How can I secure my van's doors against someone breaking a window to reach in and opening the door?

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One more deterrent is the age of my van, along with its "homemade" look. I don't think many would assume diamonds, rubies, and gold are stashed away in there, which reinforces the deterrent of not wanting to get stuck in the window. They'll want to "move on" to easier -- and far more rewarding -- targets.
When my van was stolen, I was told that thieves prefer older vehicles - they're easier to get into, since they don't have the new-fangled anti-theft devices. The thieves stole a lot of stuff that doesn't seem to be at all valuable, including all my underwear!

They needed only two tools - a small gooseneck pry bar to open the door and a portable saw to saw off the ignition.
 
When my van was stolen, I was told that thieves prefer older vehicles - they're easier to get into, since they don't have the new-fangled anti-theft devices. The thieves stole a lot of stuff that doesn't seem to be at all valuable, including all my underwear!

They needed only two tools - a small gooseneck pry bar to open the door and a portable saw to saw off the ignition.
First of all, I'm really sorry you had to experience such a thing. I don't have words for it.

Concerned the same might happen to me, I have a nut on each wheel that takes a special key to unscrew, same with the license plates, a manual switch on the engine battery (as well as a radio remote one), and a bright-yellow key-locked bar on the steering wheel clearly visible from the outside. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed.)

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And thanks for letting me know about the "older vehicles" preference, and the reason behind it. I didn't know that, but now I do.
 
chevy van rear door security grill. google it

dont know what van you have but found these for rear doors.
keebler in richmond ,Va.
 
You're right about them not being "inexpensive". All three cost more than $200. *Yikes!* But looking them up on Amazon led me to a far better design choice than what I'd listed in my first comment above. It led me to locks that are actually intended for use on a van, as shown below.

View attachment 32465
This one only costs $42.81, looks great, and mounts very securely to the door and frame. So I think I'll purchase it for the driver's door, to prevent the door from being opened even if someone can reach in through the wi
For your driver and passenger door, route the seatbelt through the door handle and then lock the belt like you were sitting there. This was a recommendation from a truckdriver about staying safe when sleeping in your rig.
 
First of all, I'm really sorry you had to experience such a thing. I don't have words for it.

And thanks for letting me know about the "older vehicles" preference, and the reason behind it. I didn't know that, but now I do.

I still don't have words for it!

But thanks to friends and family, for both financial help and building help, I am fine now. What I still mourn - the jewelry I had collected over the years, including items I inherited from my favorite aunt, and my Singer 301. Everything else was readily replaced.

My van was stolen from a motel parking lot. So now, when I rent a motel - I sleep in the parking lot in my van! With a couple items nearby to intimidate a would-be thief. Yes, I avoid motels whenever possible, but sometimes it just isn't possible.
 
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Concerned the same might happen to me, I have a nut on each wheel that takes a special key to unscrew, same with the license plates, a manual switch on the engine battery (as well as a radio remote one), and a bright-yellow key-locked bar on the steering wheel clearly visible from the outside. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed.)
What would happen if you needed to drive away fast? If you have these locks on the wheels you can't get out of a situation rapidly.

Also, If I see a fancy looking lock on the outside of a van or car or anything else, to me it broadcasts that you have stuff inside worth stealing. It is like a neon sign.

To me, the most important things for safety are:
1. be Very inconspicuous. That means no stickers, flags, no obvious locks on the outside, nothing at all that makes your vehicle look any different from every other vehicle of the same kind. I don't even hang anything from my mirror, because I have a white vehicle of a kind that there are thousands of them and vehicles that are similar to it were I live, and it blends in very well. Anonymous is what to aim for, not identifiable at all unless someone writes down your plate number.
2. Situation awareness at all times.
3. A dog is the very best alert and deterrent you can have while sleeping in your vehicle. Even a small dog. No one wants to be bitten by a dog, and the dog will tell you if someone is there. ( make sure to get one who will bark)
4. Make sure that, at all times, before you settle down for a night, you have set up everything in a manner that gets you in the driver's seat and rolling out in less than 5 seconds. Never fail to back into your spot, making sure no one can park in front of you, so that you have a clear fast exit way at all times.

Not saying a person should do all of that. Just saying that in my experience those are the most important things, far more than what kind of locks you have and those are the things I do. If someone starts tampering with your door, it will wake you up. If you can be driving away in less than 5 seconds, they won't get very far in that amount of time.

Most break-ins of non-occupied vehicles are of the smash-and-grab variety, and you can't protect all your windows from that.
If they want to steal your van, those bright yellow "club" locks on the steering wheel are really no deterrent at all because they can be opened with a screwdriver shoved hard in the lock. I heard this from a locksmith so one time when I needed to I tried it and it works a charm.

