Pickup truck tailgate theft

"Coming back to the truck after a game at the stadium or following a night out with friends, it can come as quite a shock to realize that thieves have made off with your tailgate. It takes less than 30 seconds for a thief to snatch a pickup tailgate and replacement costs can amount to $1,000 or more."

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Gives kink to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

Reply to
Oren
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The easy to remove tailgate does make it easy to steal. Many people probably never remove the tailgates. On my truck I put one of the simple screw type radiator clamps on it.. That means that you have to take a screwdriver and loosen to clamp to remove the gate. Probably something the theives are not going to take time with. Without this, all you have to do is open the tailgate and pull it off, Takes maybe 5 seconds to do instead of 30 seconds.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

I take it you put the clamp on the slotted end gate pivot point at the bottom. A good idea. Simple and easy.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

That is correct. That converts that slot to more or less a solid shell. It is not my origional idea. Friend showed it to me and he found it somewhere else.

If you have a screwdriver it can be removed in a short period of time. I never have had any need to remove my tailgate. I don't use it like a truck very much, but have hauled about 20 loads of wood in the 6 years I have had it. This is a Toyota Tacoma that has the slotted piviot point,but I bet there are others that work similar to it that a $ 2 would fix.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

This may be somewhat off topic, but just in the same way truck tailgates are easy to remove, so too are the oven doors on stoves.

I'm presuming most people don't know that because every tenant I've ever seen in the process of cleaning an oven was doing it with the door still on, and that just makes things hard to do.

Look on the oven hinge for a "hook and loop" arrangement and move the loop over the hook to keep the door hinge spring in tension when the door is off the oven. That will make the doors very much easier to put on because you just reinstall the hinges into the slots on both side of the stove, unhook the loops from the hooks on the door hinges, and the door will work normally again.

Whenever I have to do any cleaning or repairs in an oven, I always remove the doors to make access so much better (so that the job goes easier).

Reply to
nestork

First I've heard of it. Sounds like a dumb idea, though.

I certainly don't see how it would.

Reply to
krw

I'm trying to recall the last p/u I even saw with a tailgate. At least in CA. Everyone took 'em off and put those silly web belt thingies on their truck. What was that all about? I assumed it was cuz of some kinda perceived gas mileage improvement cuz most everyone hadda commute some insane distance to work.

I'm now in CO and I guess it might be a problem, as everyone here has their tailgate installed. OTOH, so rural, not much auto theft of any kind. Probably not an issue, here.

"Pssst.... wanna buy a hot tailgate?" Sorry, I jes can't see it. ;)

nb

Reply to
notbob

Everything in the US that isn't nailed down or under surveillence 24/7 is being stolen.

And this is news to you?

Go do a search for "tailgate" on ebay. You'll find hundreds.

Reply to
Me

Same on Fords. That leaves

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American Pie. Hint for the youngins "drove my......... to the ..... but the ....... was dry"

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

The old Ch*vy stepsides aren't difficult at all. I don't know about modern ones.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

There was a rumor some years back that it increased mileage (it doesn't). Some think the net looks cool (it doesn't). It was a big thing in VT to leave it down. Dumb.

I certainly don't see any pickups missing them anymore. I live in a very large metro area, too.

Color? I have seen some that don't match but they can be explained by replacement parts from junk yards.

Reply to
krw

There is a notion floating around that removing the tailgate improves gas milage. Mythbusters did a segment on this concept and actually found the reverse: Tailgate UP is more fuel efficient than tailgate down.

Some in California are eager to believe...

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Reply to
HeyBub

And there is a difference between tailgate DOWN and tailgate OFF on some trucks as well.

Reply to
clare

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