Love in SF and have your tailgate stolen?

I've fallen and I can't get up!!

 

Upgraded the security on the SaBellCo. Tried a couple of cylinders, can use either one.

 

I'm a peaceful person who is approaching 70 and not once in my life have I ever had the need
to even strike someone with a bare fist.

However, my thoughts on how to handle the criminal element are quite harsh.

The thing is if you cause injury to someone who is only taking property, and not threatening your actual
life you are looking at criminal and probably civil charges.

Unfortunately that only leaves you two options:
1. Do nothing at all
2. Take it to the extreme and eliminate the person.

If you opt for door number 2 I suggest placing an untraceable something within the vicinity of their
hands and advise you were in fear of you life. Then shut-the-fk-up and hire an attorney.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a lawyer and this should NOT be considered legal advice, more or less a thought.

I'd probably opt for Door number 1 unless of course the person in fact did turn around with a knife/gun/etc
and when asked why I fired 6 rounds I'd say that's all that was in the magazine at the time.

 

Where can someone buy different lock cylinders from , would you say perhaps a local lock smith?

 

For those who live in California like me the best solution is to stay the hell out of the shit hole known as San Francisco. I live in Northern California 100 miles north east of there but will never set foot there again. If you go make sure both your auto insurance and life insurance is paid up to date.

 

a sf native here ….
I remember the days when you could safely go into the city to grab a great burger, beer and then stroll over to the happy ending massage parlor. The best places always had a cop standing out front. In fact, as along as you didn’t interact with the street hookers you and your car were safe. ;-)

 

I grew up in Oakland, spent a lot of time in SF and worked in the financial district for 10 years. Use to take dates to SF in my youth. Last time I was there was about 8 years ago with my wife and 2 other couples. It was a horrible kind of scary experience. Keep in mind when I was in Oakland I was a bad ass, was a pro boxer. Nothing bothered me. But the SF I saw 8 years ago I just said never again especially with my wife.

 

So how are they making money with these? Who is buying stolen tailgates?

 

I lived in Albany. Made many an excursion into SF for work and more. There was always a need to be on your toes, this was 30 years ago mind you.

I drove a Mazda RX-7 that I kept trashed on the inside. Once while returning to the car I noticed every car had been broken into except mine.
I actually encountered the bum and asked him why he skipped the RX-7. He's like man that car is disgusting, I'm not going in there.

 

I’m in sf regularly.
Lived in the Western Addition from 96-08, then Outer Sunset until 2014.
In all that time I never got hassled/broken into once.
(outside of a broken side window at Grey Whale Cove SP parking lot because my sister stashed her laptop behind the seat after we arrived and we were being watched.)
My point that it is not as bad as some make it out to be.
Of course YMMV.
Just my 30 years of experience in the City so N of 1 and all that.
And let’s face it, some folks just have bad karma not just an axe to grind.



edit: knocks on wood anyways

 

People who have had their tailgate stolen and don’t want to pay retail OEM prices

 

Actually a brilliant business plan. You steal tail gates and then sell them back to the people who’ve had their tail gates stolen. You work when you want and everyone you steal creates another potential sale. The more you steal the more you make. And the police there don’t arrest hardly anyone in the city (they are currently 500+ officers short). Brilliant simply brilliant.

 

….thats saying something.
Especially if one considers what has come out of there:
Beast Mode
Frank Robinson
Bill Russel
Black Panthers
Hells Angels
and last, but not least, the Oakland Raiders
Hell, I think at any given point in time back 60's and 70's Oakland might have been the baddest place in all of America, if not the world.

 

I got a 30 day TW vacation a few years back talking bad about SF. So all I will say this time is I could never live there, and I will never go back to visit either. But other than that, I am sure it is a lovely place to live!

 

Find a lock smith that's an Assa Abloy dealer who does vending machines. Or you can buy used ones on eBay. You'll search for something like "Medeco vending machine", "Abloy vending machine", "Medeco plug lock" or "Abloy plug lock". They may come in a vending machine T or L-handle assembly and you just pop them out. If you're looking at Medeco, I'd try to find the M³ version, which usually have a square head key. I'd also look for one listed as "dead bolted" - the pawl locks in place when the key is removed so it can't be shimmed open. Just be aware these cylinders protrude from the lock and the Abloy is bit tight. I'd carefully close the tailgate the first time to make sure everything clears ok.

And no matter what cylinder you use, including the one that comes in the lock, I recommend getting a can of Mul-T-Lock electro-mechanical cylinder & lock lubricant. Kind of expensive, but works well. If you prefer graphite, Kano Penephite works well too.

I'm not a fan of tubular locks. The impressioning tools are inexpensive ($15 for a Banggood HUK 3pc set), low skill to use and can unlock a tubular cylinder nearly as fast as using the key.

 

A secret look into mod life. I want mod level view-only! I’d creep so many profiles…

 

LOL, it sure felt like 30!

Taken it off boss!

 

I got the Bobbercycle tailgate anti theft bracket, easy to install. Comes with torx bolts that I put gorilla glue in the bolt heads. So you have to dig out the glue to get a torx bit in the bolt heads to get them off. Unlike CA, where they gave up their guns to the woke CA government, Here in Arkansas we have a “Stand your ground” statute. A lot of areas around here, thieves will get their freaking heads blown off.