What another member said about older vans in good shape being preferable to thieves is true. They are much easier to steal, and to turn into something looking completely different in a matter of hours. Especially if you are anywhere near the southern border, be aware of this because a stolen vehicle is usually across that border as fast as the thief can take it and then it is never seen again. And please understand, I am not saying this is because Mexicans steal cars! It is what anyone who steals cars and lives near the border does.

All this comes from spending a lot of time living in my vehicle for cross country trips, and having spent years living near the border, and having had vehicles broken into, and had people try to break into them when I was sleeping in the back.
Another thing that worked one time when someone started messing with my back door while I was in there: I said "I have a loaded gun and it is pointing at you right now" in a loud voice. The person left fast. They don't know if you actually have a gun or not of course. But most won't take that chance if you sound as if you do.

Hope any of this helps.
 
What would happen if you needed to drive away fast? If you have these locks on the wheels you can't get out of a situation rapidly.
When I said "Wheel Lock", I meant this kind which is a replacement nut -- one for each wheel -- which has a special "key" to be able to turn it for taking the wheel off.
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Also, If I see a fancy looking lock on the outside of a van or car or anything else, to me it broadcasts that you have stuff inside worth stealing. It is like a neon sign.
That's a really good point. What they do see on the outside are the solar panels on top; plus, I leave the rear fan running all the time to give the impression that someone is inside.
1. be Very inconspicuous. That means no stickers, flags, no obvious locks on the outside, nothing at all that makes your vehicle look any different from every other vehicle of the same kind. I don't even hang anything from my mirror, because I have a white vehicle of a kind that there are thousands of them and vehicles that are similar to it were I live, and it blends in very well. Anonymous is what to aim for, not identifiable at all unless someone writes down your plate number.
I can't manage that one. In addition to the fan and solar panels, I have a steel scooter carrier on the back. The number of vans I've seen similar to mine is Zero. :cautious:

A dog is the very best alert and deterrent you can have while sleeping in your vehicle. Even a small dog. No one wants to be bitten by a dog, and the dog will tell you if someone is there. ( make sure to get one who will bark)
After her one break-in, my mother bought an alarm speaker for inside her motorhome that barks like a dog if anything sets it off. She never had another break in.

4. Make sure that, at all times, before you settle down for a night, you have set up everything in a manner that gets you in the driver's seat and rolling out in less than 5 seconds. Never fail to back into your spot, making sure no one can park in front of you, so that you have a clear fast exit way at all times.
I fully agree. In fact, I put a door between the cab and living area, so I can jump into the driver's seat quickly.

If they want to steal your van, those bright yellow "club" locks on the steering wheel are really no deterrent at all because they can be opened with a screwdriver shoved hard in the lock.
Surely they make a "club" steering-wheel lock that doesn't rip off so easily. Do you know of a model that works? I watched a video that showed how easy it is to pick a lock in seconds, so I doubt any key-lock is really secure.

Thank you for taking the time to write all the great info. It does help.
 
Oh, that kind of wheel lock. Of course.

There is no "club" type steering wheel lock that cannot be easily picked or forced, as far as I know. The ones that say they are "pick proof" are not.

Your van is not set up for stealth camping, then. No matter, you can still do all the other things in terms of safety, your only disadvantage is that it will always be obvious that someone lives in that van or, is at least camping in that van. So that makes finding an urban parking space harder. Not a big deal if you mostly are going to boondock.
 
wheel Lug nut lock are good to have, someone might get 4 lugs off but the special lug needs special socket to get it off. I have a set on my older van . glad to have them on it.
keebler,in Va.
 
I still don't have words for it!

But thanks to friends and family, for both financial help and building help, I am fine now. What I still mourn - the jewelry I had collected over the years, including items I inherited from my favorite aunt, and my Singer 301. Everything else was readily replaced.

My van was stolen from a motel parking lot. So now, when I rent a motel - I sleep in the parking lot in my van! With a couple items nearby to intimidate a would-be thief. Yes, I avoid motels whenever possible, but sometimes it just isn't possible.
Thank goodness you have people who care about you enough to get you set up again! I'm a "lone wolf" without a pack, who'd just be out of luck.

I see eBay has a section named Singer 301 Collectible Sewing Machines with quite a few; some very inexpensive. But maybe you meant yours has a special history none other would hold.

My sister-in-law was very unhappy when a burglar broke into her home and stole all her jewelry. It had been a collection passed down through her family for a number of generations. They caught the thief, but not her jewels, and she was advised not to try to reach him to ask where they went due to his history of violent acts of revenge.

My van has dark-tinted windows so I can see out but a criminal can't see in. And for my safety, I drilled a hole in the floor and mounted this intensely-loud 100-watt speaker over the hole, sealing the edges so all the sound goes outside. Its mic is mounted on the wall over my bed so I can grab it quickly without getting up. Besides my voice, the mic has buttons on it to produce several different police/ambulance sounds, including an ear-piercing buzz. The speaker is so loud, the sound was also vibrating out through the case of the speaker inside the van, so I wrapped it with this sound-proofing which is thin but works astonishingly well. After you peel off the paper, the back side is super sticky, so I totally wrapped this soundproofing all over every inch of the speaker, and am more than satisfied with the results. I'm surprised I've seen no other vanlifers doing or suggesting a mic and speaker setup like this.
 
