I'll start by saying everyone knows that locks are for honest people . With that said I figured there is no reason to make it any easier for people who are looking to take advantage of the situation. As so many others here I often haul things in the bed of my truck that I would like for them to remain there if I step away for a moment.

Not sure on all the models out there but on the 04-08 the tie down points in the bed of the truck have two torex bolts that secure them. If you use them to secure/lock anything into the bed of your truck it could be as easy as using the right sized regular/flat head screwdriver to remove them.

Anyways here is a simple idea I came up with that should help a little, it at least removes one of the most common tools available out of the picture from stealing your belongings.

Cut out diamond plate:


Slide over tie down point:


Secure with lock and cable/chain:


Top down view:


With the plate installed and a lock in front of it, there is no way to gain access to the bolts. Sure this will not save you from a set of bolt cutters, hack saw, etc, but once again it at lease elliminates a common screwdriver. Hope this helps

 

Good idea to at least eliminate one method of thievery. Not very expensive or difficult either! This is the kind of ingenuity I love to see on this site.

 

I haven't had enough coffee yet. I was staring at the pictures for like 5 minutes thinking "who's gonna steal a tiedown bracket?" Never even thought to use them to lock other stuff up....

 

Well it's a good solution, but I kind of doubt thieves are walking around with Torx bits in which to remove the tie-down hooks. Kind of a solution in search of a problem since the cable is likely the easiest/quickest to defeat with a cheap set of bolt cutters which is a tool they'd likely have. Not a bad idea though I'd probably opt for a fiberglass tonneau cover or bed cap if I were hauling items I though might be high theft targets. Obviously a much more expensive solution, though.

 

20v battery grinder with a zipcut disk will go through the cable or any lock faster then ever thinking about removing the bolt.

Good idea...but overthinked IMO.

 

When I bought my truck it had the Truxedo cover Ford offers as a dealer installed accessory. I take the cash register approach...I'd rather you steal whatever it is you want than destroy my cover and steal it anyway.

 

A flat head screwdriver will fit in there, I tried it, pretty common tool. As for a cover, I often have things such as ATV, dog box, etc back there so in my case it would be in the way more times than not, for others it is a great solution.

 

Agreed, as my OP stated locks are for honest people. The whole purpose of this was a way to eliminate a very common tool. Sure thing if someone wants whats back there and have the tools to take it then the lock cable will not stop them.

Oh well, I had the scrap laying around, def does not hurt to try, especially when it only takes a little free time.

 

Very smart good thinking