I just got a 2021 Ram 2500 tradesman and I live in Houston TX where stealing tailgates is as popular as football. I'm fabricating a bed cover for it that will be as close to "impenetrable" as a bed cover can get. The idea is that if you want my tailgate or whatever is in my bed your only options involve power tools and/or an acetylene torch, and you'll probably want to have a tow truck handy so you won't be doing all that heavy demo out in the open. Back at your chop shop you'll find that it will be easier to cut a hole through the side of the bed than through my bed cover.
The only unknown of my plan is the tailgate latch/lock. It seems pretty secure to me since it locks electrically with the door locks and has no keyhole to pick. My truck doesn't have that keyfob sensing/auto unlock feature that seems to be the weak point of modern Mopar vehicles due to black market repeaters. So if you can't repeater your way into the cab and you don't have a lock to pick, what options are left? Can they get a slim Jim between the tailgate and bed and finnagle the actual latch open? If they smash a window and hit unlock will it unlock?
If it's as easy as that, then I'll incorporate the tailgate in my plan so when the bed cover comes down it slides some heavy steel dowels into the tailgate, making it impossible to open unless you've first managed to get the bed cover open. But I would like to avoid this as it would significantly hamper my own daily use of the thing.
I doubt your average tailgate collector is going to make any attempt at it but it's less about the tailgate and more about the tools in the bed that are worth more than the truck, and I drive across the country staying in hotels not always in nicest areas, That's why I'm going to such extremes.
The only unknown of my plan is the tailgate latch/lock. It seems pretty secure to me since it locks electrically with the door locks and has no keyhole to pick. My truck doesn't have that keyfob sensing/auto unlock feature that seems to be the weak point of modern Mopar vehicles due to black market repeaters. So if you can't repeater your way into the cab and you don't have a lock to pick, what options are left? Can they get a slim Jim between the tailgate and bed and finnagle the actual latch open? If they smash a window and hit unlock will it unlock?
If it's as easy as that, then I'll incorporate the tailgate in my plan so when the bed cover comes down it slides some heavy steel dowels into the tailgate, making it impossible to open unless you've first managed to get the bed cover open. But I would like to avoid this as it would significantly hamper my own daily use of the thing.
I doubt your average tailgate collector is going to make any attempt at it but it's less about the tailgate and more about the tools in the bed that are worth more than the truck, and I drive across the country staying in hotels not always in nicest areas, That's why I'm going to such extremes.
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