Beak Boater

I dont think these thieves are a bunch of guys just out riding around and think lets steal those. As many incidents of # 6's stolen in Fla, it would seem they are a little more professional. They know what they are looking for. Im sure they dont want to spend anymore time than nessasary, thats why I think they would be using impacts.

Perlmudder

sorry to hear about this. gl finding the scum bags!

scarab kv

That sucks. Sorry to hear it.

The driver will be a person of interest because he was there, but I wouldn't be too quick to point fingers. As a 20+ year over the road driver, I can say it's real easy to sleep through something like that if he was dead tired or just a sound sleeper with or without the truck idling. Now he could have felt their movements back there if he were sleeping light. If the truck and trailer has air ride suspension, any slight bump or jar will travel through the truck like a shock wave. With my Pete and spread axle reefer, I could feel a person walking in the trailer. A rough fork lift driver could knock ya out of your seat, but yet when tired enough I never felt a thing.
As for the boldness of the perps...if they want it bad enough, they're gonna get it. Back in the early 90s there was a huge demand for the big stainless Vortox air cleaners that you see on the nicer Petes and KWs. At $4,000 replacement value per set, they were a huge target and the perps were extremely bold to grab them just a couple feet from the sleeper. Mine were taken in the front row of a well lit and busy truck stop. I stopped long enough to get a coffee to go (10 min) and they got'm. Three owner ops that I knew were all parked side by side and sleeping in their trucks in another busy lot...got all three sets. As far as catch'n them in the act...one driver was unfortunate enough to walk up while his were being taken. Thought he would drive them off, but got the beating of a life time for his efforts. Locking bolts did no good. The keys for them could be purchased off any Snap-On truck.
In the case of the #6s, an 18v cordless drill has plenty of torque for the job and makes no noise thats gonna be heard 60' feet away in the cab of a truck. The driver was probably followed for some time until the opportune time was presented.
In reality, the perps know what their do'n and are well organized...this was no random act to get a set of 6s for a buddy's boat. I learned from follow ups on my air cleaners that the case was turned over to the FBI office in the Wilkes Barre, PA. The agent that I spoke with layed it out for me in a nut shell...the proceeds from the sale of this stuff goes higher then you could ever imagine. Keep in mind this is Interstate theft and the stakes are high. If you confront some one, ya better beable to pull that trigger...they will. Lets face it...criminals today are a lot more violent then 20 years ago when you could kick the sh!t out of some ahole who justly deserved it. The cost of anything replaceable isn't worth the consequence.
In closing...these are high dollar rigs and boats and they get a lot of attention. Pretty easy target to find. Best you can do is take every measure possible to make it hard for them to get at the drives. If two rigs are run'n together, park'm back to back with the drives over laying if possible. Back up against a wall if ya can or drop the trailer, put a pin lock on it and pull the tractor up tight to the drives. I know this may seem to be a pain in the azz, but so is the loss that may be prevented.

Sorry...didn't mean to write a novel.

satisfied1

I don't think that if I had a boat on the back of mine I would sleep very hard. Lie detector might be in order!!!! I can tell when my trailer doors even move.



Good luck bro
Lie detector might be in order!!!
Lie detector might be in order!!!
Lie detector might be in order!!!

jeff1000man

I was thinking about the weight also, but if you can back a truck under there, (likely) shouldn't take long to get them off.

Truck's gonna squat a little while leaving.

Good luck finding them. That really sucks.

scarab kv

If you're tired enough you will. I'm a pretty light sleeper and have to admit that when pushed hard enough, I slept pretty good with 1/2 million $ of import booze on my trailer. That's a load that a perp will follow for hundreds of miles looking for an opportunity.

jeff1000man

Is that why you have the best prices on everything?

Just kidding. I am waiting to hear back on our last deal. He is actually considering sending you the boat.

thisistank

Sorry to hear about your drives....Wonder if your car insurance will pay for it so you don't have to pull it off of your boating insurance which I'm sure costs a GRIP a year!

Hope to see you out in Havasu with Lick This again this April...Great f*ckin' boat...Always one of my favorites.

Thunderstruck

Just talking to a friend who knows of 5 SETS! of #6 drives that were stolen during the same time period (including the set on this thread) 3 sets from a lot in SF, 1 set in Destin and this set. This can not be a random coincidence!!??

BTW the rumor is that surveilance video showed that it took 15 min/drive on the SF thefts.

jeff1000man

In TX. We have to register the serial numbers of the drives and engines on our boat titles.