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How hard is it to steal my tailgate?

strantor

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Not exactly sure which metal the tailgate is made from, but it's very likely the magnetic field will not pass through it it's steel.
Test it before you start hacking wires and things.
Magnetic fields aren't blocked by steel. Disrupted/redirected maybe, but I would not expect it to be enough to matter. I will check it out before hacking. Thanks for the warning.

Rectangular_Plate_lifting_magnet_zoom.png
 

strantor

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You’re Definitely not an idiot and you have fabrication skills which I totally dig. I’m just ribbing you for being so paranoid lol
Ok, ok, I might be a little paranoid. But not without good cause. I'm no conspiracy theorist; all my tics are inspired by true events.
 
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strantor

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I used to date a girl that had some chafing after a long walk on a hot summer day...But that would most likely not happen if she would have lost 75 pounds!!

I am in the no wire chafing on any of my my vehicles club!!
Seriously? I can't be the only one...
What kind of vehicles have you guys been driving that this never was an issue? I suspect probably newer vehicles than me for one thing. I'm not a "new vehicle every 2 years" type of guy. I had previously sworn never to buy new. This is the first brand new vehicle (and first Dodge/Ram/FCAUSLLC) I've ever bought and I only did it because this chip shortage business drove the cost of used trucks to brand new prices.

Here's my list, what I can remember, which is just the past few years:

1993 Chevy Silverado: windshield wiper stalk wires rubbed against the inside of the steering column and shorted out. Blew fuses and wipers didn't work.

1991 Toyota Celica: alarm system wires shorted out against the frame and the alarm would just randomly go off in the middle of the night or day.

2010 GMC Yukon: passenger's power seat motor wire got caught against something, pulled, shorted out, and blew up the contacts in the switch so the seat would recline but wouldn't go back upright. Every time someone reclined it I would have to hotwire the seat to get it back in position.

2002 Nissan Frontier: tail lights shorted against the frame and the brake lights would work sometimes, other times not, and other times the fuse would blow when brakes were pressed

2013 Mazda 5: ambient temp sensor in the grille got pinched after a mechanic did some work on it and after that the A/C would only run on max setting, any other setting and it would blow hot dank air out.

Maybe this one is a stretch and shouldn't count, but...
2010 Ford focus: flooded in Harvey, afterwards would just randomly run out of gas. The fuel pump was stopping. Replaced the pump controller but still had issues. Turns out the wires had rubbed the insulation off prior to the flood and the flood corroded the wires almost in two.
 
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Rockcrawlindude

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you do have bad luck sir.

Last ten years of old cars I can think of a few issues that were mostly caused by somebody messing with the wiring.

1995 jeep YJ - no wiring issues except after market CD player wired with wire nuts by previous owner. Headlight and turn signal bulb sockets were a bit corroded but cleaned up well.

1979 Toyota pickup - No electrical wiring issues except the electric choke on the aftermarket carb didn’t work, turns out it was a counterfeit Weber. Put a real Weber on it and no issues.

1994 Toyota pickup - no electrical wiring issues except the 4wd light on the dash stopped working one of the times I rolled it. The wire broke at the splice where I lengthened the wires for the crawl box. Easy fix

2010 F150 - plenty of issues (turd) but none due to wiring.

2003 suburban - seat heater would randomly come on. It’s a common problem with the door switches on those. I don’t know if they get water in them or something but the wires didn’t chafe
 

strantor

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2003 suburban - seat heater would randomly come on. It’s a common problem with the door switches on those. I don’t know if they get water in them or something but the wires didn’t chafe
Ahaa! Seee?! Things do randomly come on sometimes when they use sensors/switches that go to ground...
5av08o.jpg

It doesn't have to be chafed wires. Moisture in connectors or other issues can cause it. Anything that gives a current path to the chassis prior to the sensor/switch will result in a signal sent to the module.

Please forgive me if I'm explaining things that don't need explanation; I don't know what is a common level of understanding in here. The conventional way of doing things is that a voltage supply (12V battery in automotive case) will go out from the source, through a fuse, through a switch/sensor, then to the destination (digital input on BCM in automotive case). That's how it works in your house, (mostly) in your vehicles, in appliances, and in the industrial automation circuits that I work with. Ram has decided to do it differently in this case for some reason.

Here's the diagram of the tailgate:
20210525_073852.jpg

The BCM has a power supply inside, probably 5V or something (I'll know for sure later) and the digital input, instead of being at 0V and recognizing a transition to 5V, is sending 5V out and waiting for a transition to 0V. When you press the tailgate switch you ground out that input, pulling the voltage down to 0V and the BCM then send out power to the latches.

If using the conventional way, there is only one in a million ways that the BCM would receive the signal: if you pushed the tailgate button. Sure, theoretically, somewhere along it's path, that wire "could" somehow come in contact with a voltage source (maybe it was ran across the battery and chafed against the positive battery post?) But it is extremely unlikely.

But the way ram has done it, that wire need only contact ground. It is surrounded by ground. The entire chassis is ground. Everything that wire could possibly cut itself against, is something that will cause it to send a signal to the BCM that you want the tailgate open.

