Pick-up trucks are quickly becoming the new “family” car. Many of the newer models are made with convenience and comfort as the primary considerations. It used to be that the number of bags of fertilizer which could be hauled around (i.e. the payload) was important; now it’s whether or not the pickup’s built-in TV/DVD player plays Blu-Ray discs. There’s no doubt that they can’t be beat for hauling around heavy things - just flip the tailgate down and throw the stuff inside. But are you taking that convenience for granted? It’s likely that you are, because incidents of tailgate theft are being reported more and more regularly.

Locking a tailgate just seems superfluous; it’s out there in the open, and all you have to do to steal it is unhitch it from the pick-up truck bed, lift it on up and haul it on out of there. No special tools needed. And in a matter of about 20 seconds (not even long enough for you to attend to the call of nature)… by by tailgate.

So, what can you do to prevent tailgate theft? Well, there are a couple of online solutions, ranging in cost from pennies (about .45 to be exact) to less than $25 or so. Whichever one you choose, it will be an improvement over your existing tailgate security. Which is probably nothing. Replacing a tailgate at a dealership can be a significant cost - easily $1,000, depending on the make and model. Of course, you could always look on the black market for one, at a cost of about $50, but that’s what this mess is all about, isn’t it?