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Spent less than 30 minutes this morning looking at latch, with gate open. Closed gate, took less than 30 seconds to trip the latch through the big hole they made for the latch pin. With flat screwdriver.
what I found nuts was it d idnt trip alarm. Then I left keys across street and dud it again. No alarm.
but I did make two items to attach to truck bed suppprt brace that block the hole if gate is closed. .
and pressure from tailgate and fastener prevents jimmong of latch. Testing a truck bed side blocker, vice a tailgate side. Little panel glue and shall see in a few hrs
o am surprised at how easy it was for my engineering brain to open it.
key is to slow down the thieves, mske them take longer and risk exposure. Still not sure why alarm never tripped.
Spent less than 30 minutes this morning looking at latch, with gate open. Closed gate, took less than 30 seconds to trip the latch through the big hole they made for the latch pin. With flat screwdriver.
what I found nuts was it d idnt trip alarm. Then I left keys across street and dud it again. No alarm.
but I did make two items to attach to truck bed suppprt brace that block the hole if gate is closed. .
and pressure from tailgate and fastener prevents jimmong of latch. Testing a truck bed side blocker, vice a tailgate side. Little panel glue and shall see in a few hrs
o am surprised at how easy it was for my engineering brain to open it.
key is to slow down the thieves, mske them take longer and risk exposure. Still not sure why alarm never tripped.
the alarm probably didn’t trip because the sensor isn’t there. The BCM has the capability for detecting tailgate opens, but it’s disabled by default and the tailgate perimeter switch is not present. I believe on these trucks, perimeter security (from the factory) only means hood and doors (unless the dealer has installed some kind of aftermarket system).
There’s a thread somewhere where someone installed a tailgate open detection switch and enabled it with FORScan. Looking at the BCM setting names, it’s implied that once this mod is done, tailgate intrusion will trigger the perimeter security alarm just as the hood and doors do.
I was curious about it myself because I thought about wiring a custom alarm sensor into that unused detection input so I could get FordPass alerts from an aftermarket alarm sensor.
[QUOTE=Ding126;20170077]I am going to replace the tail light screws with two different style...that will slow them down. I see what the OP is saying about the tail gate latch. Im gonna add a plate to block access to the latch in addition to the two different type of screws...cant take the tail lights unless the gate is down.
Thank you for this useful info. There might even be a market for these brackets..[/QUOTE
I will be posting a link in the Marketplace forum later tonight to sell my plates. Here is a preview pic of what the plates look like.
They are made out of 16 gauge steel, precision laser cut, black oxide coating, stainless steel hardware plus a nylon spacer (behind the plate that you cannot see).
I have a set of taillights and a king ranch tailgate. New stored inside, from a take off for a flat bed. If anyone needs them.
I agree with the above on jb weld or something. Also a pipe clamp. Also back up close to something at night. On my platinum they tried a couple times unsuccessfully.
On my work trucks I scratch the outside of the tailgate to deter theft.
Well, ballz. I just went to check the process and how to stop it..... and my driver side latch is broken. The lock part spring is broken, the pawl never engages.
I am going to replace the tail light screws with two different style...that will slow them down. I see what the OP is saying about the tail gate latch. Im gonna add a plate to block access to the latch in addition to the two different type of screws...cant take the tail lights unless the gate is down.
Thank you for this useful info. There might even be a market for these brackets..[/QUOTE
I will be posting a link in the Marketplace forum later tonight to sell my plates. Here is a preview pic of what the plates look like.
They are made out of 16 gauge steel, precision laser cut, black oxide coating, stainless steel hardware plus a nylon spacer (behind the plate that you cannot see).
From the inside of the bed:
great idea, I used 3/4 stall mat rubber glued and screwed to corner bracket. Stall mat because it gives a bit and adds a filler to entire gap.
my book states alarm is on hood, doors and tailgate. I am trying a different trip on it tomorrow.
it's rain ing and cold now. So I stopped.
I also found if you remove the big access plate on tailgate. It has a push **** to actuate the locks. So with sides blocked, you can still remove 10 bolts and open tailgate if actuator fails. Time is a tbiefs enemy. So we just have to develop things that cause them to spend more time and that makes our vehicle less desirable. In a time stand point. I am putting in flush odd ball head sized bolts for taillights as well. If all 4 are different. It also creates a time trap. .
Yes, but it's much more difficult if you have a self-locking tonneau cover ... the type with the unlatch cord accessible only after the tailgate opens.
