For some reason, thieves love taking taillights and tailgates off modern Ford trucks. (The reason is money.) It’s been a problem over the last couple of years as criminals—especially in Texas but also in other states—target F-150s and Super Duty pickups. This has been the focus of local news investigations and plenty of social media posts, but still, the thefts continue. That’s why Omaha Bravo Designs developed a kit to keep these parts on your truck.
OBD is calling it the AllGuard Kit. It’s set to ship in late November, and it includes hardware for the taillights, tailgate, and even the hood on 2017-2022 Super Duty models. Pricing starts at $150 for a raw finish, or $180 for a textured black coating.
And considering the cost of replacement parts, the kit is cheap. A glance at the official Ford parts website shows that 2017-2022 Super Duty taillights range anywhere in price from $530 a piece for the basic lamps to $2,711 each for the high-trim LED units. Meanwhile, a bare Super Duty tailgate with no hardware or trim is around $2,200. That means a one-time, $150 purchase could save you more than $7,000. Talk about a bargain.
I’m not sure which came first: the parts thefts or the obscenely high prices. I believe it’s a cause-and-effect situation, as the listed prices on Ford’s parts site are way more than the MSRPs. That’s what happens when demand is high and supply is limited.
The AllGuard Kit incorporates a handful of simple methods to prevent theft. For starters, it covers the Torx bolt heads that hold the taillights on, making it a lot tougher to remove them in a pinch. The cover plate is also installed with security fasteners. As for the tailgate portion, it prevents access to the Torx bolts that are otherwise left exposed, even with the tailgate locked. It would be wrong to call it a factory design flaw, but because the latch holes on the Super Duty’s tailgate are so big, thieves can crack ’em open without a safeguard like this.
OBD will sell individual parts of the AllGuard Kit if you’re only worried about your hood ($35), tailgate ($65), or taillights ($95). Scooping them all up for the discounted bundle price feels like a no-brainer to me. If I had a high-dollar truck like that, the last thing I’d want to do is spend even more on replacement parts, when I could’ve spent oil-change money on an anti-theft package in the first place.
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