I hate to post this because information in the wrong hands always leads to trouble. But I guess it's better to be prepared than sorry.

For some time now car theives have prayed upon the Ford F-150's door lock system. I know there has even been civil actions brought against them for the design flaw.

However, we have recently experienced the same trend with the GM style door locks. Last week at one Cheesey pizza place, they hit 2-Tahoes, 1-grand am, and 2-Chrysler vans.
The theives are jamming a screw driver into the lock which allows them to manually unlock the driver's door. Worst of all, it also appears to keep the alarm from working. Thank goodness they were just prowling, not stealing the cars.

One of the "brains" here should get busy trying to build a lock that has a cylinder beefy enough to prevent it from being turned/manipulated.

I don't keep anything in my truck worth stealing, but man I'm getting attached to this dmax and really don't want to see it riding around without me.

I know it's hard/durn near impossible to build some thing theft proof, but when you see the flimsey door lock, you've just got to wonder what the engineer was thinking!
Doug

Yep--must be an international thing--my truck was broken into two weeks ago in Mexico--Screw driver to the driver side door lock. It is currently rattling around in the door.

I think I am going to just put a door handle without the lock.

Luckily all they took was my peat coat. No other damage to the truck.

Years ago my bmw was broken in to.

They put a screwdriver in the lock and pushed down.

Pops open the lock in 1 second.

Happens with Jettas too.

Best thing to do it get rid of that option, somehow.

Option one, off another thread on here: Replace drivers side handle w/ left rear passenger handle. Use remote only to unlock vehicle

Option 2: Buy a dog/alarm/gun. Leave alarm on, dog in truck, and gun on hip. Alarm goes off, dog bites, you shoot what's not ate already.

Option 3: Shave door handles, install door poppers, use remote entry.

Try this...gotta love home brew...

help against break ins (http://dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19704)

Ox

Excellent, guess I know what I will be working on this weekend... Also might just get another handle and install that too...

Is there currently a left side handle that has no lock cyl. hole? Reason I ask is I just installed the white painted handles on my wifes Tahoe, and the rear handle is quite a bit different in regards to the inner mechanism (the metal lever that the latch rod connects to is offset about 1 1/2 inches to the rear of the handle) I have installed painted handles on 2 crew cabs previously, and I am sure I ordered Tahoe/Suburban/Avalanche handles for them. The offset of the mechanism may not be different enough to matter, but they are different. Am I missing something here?

I think replacing the cover, with a rear door cover is the ticket, they look easily interchangeable. One could swap the back and front covers. Are they difficult to remove?

Ahh, I see. I can change 4 of them in about 20 minutes, and that includes a cup of coffee, a pee break, and a couple of posts. So, no, they aren't difficult to remove.

Question is: If you change the cover, what is the backup plan for getting into the vehicle if the remote dies?

I know of people that have been unable to use the lock cyl. when they eventually have to try it because they freeze-up over a period of time from non-use. I don't think I have ever used my key to unlock the door, now that I think about it. Heck, sometimes I get home from work and stand there in front of the door of my house, pressing the unlock button of my remote, waiting to get in.

Lol

the simplest way to defeat this method of entry is to remove the front lock cylinders & rods (& disconnect the keyed entry defeat as mention previously). The cleanest way to accomplish this is to install rear door style handles (without locks) on the front doors, & then install a quick-connect booster cable system (which are very inexpensive & quite handy) like the one Warn Ind. features here; http://www.warn.om/truck/accessories/quick_connect_cables.shtml In the event of a loss of battery power, this will allow you to hook up a set of jumper cables cleanly from the outside via the cables quick-connector located in the grill, under the bumper (or wherever you decide to install it) which will provide power to a dead battery & allow you to open the doors with your usual keyless remote. Once in, you crank her over, disconnect your cables from the other vehicle, & off you go (if you have no power you're going to need a jump start anyway) The Quick-connect cables are very easy to install as are the rear handle plates,

PS-make sure you leave the jumper cables for the quick-connect located somewhere outside the cab. I sometimes bunjee them in a jumper cable bag in the spare tire area. http://www.warn.com/truck/accessories/quick_connect_cables.shtml

From this thread - http://dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19704
Works very well.

Nice idea, although, I don't see the purpose in removing the cylinders and rods, if there is a cover that keeps you from accessing them.

BTW, anyone can pull the grill in 20 secs, pop the hood and jump it.

The real trick is going to be recognizing that you have a dead battery in the truck, and not a dead remote.

Jump it? How will that make it start?

If you replace the handles with the back ones they will probably know they aren't going to get in that way.

Max

The idea is to re-power the vehicle, to be able to use the remote, correct? Not to start it. Just get into it, with no key access.

Did I miss something but--if your remote does not work--for whatever reason--and the truck battery is good--then you are SOL?(Assuming you have the rear handle now in the drivers spot)

Is this where ONstar opens the door for you?

Onstar, hmmm? I would have been freezing my butt off. Could put them in the cell phone speed dial.

I tried to swap out the front door handles on my 02 tahoe with rear door handle but the 3 bolts did not lign up that well. The bolts on the front handles are off a little from the rear handles

Max

The idea is to re-power the vehicle, to be able to use the remote, correct? Not to start it. Just get into it, with no key access.Woooo.. .Excuse me. IF I was a blonde woman I would blame it on that.... That was truly a blonde moment. I got called out a to a fire (volunteer firefighter) last night 1am and got home at about 6:00am. I have not slept since Sunday night so you'll have to excuse me. -:t

Cool, hope you saved a cat.

Nice idea, although, I don't see the purpose in removing the cylinders and rods, if there is a cover that keeps you from accessing them. BTW, anyone can pull the grill in 20 secs, pop the hood and jump it. The real trick is going to be recognizing that you have a dead battery in the truck, and not a dead remote.
masterp2,
Quick-connect jumper cables are an inexpensive add-on that is convienent & safe. Here in the Northeast (or anywhere else it gets cold), the last thing I want to be playing around with on some 10 below zero day/nite (when weak batterys go dead & plastic is brittle) is the grill. Besides, sooner or later you're gonna have to jump start that electrically dead vehicle anyway. I was just killing two birds with one stone.

I've seen a lot more dead batterys then dead remotes, but I can see where knowing the difference would be important. A simple alarm activity lite in the vehicle might indicate the difference tho (mine flashes momentarily when I hit the remote). If the remote were dead it wouldn't flash, if the battery were dead, it wouldn't be on at all.

Good points, Agree totally!

Does anybody know if the trim rings CAN be swaped from the back doors?

I knew this had probably already came up, but everything is slow getting to Memphis!
Doug

Why don't you just pull the rod off lock? Then they can turn all they want and not open it.

The best theft prevention GM built into the Duramax trucks are the injectors :) This would be the only scenario where I would hope they would fail. I can see the headline now on the 6 o'clock news ... "GM injector failure helps catch car thief ..." ...or ... OnStar "Hello, can I help you?" ...Thief "Yes, I just stole this truck and only got 5 miles down the Intersate and she's bucking/snorting and spewing white smoke ...can you send a tow truck?" ok ... I guess I'm bored.