Originally Posted by
Oldguy4
Once you get it freed up, use it. I was told by the dealer when I bought my truck to always lock the tail gate. They are expensive to replace so if some jurk ruins his or hers they will steal another one. But it you keep it locked it's much more difficult to remove.
In addition to locking it, if you put a hose clamp around the one end pivot that lifts out, it will slow up a tailgate thief considerably. Anything you can do to make it more difficult for them to steal yours is to your advantage.