Securing Steel Coupler To Aluminum Car Hauler Trailer Tongue To Prevent Theft

Question:

I have a aluminum car trailer. I was about to purchase this coupler lock when I realized it wont work. My trailer is aluminum, the 2 5/16 Bulldog coupler is steel and therefore is bolted to the trailer with 2 bolts that would not be covered by the coupler lock. It would be easy for someone to remove the coupler and the lock all in 3 minutes! Any suggestions?

asked by: Gary

Expert Reply:

Thanks for the photo of your trailer coupler. That really helps explain what you are asking about.

I spoke with a couple of other Experts and we may have a couple options you can consider. One way to go is to use Loctite Threadlocker 262, part # LT37420 on the coupler bolt threads. This is put on the threads when bolting the coupler to the trailer tongue and becomes impossible to remove with hand tools without heating it up to 500F degrees to free the parts for disassembling. That would be a real theft deterrent.

Another way you could secure the coupler to the trailer tongue is to have a welding professional weld the bolt heads and bolt nuts to the coupler. If you ever needed to replace the coupler you would need to have it cut off.

A third way is to have the coupler welded to the trailer tongue. This requires special welding equipment since you are dealing with two different metals, and should really be done by a welding professional that know how to do this.

After you secure the coupler to the trailer tongue you can then use the coupler lock like part # BLTL-23 as you originally considered.

expert reply by: Jeffrey L