That PA speaker is a great idea, why not start a post on the forum so everyone will know about it.
I did explain this PA speaker within another post some time ago and don't want to become guilty of spam.

But you now have my details and are free to start a new post about it. I agree it's great. Criminals aren't going to expect that kind of response in their ears. They'll wonder what else you have in your arsenal.
 
Actually it is amazing what good results you can get with a loud alarm-sounding noise, as long as it sounds different from those ubiquitous car-alarm sounds that everyone ignores these days.

As for jewelry and other valuables in a home I always hide mine very thoroughly, and I don't use the places that are shown and recommended in YouTube videos that all the burglars watch. :)

When on the road for an extended period of time I either did not have valuables or kept them on my person at all times. I used to travel in order to sell things I made, and I kept my money bag (which was mostly filled with cash) worn next to my skin 24/7, and my to-sell items very hard to get to in my truck.

I approach things this way: I assume that someone will try to steal from me. I assume that person is as smart as I am and knows the usual hiding places as I do. So I come up with something that even I wouldn't be likely to think of or find, or tht is so hard to get to that it would take a lot of time and effort. Then, I let it go and don't worry about it.
 
Short answer is you can’t. Don’t go places where it is likely to happen. Don’t have anything they can see worth taking or don’t have anything worth taking. Secure it as best you can, have a deterrent, escape route and go bag you can easily access and leave with.
 
You are totally correct, Tony. I'm only seeking the best deterrent. If someone REALLY wants into my van, proper use of a locksmith's comb pick on the driver's door will do the trick. And if it's only a rock-throwing window buster, they can clear away the particles of glass and crawl in through the missing window! But I'm hoping that if a person wants in, they'll either be too uneducated and ill-prepared to use locksmithing technology; or, they will prefer to "move on" rather than risk getting caught stuck halfway through someone else's window.

One more deterrent is the age of my van, along with its "homemade" look. I don't think many would assume diamonds, rubies, and gold are stashed away in there, which reinforces the deterrent of not wanting to get stuck in the window. They'll want to "move on" to easier -- and far more rewarding -- targets.
When I lived in my camper van for 2 and 1/2 years I had a 7 lb dog that would take your arm off She was a good deterant! However, long before that, I managed an apartment community in a ghetto. I'm going to show you pictures of what I used. On one occasion, they saved me from getting, robbed, beaten, raped or even killed. I was on the ground floor with my bed fairly close to the window. When the alarm went off, I jumped up, pulled the blinds and there was a man, running as hard as he could to get away! The second thing I will show is an emergency whistle at 140 decibels that will probably put your hearing out! These are simple, inexpensive and reliable. You do not have to get fancy. But you do have to remember to turn them off during the day 🤣 If I live on wheels again that is exactly what I will do. The window alarms go for 60 seconds, that doesn't sound like much, but when you're on the outside of someone's vehicle trying to get in, that's a very long time! 🤣 I'm a 68-year-old female and I was never afraid! Better to be prepared!
 

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If someone is willing to smash a window, you're done. Securing a door means they have to hike in the window which is no big deal. If you have an older vehicle that does not have a 'security' ignition that requires a coded key, be sure to add a kill switch. The cost is nearly nothing, the process is pretty easy and it will mean your van will not easily be stolen, regardless of the boldness of the thief. Also, consider boldly displaying one or more of those ridiculously loud broken glass alarms to deter them futilely breaking your damn windows!
 
Locks and keys wear out over time. With most of us having older vehicles it is a good idea to check your locks. On my Chevy van almost any key (even a cheap mailbox key) was able to unlock most of my doors. I replaced the lock cylinders which is relatively simple and less than $200.
This type of lock is much more secure but is a bit pricey for most. https://www.viro.it/en-gb/hardware/padlocks/van-lock-fastening-unit-for-truck-and-vans
 
Another thing that worked one time when someone started messing with my back door while I was in there: I said "I have a loaded gun and it is pointing at you right now" in a loud voice. The person left fast. They don't know if you actually have a gun or not of course. But most won't take that chance if you sound as if you do.

I personally would not announce to any intruder that I have a gun if I do not have a gun.

If they have one, they might start shooting at me!
 
I personally would not announce to any intruder that I have a gun if I do not have a gun.

If they have one, they might start shooting at me!
I wouldn't have said that if it had not been true.
I don't bluff.

While the person outside the vehicle could decide to shoot into the vehicle, the change of that actually happening is about nil. That person was not trying to shoot me in my vehicle but to break into my vehicle, which is what anyone messing with the door is trying to do.
 

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