They love to steal them, especially if it has the camera and step built in. Definitely worth keeping locked.

 

That's one of the features I miss mostly about the 2013 RAM 1500 Longhorn I had. It had a remotely locking tailgate and automatically locked when I got out of the truck.

 

When the tailgate is down, we had to stick the actuator part way thru a hole towards the bed. I will see if I can find a picture of it installed.

 

Thank you that would be awesome!

 

I know that response was ages ago in thread speak. I think...I hope, he was making other owners aware about the option to use a lock, on the passenger side pivot point.
An upside down hose clamp is just as effective, for those who find it a pia remembering to lock it constantly.
Now back to the point at hand.

 

Here ya go Boostking, hope these help. We have done this on 2 F150s. Used the stock rod and bent it to the correct angle, then tie wrapped it to the lock bar.

 

Depends. My truck is set to unlock all doors when I open mine, so the only extension of life comes from when I hit the remote to open.

 

Thank you so much. That helps immensely. Now if I can only figure out which wires to use. Apparently they dont exist on the drivers rear door sill. Time to switch to the passenger side.

 

I did the auto tailgate using my key faub mod on my 2010. got an actuator from Amazon and wired it into the wiring harness running along the drivers side floor. It was actually really simple. I wish I had wired it to the passengers side as the tail gate would only unlock when you hit the key faub button twice and wouldn't wear it out as fast. $11 ish was the only part and wires I had laying around.

 

Tailgate theft is a HUGE deal in central Texas.

It only gets worse as they add technology to them (cameras, steps, etc).

Last December, one of my co-worker's tailgate was stolen from his Ram, in broad daylight, within 200 feet of the dealership.

It's hard to make them 100% theft-proof, but there are a few things that help:

1. Lock it if it has a lock (they're not hard to defeat, but the reality is, anything that slows a thief down helps).

2. Add an additional lock (a simple hose clamp can slow them down further, or Ford, Master, and others make locks that go onto the part where the tailgate meets the bed that are like a hoseclamp and padlock combined or a a hoseclamp that uses a wheel-lock-key kind of device to open it.

3. Pick a less popular color (white, black, and blue seem to get stolen more often).

4. This is meant somewhat in jest, but damage it. A dented tailgate is worth a lot less. That said, I couldn't bring myself to intentionally damage mine, and I wouldn't expect anyone else to, but they don't, as a general rule, steal the tailgate with the dent in it.

5. Buy a truck with fewer options. For some of us, this isn't an option, some of us need that step, and others have reasons that a camera is more than just a convenience (hell, I ADDED a camera to mine!) but for the longest time at a Hyundai dealership I worked at, the tailgates that were getting stolen were the F-150 tailgates with the step or camera. They'd leave the ones without alone.