How to secure bed rail tie down cleats from theft?

The 3rd Gen sliding bed rail tie-down cleats are very convenient but also easily stolen by low life thieves. What are you guys doing to secure them?

At present I only install them when I need to use them and store them in the cab otherwise. I would rather leave them in the bed rails all the time.

For reference, I have an open long bed with no tonneau cover or cap.

Thanks in advance.

 

People actually steal those in California? I live in the tweaker capital of the world and I don't see people stealing my plastic cargo tie downs. A/C's, catalytic converters, copper pipes, sure. Not plastic cargo tie downs.

 

Left the cleats attached to the bed rails on my 2nd Gen for 3 years, never had one stolen, but now store 3rd Gens under the back seat. Not aware of any way to stop them being stolen. Maybe you could find some way to put something at the end of the rail to prevent them from being slid off, or can you spin them apart? Hmm, never tried doing that .

 

I had mine on my 2nd gen for 9 years and no one ever messed with them

 

Didnt know they could be take out with the tailgate closed/locked. Do they unscrew all the way? I thought they would only unscrew to a certain point.

 

I had 3 of them stolen from my truck. Nice part of Tempe Az.

 

Or so you thought...

 

You can loosen them up, and just rotate them and take them out without having to slide them all the way down.

I've had mine on for over a year now and haven't had any problems. I say leave em and then on the off chance they get stolen, buy more and be more secure with those ones.

 

This is what I've always done.

The less things out in the open for thieves the better. Whether they are secured or not; if something is left out it leaves room for attempted theft which leads to damage.

This is how you take them off ^^ After you loosen it, push the knob in and turn the whole cleat 90* to vertical and it pulls right out.

 

Knock on wood I've never had a problem with mine, but 90% of the time I have vinyl tonneau cover on the bed covering them up. I think it's a real "out of sight, out of mind" thing... from time to time I'll have to leave something expensive in the bed under the tonneau but I've never (to my knowledge) had anyone mess around with stuff in there.

 

not Just Cali, I've heard of people stealing them in any state.

I just keep mine insude the cab at all times, doesn't take much more effort.

 

I've never even thought about taking them off so they've been in the bed since I bought the truck in 2010. Guess people steal different things in certain parts of the country.

 

2nd gen bed cleats don't have to be slid on and off the ends of the rail, they will attach anywhere along the rail. I assume 3rd gen are the same.

 

A little farther down south like Barry and McDonald counties qualify for that distinction bro....Have a home just south of their on Beaver Lake...even NAT GEO did a series on it. No honor in it really but there is a lot of thievery going on, maybe they just haven't figured out what they are worth at the pawn shops yet....

 

Do people really live in this much fear? This is right up there with locking gas caps. lol

 

If they really want them they can just unbolt the whole rail. Not worth my time or $$$ to mess around with locking them down somehow. I'm sure at any given time you can get a replacement from someone on TW for relatively cheap. That and just buy some T slot nuts and make your own if need be. I'd doubt anyone would steal a random T slot nut setup.

 

Huh... Good to know. Im going to f#@k with some TW guys I see parked and take theirs off and post them up for ransom on here.

 

Fear? No.

More of an annoyance that I have to spend $25 per bed cleat because some ass hat decided to steal it.

 

Right but what are the odds of them getting stolen? Almost zero? Not having to remove and reinstall them every time is worth far more to me than the almost nonexistent threat of some shithead taking them.

 

I had 3 stolen in one shot. I've had people root through the storage bins, steal my tie downs, try to steal my ax that's mounted to my Yakima, etc.

People are shady and will steal anything. Hell someone stole the 2 plastic caps on the rear bumper off my truck while I was at the store.