rests because as you have found out, seat belts or ratchet straps can easily be cut with a Stanley knife. The usual entry, is to very quietly, remove the small drivers or passenger window rubber and gain silent entry, cutting ant straps.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

glad everything worked out lezanne

it must have been so frightening

As you all know we have a dog from hell, would still be in the police station if he had managed to get in our van

put it behind you, doesn't happen very often , glad you had friends to support

aldra


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## lesanne (May 1, 2008)

Hi Grath ,don.t know why alarm didn.t go off ,all was working ok before the breakin but took 2days to sort after, all linked to door lock as i.m told ,lock interior stripped alarm not working ,, seems stange to me though


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## lesanne (May 1, 2008)

Thanks Aldra .the German next to us reckond his dog hears everything ,even he said ..how wrong can you be


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

lesanne said:


> Hi Grath ,don.t know why alarm didn.t go off ,all was working ok before the breakin but took 2days to sort after, all linked to door lock as i.m told ,lock interior stripped alarm not working ,, seems stange to me though


Hi lesanne,
When I had an ordinary cab, with doors, I securely fitted a metal bracket onto each door, and a chain between them.
There was no way the doors could be opened from the outside.
It is also a deterrent during day time as it was clearly visible from the outside, BUT then the low life's, would probably force a window.
The good part was that during sleeping hours, I knew the doors were 100% secure. Some say a safety hazard, if a quick exit was required, but windows do open.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

problem is our dog would prob/ allow them in to spice up his life

Bad tempered s** :lol: 

fortunately away from the van he is any bodies 

Enjoy you trip and put it behind you however they got in it alerted you

aldra


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## lesanne (May 1, 2008)

Hi Grath ,now going to cost quite a bit to sort out New seatbelt with pre-tensioner off Ebay same as mine is £169.99 can.t source a secondhand one because of year 1996 also door lock .insurance claim??? what the next premium ..due soon?


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Make yourself a couple of L shape brackets with one hole in each side, remove one door arm rest bolt and slip it in there, refitting the bolt.
The two holes are, one for the arm rest bolt and the other for a padlock.
Then fit a chain between the doors via the two padlocks which are fitted at each end.
It is possible to fit the chain to the brackets and have one padlock in the middle, or not even a padlock, just a clip as it would be out of reach from outside the door.
Quite simple and inexpensive!


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Hadn't thought of that aspect lesanne

Hope it doesn't affect you insurance premium the seatbelts are enough

Maybe better in future not to put them on

We never do, but who know is what is best

The thieves obviously anticipated that

Maybe a tie in future, a ratchet cargo strap

Aldra


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

aldra said:


> Hadn't thought of that aspect lesanne
> 
> Maybe a tie in future, a ratchet cargo strap
> 
> Aldra


Aldra,no, no!
a ratchet strap is too easy to cut  
A chain if anything


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We don't use anything Garth other than the hellhound

But bow to your advise

Anything other than seatbelts

Too expensive to replace 

Aldra


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## lesanne (May 1, 2008)

Just looked at the Fiamma duo saftey bar is it any good?


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

aldra said:


> Garth
> 
> Aldra


garth  :?:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I meant you are right Garth

I was just thinking of an alternative to seatbelts

I've noticed lots of people on here use that method 

But obviously it's expensive if some Lowdown cuts through it

aldra


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Aldra, I am going to set your ToyBoy onto you  :lol: 
I am not garth, I am grath.
Specsavers for you my gal :lol:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

come on

A little concession to age Grath

Actually I like Garth sounds sort of manly and sexy  

just ignore me its an age thing

I'm just unrestrained :lol:  :lol: 

And as Barry knows totally unrestrainable

aldra


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Didn't Garth used to be a Sun newspaper cartoon with Lynn.
Lynn & Garth and it was always about sex :lol: 
Garth sexy, no no, you must be thinking of grath
Toyboy will get jealous if he reads this :lol:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

get back to Topic Grath

Fanning herself

aldra :lol:


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Glad you are safe, if not a little rattled.

Fortunately/unfortunately there is no simple way of tying the cab doors together on the Ford Transit.


