Tacoma Tailgate Locks.....

I think I will use the hose clamp method. I don’t want to be locking and unlocking the tailgate all the time. Out of curiosity I checked eBay to see how much these tailgates sell for. There is a guy in Fresno who is getting around $300 for them. No doubt he is supplementing his income by stealing Tacoma tailgates. He has sold seven since last March and has one for sale now.

 

Link?

 

http://feedback.ebay.com/ebaymotors...sspagename=VIP:feedback:2:us&iid=150252279284

 

Someone should contact those people and let them know they paid for stolen merchandise.

Followed by someone tracking this guys info and beating his ass. Fucking thiefs makes me sick.

 

yep its not like this ass...le has a tailgate factory, its obviously stolen merchandise.....

 

He's got another one for sale!!

 

How do you report that shit? This asshole has made nearly $2800 off of stolen Taco parts alone.

Fucking thieves. If I ever caught somebody trying to steal my tailgate, they better hope the cops get a hold of them before I do.

 

So I decided to do the tailgate mod of installing a hose clamp for security against getting ripped off. As a first step I was going to take the tailgate off and install a piece of tape to protect the paint from the hose clamp. However the tailgate cannot be removed. The plastic sleeve has been rotated to partially fill the hole. This was obviously done at the factory. Also this sleeve cannot be rotated back by hand. I’m sure if I took a punch I could tap it back in place. So it looks like my tailgate security problem has been solved by Toyota.

 

you got that right my brotha!!! im always up for laying the smacketh down on a thief!!! god forbid i ever catch someone breaking into our tacoma or accord.....let alone our house!!!! it'd be a really bad day for them!!

 

I would rather be safe than sorry and install some kind of lock on it.....

 

^I agree. Get both the PopNLock and put a hose clamp on it. I did that because I don't believe in making anything easy for a thief.

 

If I can’t take the tailgate off how is a thief going to succeed? To reiterate from my post, the factory has rotated the sleeve. The gate will not come off. I suspect Toyota is on to the fact that people are stealing the tailgates and has come up with a fix.

 

They need to put a factory lock on it!

 

Your manual shows you how to get it off.

 

Just for grins, I did both.

 

Yes you open the tailgate 30 degrees and pull the right side of the gate up. Well this slot on the tailgate has a corresponding sleeve made of plastic in the same shape as the steel part of the tailgate. This sleeve has been rotated to fill the slot. The gap is now about 4mm wide. The gate will not come off. Furthermore I don’t plan on trying to get it off, which upon further investigation looks like it would not be so easy. I only make this post to point out to some people that maybe there is no need to secure the tailgate, because it has already been done.

 

Here is a link to the PopNLock. It has both the manual and auto. I wonder how hard it really is to install the auto one. Sounds like the best solution unless the install is a bitch.


http://www.truckcandy.com/TC/PopNLock/PopNLock.htm?source=gaw_popnlock_e

Although you can't go wrong with a friggin hose clamp.

 

I bought and installed the PopNLock auto one. It was easy to install, it just took a bit of time to run the wires properly so that they wouldn't get caught up on anything on the undercarridge. Start to finish it took about 2 hours total. It's actually awesome how it works, but its a simple design.

Just to let you all know I ran into a little issue the other day. I believe someone actually tried to break into my tonneau cover and tailgate the other day, when I left my truck on a jobsite. When I walked upto my truck I noticed the side of my tonneau cover was lifted. This wasn't normal considering I have the Extang Revolution, and basically locks into itself several times down the bedrail. I guess the theives figured they'd try and have a look before they tried anything else. They probably realized that it was impossible to get in without either getting through the tailgate or taking a knife to the tonneau cover thanks to the tonneau's design (awesome btw). So I tried to press the door lock to unlock the tailgate and realize that it's not unlocking. I kept trying and nothing, but I can hear it trying to open. So I drove it home so I could have a better look and see what the problem was. Now here's the best part... because my tonneau cover locks into itself, and the tailgate lock is jammed I can't access anything to try and fix it. After about and hour of playing with the tonneau cover latches I finally got it to open. I take everything apart and look at the PopNLock system and seen that due to the thief tugging on the handle it bent the PopNLock braces causing it to jam. They must have pulled sooo hard on that handle cause it would take alot to bend the metal (it only bent slightly, just enough for it to jam). I bent it all back into shape and it worked good as new. Anyways I would rather have gone through a bit on bullshit like I did, then to have a few grand worth of tools stolen (if they were in the truck). So I give both PopNLock and the Extang Revolution a good recomendation for people looking to secure they're shit. Anyways... thats what I have to say about that. lol

 

TO EACH'S OWN..... WHAT'S $55 V.S. LOSING A TAILGATE..... THIS THREAD IS JUS MEANT TO BE INFORMATIVE.....

 

You must not be getting what I'm saying. However, I'm sure some people got it from my description.