That green wire goes through 6 connectors and 5 separate harnesses between the BCM and the tailgate switch, plenty of opportunity for something to go wrong. In the reality that the cosmos has selected for you, that probably wouldn't happen. In my reality, it's worth betting on.
 

Brewbud

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Seriously? I can't be the only one...
What kind of vehicles have you guys been driving that this never was an issue? I suspect probably newer vehicles than me for one thing. I'm not a "new vehicle every 2 years" type of guy. I had previously sworn never to buy new. This is the first brand new vehicle (and first Dodge/Ram/FCAUSLLC) I've ever bought and I only did it because this chip shortage business drove the cost of used trucks to brand new prices.

Here's my list, what I can remember, which is just the past few years:

1993 Chevy Silverado: windshield wiper stalk wires rubbed against the inside of the steering column and shorted out. Blew fuses and wipers didn't work.

1991 Toyota Celica: alarm system wires shorted out against the frame and the alarm would just randomly go off in the middle of the night or day.

2010 GMC Yukon: passenger's power seat motor wire got caught against something, pulled, shorted out, and blew up the contacts in the switch so the seat would recline but wouldn't go back upright. Every time someone reclined it I would have to hotwire the seat to get it back in position.

2002 Nissan Frontier: tail lights shorted against the frame and the brake lights would work sometimes, other times not, and other times the fuse would blow when brakes were pressed

2013 Mazda 5: ambient temp sensor in the grille got pinched after a mechanic did some work on it and after that the A/C would only run on max setting, any other setting and it would blow hot dank air out.

Maybe this one is a stretch and shouldn't count, but...
2010 Ford focus: flooded in Harvey, afterwards would just randomly run out of gas. The fuel pump was stopping. Replaced the pump controller but still had issues. Turns out the wires had rubbed the insulation off prior to the flood and the flood corroded the wires almost in two.

I have never had a short in factory wiring. I have had problems with loose grounds causing a gremlin.

I once had a short in a car alarm a friend made for my old Ford F100. The horn would honk on a sharp right turn. LOL It was easy to find and fix.
 

strantor

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I have never had a short in factory wiring. I have had problems with loose grounds causing a gremlin.

I once had a short in a car alarm a friend made for my old Ford F100. The horn would honk on a sharp right turn. LOL It was easy to find and fix.
Yeah bad ground in cars can cause some very strange issues.
 

strantor

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This afternoon/evening's progress: made some linkages out of 3/8 round rod and more unistrut hardware. The linkage turning mechanisms took some experimentation, made a couple extra rods that didn't work out. But the end result works great. 20210525_211351.jpg
20210525_211943.jpg
Then cut the taco out of the middle of the aluminum sheet and cut a new middle section to replace it.
20210525_203654.jpg

20210525_203724.jpg

I cut the aluminum with a jigsaw. Should have used plasma but I didn't. The edges don't meet up nicely. It's going to look like bootyhole. I said I was going to put plastic sheet over the top but I may have changed my mind. Any tips or tricks for no-weld joining of sheets edge-on? There's got to be some kind of structural trim that would do it but I don't know what to google.
 

McHenry2500

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Maybe consider spot welding the aluminum, then when everything is complete cover the shell in Line-X or some other textured bed liner?

I can't tell from your pictures but do you have the in bed lights? If not, you may wanna get some as it's pretty dark in the bed.
 

strantor

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Holy cow.. youre gonna eat up all of your payload with that bed cover!! lmao

Nice work though.. very nice.
Thanks! You might have a different opinion if I provided closeups of my welds, which I won't be doing. And payloads are more like suggestions than rules, or so I heard.
Maybe consider spot welding the aluminum, then when everything is complete cover the shell in Line-X or some other textured bed liner?

I can't tell from your pictures but do you have the in bed lights? If not, you may wanna get some as it's pretty dark in the bed.
Hey, I like that idea. I was thinking the aluminum is going to get scratched and ill have to just practice the art of not giving a F. But if it were sprayed with bed liner that would be great. I'd rather it not be black though, and cook all my stuff inside. I wonder if they make color match bed liner.
 

Brewbud

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Thanks! You might have a different opinion if I provided closeups of my welds, which I won't be doing. And payloads are more like suggestions than rules, or so I heard.

Hey, I like that idea. I was thinking the aluminum is going to get scratched and ill have to just practice the art of not giving a F. But if it were sprayed with bed liner that would be great. I'd rather it not be black though, and cook all my stuff inside. I wonder if they make color match bed liner.
They do make colored matched bed liner. The ones I have seen look great the first few years if they have the UV protection added. Certain colors look pretty faded after several years. It will add some weight to that cover.
 

Brutal_HO

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Double thickness on both the top and bottom would make it so heavy it would be harder to steal that tailgate though!

Just spray the tailgate with Line-X both sides, nobody will want it after that.

ETA: Also, that methmouth stealing it wouldn't be strong enough to carry it then, unless he had that shoulder strap.

(yes, I know OP is doing this to protect the bed contents as much, if not more, than the tailgate...)
 
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MEGA HO

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Maybe they are selling the tailgates back to people that had them stolen - just in a different area. I have heard a lot about cats being stolen. There are all kinds of security devices for cats now - from shields to make it harder to alarms for someone under your vehicle.

Have seen this, should help against the cat thieves. :D

Cat.jpg
 

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