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

We are in Lisboa camping tonight. I have a spare padlock and strenghten wire with anchors that could be made up to link between doors if you would like it for the rest of your adventure. We are on E57 reg no RXM...... and are leaving probably around 10am pm me or call in the morning

Hope it does not spoil your trip

Dick


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## davidmac (Jan 15, 2012)

Hi when looking for replacement seatbelts google securon to see what you need and then look at parts2go website under misc should be able to get one for £40 .Havent a clue how to post a link but hope this helps
Regards David


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## Spiritofherald (May 18, 2012)

My dogs sleep on the front seats at night. One is a particularly good guard dog, but even if she failed to react I'm sure their presence would put most thieves off, especially if there are other easier targets. Dogs don't provide a guarantee of course, but I’m also not prepared to spend time and effort in defending the van when sometimes all it does is drive the thief to try a different method of entry. I would prefer a forced door lock to a smashed window, skylight or crowbarred door etc.

I would be extremely p***ed off if someone did break in to my van and cost me my NCB, but I pay insurance to protect my belongings and if it costs me my NCB then so be it. I have twice had my cars broken into and on each occasion they were both repaired easily and cheaply by using ingenuity and second hand parts (damaged door lock on one and damaged steering lock on the other). I know I’m tempting fate here but in 39 years of motoring I have not yet had to claim for damage caused through theft. Mind you, the cars I’m talking about were both old low value cars so I didn’t mind the fact that I ended up with different keys for each lock.


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## gillianf (Mar 16, 2013)

That must have been a horrible experience - glad you're ok.

I'm a newbie to motor homing and before I ventured into France in January I was advised to get a Fiamma Duo-Safe Pro. It is an extendable heavy metal bar which fits onto and across both cab doors and gave me much piece of mind. There is no way anyone could access the vehicle. Hope that helps.


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

Getting back to the original break-in.... I am still curious as to why your alarm did not react.
Assuming it is of the 'Strikeback' type that you can set for interior movement but no ingress, is it possible that it was not set that night? What concerns me is that if it was set, was it somehow by-passed? These alarm systems are very expensive and if they do not always work, what is the point of having them.
The implication on this thread, is that they are so ineffective, some device that virtually welds the two front doors together is the only real solution to keeping intruders out.
If this had happened to me, I would have been traumatised as I am sure the op was and my total sympathy goes out to them. However, do I really want some Heath Robinson jury-rig as a solution or should my Eddie VanBitz 'Strikeback' have warned me of the intrusion?

Alan


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## tonka (Apr 24, 2006)

Lesanne..
Glad your all ok and sorry to hear about the hassle..

Can I ask a question....

What arrangement do you have on your front windows ??
Do you have the Remis type blinds or curtains on all windows ?
Or a curtain between the cab and the rear area..

Something that I have often thought about; If you have these blinds and cover all the windows, thieves must take a bigger gamble as to what is behind them.. I have seen older vans where they have the curtain between the cab and habitation area, that arrangement obviously lets anyone to view into the cab...


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## damar1 (Sep 29, 2012)

sorry to hear of you troubles ,we know how you feel we have had 2 brake ins ( one in Spain and one in the south of france ) as the police in spain said they are professional criminals. Like many of you we have locks on the inside of the doors, and it makes you feel a lot safer. The problem is the windows on m/hs has any one come up with a good answer to stop break ins this way, we have a small alarm on all of ours, but it did not stop them forcing the small toilet window, and putting a child in to open the the larger windows.


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## Jimbost (Aug 25, 2012)

Leasanne. Sorry to read of your horrible experience. Try to put it behind you as best as you can. 

Its a great feeling to know that as much as there are some scumbags that live on this planet there are also those that care and are willing to drop everything to help.


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## rugbyken (Jan 16, 2006)

I think the bit that upset jan & I most when we got to them was the attitude of the police that were called fair enough although they said that if your wildcamping that's the risk you take, a crime was still committed and should be regarded as such not just tough and walk away as the police did I'm this case.


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## damar1 (Sep 29, 2012)

rugbyken said:


> I think the bit that upset jan & I most when we got to them was the attitude of the police that were called fair enough although they said that if your wildcamping that's the risk you take, a crime was still committed and should be regarded as such not just tough and walk away as the police did I'm this case.


We know how you feel the french police were useless, they would not even see us until the next day. Then it was fill that form in, not interested in looking at the damage or anything. i hope our police treat people from abroad better they treated us.


