You know that feeling you get when you arrive at the jobsite and your tool trailer is gone? That couple of seconds it takes to process that something is really, really wrong.
“Wait. Did I move it to another job?” “Did I park it somewhere else?” “Did one of the guys …” and the pit in your stomach sinks with the rising observation that you’ve just been ripped off.
Fun, right?
There’s a way to prevent—or at the very least, minimize—the risk of that ever happening again. It’s the contractor-invented TDS LockJaw Vault. This is a two-piece, 10-gauge, powder-coated, made-in-the-U.S. housing that isolates your jack handle and trailer tongue from anybody that doesn’t have a key to the lock. One piece goes over the jack stand and one goes over the nose. They interlock and slot together, and once in position, they can be locked in place.
The Vault is designed so that once locked, accessing the lock with a grinder or bolt cutter is nearly impossible, so the weakest link—the lock itself—in most lock-up scenarios is further hardened.
If you look on the tdslockjaw.com installation page to see how this installs—it’s easy—you can also see the serious mental gymnastics it took the inventor—Cliff Woodman of Woodman Builders in Saint Simon’s Island, Ga.—to iron out before putting his design into production. Making complicated things seem simple is no mean feat.
The Vault is designed to work with other theft-deterrent systems (TDS), such as hitch/coupler locks. However, it does not work with all trailers. LockJaw says that the current model is designed for enclosed, cargo-style trailers with the jack stand centered behind the tongue.
The Vault has two holes for two locks. This was kind of a design accident with a plus-side consequence: It accepts a second lock, making it just that much more inconvenient and time consuming for a would-be burglar. (I think, by the way, we all feel that there’s a special place in Hell for people who steal tools—tool thieves don’t only steal stuff that can be replaced; they also steal our ability to feed our families.) You can also require two keys to open it, say, two lead carpenters. Or an owner and a project manager.
Finally, I appreciate how detailed the installation page is and how clearly and simply it shows you how to determine if the Vault will fit your trailer. A website by a carpenter, not a marketing department. Nice.
