I thought I was half joking when I suggested removing the hubs to
dissuade theft. If you do so, the spindle threads should be protected.
Store the wheels and hubs elsewhere. Tongue and coupler locks do not
prevent chaining to a tow vehicle and hauling your prize AS away. Coupler
locks can be broken or sawed off. The battery powered sawzall is popular
with thieves. Gargantuan 48" bolt cutters will munch most any lock.
This kind is supposed to prevent (slow up) theft of your trailer when it
is parked coupled to your tow vehicle:
www2.northerntool.com/product/31840/ A coupler lock is still needed, and
the ball nut can be unscrewed.
As I have a hand cranked trailer dolly I may use it to pull my trailer in
toward a wall or tongue first into the storage garage.
The only thing that will really stop determined thieves is storage in a
locked garage in a storage facility with 24 hour security. The 24 hour
guard prevents theft of the entire trailer and the locked garage prevents
the guards and other tenants from stealing parts such as batteries, LP
tanks and tires, and from vandalism.
If you leave your property uninspected for an extended period, you have
to watch out for storage facility tricks such as pretending they didn't
get your rent check for a couple of months and then "selling" your
trailer for back rent. Watch your canceled checks or statements. I had
one storage place that did not cash my check for two months. I called
them and insisted that they cash them, and they did. That time it was a
change in ownership, but who knows next time?
Al