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## tessajoe (Sep 23, 2008)

for peace of mind,i always sleep with a fog horn by my side.
if you unsure of noises in the night just set it off,best be safe than sorry.
and you get four foghorns.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Supporters-...O3RS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1363531856&sr=8-3


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

rosalan said:


> Getting back to the original break-in.... I am still curious as to why your alarm did not react.
> Assuming it is of the 'Strikeback' type that you can set for interior movement but no ingress, is it possible that it was not set that night? What concerns me is that if it was set, was it somehow by-passed? These alarm systems are very expensive and if they do not always work, what is the point of having them.
> The implication on this thread, is that they are so ineffective, some device that virtually welds the two front doors together is the only real solution to keeping intruders out.
> If this had happened to me, I would have been traumatised as I am sure the op was and my total sympathy goes out to them. However, do I really want some Heath Robinson jury-rig as a solution or should my Eddie VanBitz 'Strikeback' have warned me of the intrusion?
> ...


Like Alan I'm concerned about the alarm not working , how did the thief bypass it? Our alarm was quite costly so was it a waste of money?

8O


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## cheshiregordon (Sep 24, 2011)

it may be something that you'll never know but was there a difference in the design of the vans parked that made him choose your over the others? eg were the others of the A class design and yours coach built etc.


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## damar1 (Sep 29, 2012)

I think we have to remember what the Spanish police told us, they are professionals, and can over come all sorts of things. When we got back to our van after one of our robberys the alarm had reset, we do not know wether it went of and nobody heard it, or wether they had a way of overriding it, but our alarm is now 9 years old.


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

greygit said:


> rosalan said:
> 
> 
> > Getting back to the original break-in.... I am still curious as to why your alarm did not react.
> ...


Perhaps it was an alarm that is activated by the central locking e.g. not a strikeback.
If the door lock was damaged by a tool of some sort then the central locking could be operated thus disabling the alarm. This is not possible with a strikeback as it is operated by a separate fob and would possibly still gone off when the cab door was opened???


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## peaky (Jul 15, 2009)

on my next shopping list im adding heosafe van door locks for inside make me feel a bit safer ??


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Flip! Everyones worst nightmare. It never ceases to amaze me even though it doesnt happen very often why on earth these scrotes would break into an occupied van when there is a good chance they will wake the occupants and even come face to face with Aldra's Shadow (I would pay good money to see the outcome of that one!).

I hope it doesnt put you off and you can carry on and put it down to bad luck. The laws of averages would dictate that its unlikely to happen and very unlikely to happen twice.

When we were attacked by the Stellplatz killer in the Black Forest I bought one of those massive hard German Black Sausages to batter the next loon that tried to get into the van. Dont know what happened to it though. Its probably in the garage festering.


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## rugbyken (Jan 16, 2006)

les did say of the 10 vans parked in a line his although in the center was probably the oldest ie only he and one other of the mark 2 type ducato, he also thought that the curtains dropped straight down at the back of the cab alowing the scumbag to see the seatbelt precaution


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## lesanne (May 1, 2008)

Hi ,had my alarm looked at today ,and is linked to the door locks ,its not central locking ,as i said it took a couple of days to sort it after break in inside of door lock stripped curtains actually went around the cab so no visible signs of seatbelts through armrests,now getting all sorted ,what i can,t still understand is why they broke in to a RHD van through the drivers door ,having to negotiate seat + steering wheel,


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Dont know if this would work for most vans but our Kontiki is a 1996 with fixed front seats, front dinette and rear lounge. At bed time the dinette table goes between the two front seats and there is often quite a lot of stuff such as guitars, dinghys etc piled in the front effectively making a pretty good obstical course for anyone daft enough to gain entry in the front. I cannot believe (never say never) that anyone could get through that lot without waking us up.


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## mike800966 (May 1, 2005)

*Van Door Security*

Sorry to hear of your frightening experience.

I made up a length of plastic sheathed steel wire with a carabiner type combination lock to loop over the horn button and across through he arm rests on the doors. Bought the bits in Portugal and its travelled all over with us

Not had a problem so far but it maybe because its visible and they can see its slashproof also by including the horn button even a crim can understand it will sound the horn! Plus the alarm and tracker of course.

Mike


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## lesanne (May 1, 2008)

Hi, now had Hook And Eyes fitted to cab doors ,no way entry from exterior, peace of mind now ..Les


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## metblue (Oct 9, 2006)

*break in*

Sorry to hear about your experience, To prevent this from happening I go to my local ship chandlers. I purchased a 3.7 metre length of 5mm dia plastic covered cable c/w an eyelet at either end, join both ends with a 2" brass padlock, doors cannot be pulled open without tearing off the armrests.
Cost of cable £25 and padlock £3 cheaper than a Fiamma cab bar and a dam site safer too.(coils up for easy storing too)
Btw we have a swift kontiki but this length of cable will fit all Ducato's from 2006 onwards.


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