Thievery sucks… Having anything that you’ve worked hard for stolen is a horrible experience.
Don’t be this guy… A simple hack saw or bolt cutters will get through this lock in nothing flat, and your rig’s only ride home will be well on its way to some chop shop. |
But having some things stolen can be worse than others. Example – you tow your rig half way across the country to spend a week off-road on some really great trails. You park your trailer in a well-lit parking lot and you spend your week on some really great trails. When play time is over and you head back to pick up your trusty trailer, it’s gone. Some jerk has driven off with your trailer and it’s probably on its way to Mexico. Yeah, life doesn’t get much worse at this point. Simply placing your $10 lock on the trailer hitch won’t do. A would-be thief will get past that in less than 2 minutes with a set of bolt cutters, and then your trailer is gone.
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Valley Industries – makers of specialized towing equipment – knows this all too well, and has come up with a simple, low-cost solution to your trailer theft woes. Not unlike the Denver Boot, the Valley Tire Lock is a simple clamping device that fixes to your trailer wheel and prevents it from being towed away (also equally good for parking your trailer on an incline, as it will act like a wheel chock too). Since the Valley Wheel Lock has four adjustable positions and can fit wheels up to 15” in diameter, it works great for small RV’s, boat trailers, flat-bed trailers, goose-neck trailers, ATV’s and more. The Valley Tire Lock has a hardened cylinder lock, which is recessed into the handle for even greater security and its arms are enveloped with heavy-duty plastic covers to protect your trailer rims from being marred or scratched.
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The Review
While we weren’t about to destroy a perfectly good trailer by trying to tow it away with the Valley Tire Lock still engaged, we did find that affixing the Tire Lock to the wheel was easy enough to do. Simply remove the screw-in cylinder lock from the handle and open the Tire Lock like a pair of scissors. Then slide it over the rim, close it and screw the cylinder lock back into place. That’s it – easy enough.
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The Verdict
The Valley Tire Lock appears to be a quality theft deterrent device made from hardened metal. It has enough heft to it to make it durable, yet not overly heavy either. In our opinion, the Valley Tire Lock should work well enough to prevent a would-be thief from hitching up to your trailer and driving off. Obviously, it could be cut off with the appropriate tools, but thieves typically look for easy targets that don’t draw attention. A larger handle section that is painted bright orange would make it stand out even more and deter thieves more readily, but regardless, we’ll be placing this on our trailers when we park them.
Valley Industries |
1313 South Stockton Street Lodi, CA 95240 Phone: (209) 368-8881 Fax: (209) 369-8678
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