Keep those tailgates locked
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Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Billings, Montana
Keep those tailgates locked
An interesting article on Yahoo concerning tailgate theft. Pickup truck tailgates: easy to steal, thefts on the rise - Yahoo! Autos
Elder User
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Northern VA
Good idea! I'm guessing the 08+ tailgates with the tailgate step are especially attractive. I think I posted about this shortly after I bought my truck in '09. I didn't realize how easily they slide off. 5 seconds and it's gone!
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Joined: Dec 2012
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That's good advice! I've done this on my last few trucks. I tighten the clamp with a 1/4" socket set and make the clamp screw location as difficult to unscrew as I can. So far, it's worked good for me.
Tuned
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 417
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I guess after you tighten it down, you could also drop a little epoxy into the worm gear to seize it up. Wouldn't be too hard to chip or cut off if you needed to later, but would make it much harder for someone in a parking lot to defeat.
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2009
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From: Lakehills, TX
From McGard you can get a cheap, easy, and much easier to deal with solution than a standard hose clamp: Tailgate Lock
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From: Northern VA
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Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Rogersville, TN
I had mine stolen from a hotel parking lot several years back. I replaced it with one with a lick and just leave it locked all the time. I had my rhino liner put in for $350 and when I replaced the tailgate the rhino dealer wanted $300 just to do the tailgate, so I just painted it and left the rhino off.
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From: Backwoods of Snowflake AZ
I saw this but I have been locking the tailgate on our 02 F250 for quite a while now after my buddies 04 F350 V10 had his tailgate stolen. Its to bad they don't have tailgate locks for the older (80-96) Fseries I hope nobody touches those tailgates on our trucks.
Trav
Trav
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Joined: Dec 2012
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No Sir, but I have thought about it. Most guys like myself won't lock and unlock a tailgate 20 times a day, and it only take a few seconds to lift one that's not locked or made too difficult to take off quickly. People still leave hitches in receivers only secure with a hitch pin. Bugs me to death-----Some thief will have 5 of them at a bargain on CL-----someone just donated some more!
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