Heads up: locking gas caps don't protect your truck anymore

[jmowreader]

My paper (the story isn't online yet, sorry) is reporting a minor rash of gas thefts from commercial vans, and these ones are bad: the scumbags crawl under your rig, cut the fuel line and let the gas drain into a can they put under there. Then they come back later to get the full can.

[VMA131Marine]

1. That sucks but...

It's an improvement over puncturing the gas tank to steal fuel. I seem to recall that as a common method of gas theft at one time.

[Journeyman]

2. You may still want to get a locking gas cap, in the event we return to gas rationing. . .

Since the 1980s, the vast majority of vehicles have anti-siphon baffles that prevent a hose from extending down into the tank.

However, here's a scenario where you might want a locking gas cap, even if your car has the anti-siphon baffle that renders it unnecessary.

During the gas crisis in the late '70s, I found myself in a blocks-long line waiting to fill up at a corner station. The station was on the South-West corner of the intersection and we were all lined up down the street to the West of the station.

Everyone was being polite (it was early in the first day of the shortage), waiting their turn. The next-to-go car would wait at the street, ready to drive into the station when a pump was available. I'd been in the line for over an hour and was about three cars from the driveway. Suddenly, as a car vacated the pump, and the next driver started to pull into the drive, a jerk in a Cadillac -- traveling South on the street approaching the station -- cut diagonally across four lanes of the West side street, directly in front of us, and pulled into the station and up to the pump, ahead of all those waiting in line.

As he hopped from his Caddy, hoots and hollers and a stream of profanity greeted him. He ignored it all, stepped to the rear of his car, removed his gas cap and reached for the pump. With a visible look of disgust, he realized he had to go into the station to pay for the gas. And this he did, despite the ever-growing outrage behind him.

For a moment, we in the line looked incredulously at each other, trying to decide if the situation warranted (or would justify) a face-to-face and possibly violent confrontation. But as the murmurs for blood grew louder, the guy in the front of the line decided to act.

He opened the door to his gas tank, removed his locking cap, strode purposefully across the lot and slapped it onto the open line of the Cadillac. To tumultuous cheers, he returned to his car, got back in his seat and waited the return of the Caddy driver.

It took the Caddy driver a few moments to realize the hopelessness of his situation and a few more to get his money back from the attendant, but he eventually drove away with cheers and jeers and raucous laughter ringing in his ears.

And that, I'd say, was worth the investment in a locking gas cap.

[jmowreader]

3. Ain't no need to siphon, if you just cut the fuel line and drain it out

[Jesus Malverde]

4. Great story...nt

[dsc]

9. great story

and you explained something I had wondered about for years. I remembered locking gas caps from the late 70's and early 80's but they didn't make a comeback when gas shot back up in the 2000's and now I know why.

[Jesus Malverde]

5. The neighbor across the street has had his catalytic converter stolen 2-3 times.

[davidpdx]

6. Not only do you lose your gas

Your car won't start, you have to have to pay it towed and the hose fixed. Plus if a spark happened to take place on the pavement, well let's just say there wouldn't be much left of your car or anyone else's who is parked close.

[Codeine]

7. Never had my gas stolen,

but I had an old car with a manual hood latch operated from outside -- fuckers in our neighborhood stole four batteries from me in a year. After the first one I got a hood lock device and they just cut the chain part with bolt cutters or something.

[totodeinhere]

8. Another method they use is drilling a hole in the gas tank and draining it. That

means a very expensive repair job. I wonder if it might be better to just use an non locking gas cap and let them take your gas if they must. That's better than major damage to your vehicle.

[Jenoch]

10. It might be an urban legend,

but I rememer a story about a guy who had a landscaping/lawn maintenance business. He would park his trailer with his equipment in his driveway. The teens acroos the street were taking the gas can and filling their car, but the guy never caught them in the act. The guy decided to do something abkut it. A couple days later he sees the teens trying to start their car, but without success. He put some sugar in that gas can and let them steal it.