I just bought a '96 F 150, and the auction house couldn't find any lock keys. So- can I get keys made, or do I have to replace all the locks? How do I go about getting keys made (if they can be)?

 

Well, so far I have been quoted $45 by a locksmith. Ford was no help- the truck is too "old". That's cuz they build 'em so tough! I removed the lock, and I'm gonna sit tonight with a key blank, some files, and a good light, and try to cut my own. They seem to want a lot of money for replacement locks...

 

i had this same problem when i got my truck. popped the door panels, pulled out the locks. brought them to a locksmith. $40 to replace both cores with 2 new keys.

 

go to a locksmith with the lock cylander from the door and they can make a key.

 

I don't suppose you'd be lucky enough to have the key numbers. If so all you'd have to do is take those to ford and they could cut you a new set of keys for the price it is to make a key copy.

I had my keys stolen in college (long story) just a few days before the end of the semester. Luckily for me my dad keeps good records and had the original key numbers from when he bought the truck. All it took was a call to the local ford garage and I was in business.

 

I went to the junkyard this morning and got a couple locks out of an older truck for $5. I had to modify them slightly, and they fit and work fine. So- now I'm 'up' $40. I'm sure I can find something else the truck needs... It'll be funny if the PO tries to come and break into it some night! For some reason, the locks from 11/95 and up are $70 each, while earlier ones are $40 a pair. Now it has a set of mid-80's van locks.

 

I think they can look up the key numbers from the VIN number at the dealer too. You might try the 800 ford service number...

Sweet, congrats
I could sink money in mine all day, and still find more

 

I tried the dealer, and he said they could only do that back to about '98 now. He referred to my sweet machine as 'old'!

 

I think the dealer if full of the perverbial bovine deficant.

 

Exactly !

FYI call around you'll find a dealer willing to help.

Aslo any locksmith worth his salt keeps reference material that allows him to cut a key from the VIN by code. Some do not have it because of the $$$$ bond requirement. It goes back many, many years.

The other way is to take him a lock cylinder and he can impression the key. This means inserting a key blank into the lock and twisting it with pliers so the 5 pins leave an impression on the key blank. He then files away key blank material with a triangle file until the individual pin no longer leaves an impression on the blank. Sounds complicated but a good locksmith can do it in 10 or 15 minutes, no sweat.

He only needs to impression one side of the key because the lock has pins on the top only. Once impressioned he can read the key then cut remainingside & other keys by code.

 

You can have keys made. You've gotten $45 worth of advice on that thus far.

Me, being a cheap bastid, I'd go to the local junkyard and find myself an 92-96 E-van or F-truck (including bronco) or any full sized car 90-95 and see if they have the keys hanging in the ignition. If they do, take the ignition lock, and the door locks, and slap them on your truck. Those years above are exact replacements. The door locks can be from an older truck or van as well, just not the ignition lock. use the years above.

BTW, nothing obligates you to take the door locks and the ignition lock from the same vehicle. You'll just have one key for the doors, and another key for the ignition lock.

I did this last summer (using a wrecked town car as a donor) and have one key for everything, and the yard hit me up for $5 for all three locks, two sets of keys, and two remotes. The remote relay module (the radio receiver) which I took also, was another $10 because it's black plastic, and not shiny. Shiny boxes cost more at this place.

 

frederic- That's exactly what I did. I just took the door locks, but from an older van. Our U-Pull-It rarely has anything new enough, and it's rare to find keys. I noticed while playing with the original '96 locks that the lock pins go both ways- 3 are up, 2 are down, so you do have to get both sides of the key right. The older ones are all on one side.

 

Aren't the ignition and door keyed the same? Or maybe has the ignition been replaced. You did try the ignition key in the door, right?

-Matt

 

I was thinking the exact same thing... Hope he didn't go thru all that for nothing.

 

You're right - cars/trucks in yards don't usually have the keys hanging in the ignition. However it's not impossible to find. Just a PITA to check every car/truck/'van that might have the right locks for keys. I checked the glovebox, floor, visor and ignition. Sometimes you get lucky.

One particular yard, one town over, receives cars from the county police department's impound yard. These cars usually run, have keys, and the interior is littered with stuff. These cars are confiscated from drug dealers, DWI and other criminals, and unclaimed after 90 days. Every week night that county police department flatbeds the 91-day vehicles over to this place, and dumps them outside the gate. In the morning, if I need something oddball that I can't find in the yard, I'll stop by and drive by to see what's outside. If there is something I need, I'll grab it before they toss the vehicle into a pile somewhere.

Every yard is different, and sometimes you get lucky, other times you don't. But the hunt is part of the fun, to a point!

As far as the pins, you are correct, but that doesn't mean the older locks don't fit into the hole, and attach properly to the mechanism in the door of the newer truck.

Town Car/CV/Marquis started the doublesided cylinders around... oh... 93 I think. My continental is like that. For years when I cut my own keys I'd just do one side and not bother with the other side, but couldn't do taht with the lincoln.