Well, I went to work yesterday, not feeling well (should have been my first clue), then, my parking spot was taken (second clue). I decided to leave the office early and go home and rest, but, when I got to my truck, and disarmed the alarm, it chirped 3 extra times indicating it had been triggered.

I didn't notice any broken glass, but I looked through the dark tinted window, and saw the gaping hole in the dash that once held my Pioneer MP3/WMA/CD player/receiver. I walked around to the other side of the truck, and sure enough, the key hole had been jammed with something (my guess is a screwdriver), and the entire door handle assembly was broken.

Now I've read on here many times how easy these trucks are to get in to, but GEEZ, this is unbelievable!!!! I couldn't believe that the entire handle assembly is made of nothing but plastic!!! Luckily, the receiver was the only thing they took, and they didn't tear the dash up getting it out. Although, they did screw up the wiring harness when they yanked it loose.

I stopped by the dealership on the way home, walked in to the parts dept., and told the guy that my SD had been broken in to. The only question he asked was "driver's side or passenger side". I told him passenger side, and he left and returned with a new door handle assembly, and key lock kit(Gee, wonder if he's been through this before???). He then explained to me that unless I am a locksmith, I need to have the new lock keyed by their service dept. I questioned the service guy, and he quoted $110 to key the lock. He then pulled me aside and told me that the instructions come with the lock set, and that he thought I could do it on my own.

So, I go home, pour the contents of the lock set out on the dining room table, and start reading the instructions. Twenty minutes later, the lock kit is installed in the new door handle assembly, and keyed to my existing key. (keep in mind I have zero locksmith experience).

The removal of the broken assembly and installation of the new assembly took approx. 15 minutes.

Anyways, sorry to make this so long, but I just wanted to share my bad experience, and also let everyone know that the repair is easily done by yourself if you are ever in this situation. The parts cost $102 for everything.

Now, I just have to find a replacement radio. EBAY, here I come!!!!

By the way, the security cameras in the parking garage caught the vehicle that we think the thief was driving, but, the quality of the video is so crappy, that we couldn't even get a license plate #.

 

Bummer !!!

Any way to stop this from happening again and again ?

 

I remember seeing a post on here a few months ago that had a link to website that sold some type of metal plates that mount behind the door handle, that is supposed to make it more difficult to get in that way, but I don't remember the website.

Maybe someone else will come along that has it.

 

Yep...Pit Bull in the front seat...Electrify the perimiter of the truck...full time security guard with a shotgun...Or...

...Buy an Cheby or drudge truck...nothing worth stealin' there

 

Aren't people like the that the lowest form of crap on this earth. I mean if you are so lazy that you have to go around stealing peoples radios then you really are a piece of sirt. The thing about is that they'll probably only sell it for about $25 or $30 anyway, just enough for their next fix or bag of dope. It woulda been worth if if you could of walked out to your truck right at that moment to catch them in the act.

 

Talk about low lifes....

what about the looters in Florida right now ?!?!?!
Has anybody heard of Marshal Law - shoot on sight >!>!>!>!>

MAN !

we're building a new house and someone actually went in there and cut the copper above the slab and took it....
I'm like, this was MAYBE 5 feet of copper total ???? how much is THAT worth ?

GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!

Thank goodness they didn't get it before the slab was poured !

 

Jimmy Jammers go behind the lock & some guys are putting a hose clamp on lock cylinder too. There is a clip that will pop off the cylinder lock when forced with screwdriver. Hose clamp holds the clip in place. You can buy Jimmy Jammers at Pickupgear.com

I wish someone made a real doorhandle replacement in metal. With as many SuperDuties on the road, it would seem to be a worthwhile venture!

Dennis

 

or when you buy another radio get one that the face plate comes off. most of them come with a carring case you can take with you or do like i do and put it under your seat. most theives will not waste time breaking in if they don't see a face plate. then if they do they usually don't weaste time looking for the face plate. i have one in my boat and all 3 trucks. i got hit the same as you on my explorer. now i have a f250 and 2-f350. they all have the same thing

 

I have seen metal door handles on a 350 at a stop light a few months ago. They were chrome. I don't know where they got them or how.

 

Putco makes chrome/billet handles. you can find them basically anywhere that sells truck accessories.

 

this exact thing happened to me in front of my parent's house in a rural development. i was house sitting for them while they were on their 25th anniversary vacation. i woke up at 5:30am to go to work, and i opened my door to get in, and the light didnt come on (it was still dark out). from what i could see, my Pioneer TV/DVD player had been yanked out of the dash. i was torqued and slammed the door and when around to the passenger side door which was open and slammed it too. thats when i noticed that my door handle had been pried off with a crowbar or something similar. i wasn't as fortunate as bddo and had major body damage. thank god for insurance. but that wasn't it. they had found the spare keys to my tool box and had effectively relieved it of it's contents, somewhere around 2,500 worth of tools, mostly snap-on. insurance didn't cover this. lucky me. i had the metal plates installed that were mentioned earlier. the billet/chrome handles mentioned above are simply covers that go over the existing plastic handles. if metal ones are available, the weak link is the mounting tabs, there are only two and they are part of the thin sheetmetal of the door.

 

Billet XTC offers doorhandles for GM vehicles. Triple chrome plated billet aluminum. Really nice stuff. I emailed khiggins at billetxtc & asked if they have considered making Superduty Door Handles. If they haven't what would it take to have some made? How big an order would it take for it to make sense for them? The GM handles are $200 a piece. I'm sure the price would exclude a few, but I bet there is enough of us Mod Junkies to make it worth there while. Could be wrong, but I doubt it.

SuperdutyMJ said the tabs in the door that hold the handles are thin sheet metal, whats the chance of beefing them up when Billet handles become available?

Dennis

 

wire in a stun gun thats activated when you pull the door handle plate off. then you can beat the wholly tar out of them.

 

Some countries cut things off. They have low theft rates, don't they?

 

Sorry to hear. I've had my share of radios stolen so I got to the point of where I didn't keep anything valuable in the truck except of course my deck. The way I looked at it, if a POS wants to get into the truck, they will get into the truck any way it takes, i.e. breaking a window if that is what it takes. So I went probably a little to the extreme. I lined the back of the radio with razor blades. I know if someone would have gotten hurt I probably would have been sued for booby trapping the car but it would have been worth it to go out to the truck and find a finger on the floorboard. But, after I did that noone tried to break in.
Again sorry to hear about your loss.
Mike