I'd be ALL over this one.
And as they catch on to that, they will just reach under and unplug the tailgate harness first and look for any added wiring near it.The tailgate handle is only wired for (door lock / unlock)
All other doors and hood are wired for Door Ajar, The Door Ajar is the input for the alarm.
The BCM - Is only an input (Doors Locked) and (Alarm is Armed) once Armed the Door Ajar circuit is the trigger to set the alarm off.
The only thing the Perimeter (PLUS) adds is Motion Sensitivity - I believe.
So, by using the same idea as the above post, and using a microswitch (external) (Tailgate-Opened)
Use the handle itself as the - Trigger.
The only drawback to the above (external) microswitch is that when the tailgate is down you are going to get (Hood-Ajar) message on the IPC, so this will be an annoying chime if you have to haul with it down.
So, we would have to find a similar (proximity sensor) that can see (sense) movement of the tailgate handle, or movement of the rods or relocate the microswitch (like above) to the handle or linkage assembly.
This way, when tied into the Hood Ajar switch, the Alarm will sound (when armed) anytime the handle is moved.
Example: View of Tailgate handle assembly
Hood Ajar - Switch
When the cable is pulled, it rotates the arm away from the proximity sensor, and keeps the arm in a (Far) sense until the hood is lowered and latched bringing the arm back to (NEAR) sense.
This is the Proximity Sensor (Hood Ajar) switch.
Think (Grover) Sesame Street -- FAR -----NEAR (Aah - The Classic 70's)
So, we need to incorporate this into the tailgate handle or latch assembly itself vs the tailgate microswitch.
We will need to do some investigating / testing of the assembly, to ensure we have a constant trigger vs a temporary (if handle is released - alarm goes silent)
As the above's tailgate microswitch is a constant trigger until the tailgate is closed.
If we can get a constant trigger for the alarm (Alarm Timing for the Horn) then this would allow you to drive / haul with the Tailgate down and not trigger the Hood Ajar (Chime / Message)
Should be a simple CAD Design Exercise --
Punching through with a screwdriver, opening the tailgate- removing both taillight assemblies, all in under 2 minutes or so
Perhaps?????https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/american-farmworks-ac-powered-2-mile-charger
They aren't stealing the gate, rather the valuable black market LED tail light assemblies.
If the Ford alarm is essentially an alarm system there is likely a ground sensing trigger circuit that can be accessed. @airline tech provided some nice details of the inside tailgate lever mechanism and though the CAD design comment may have been something of a joke it's where a bracket to hold a switch inside the tailgate and a contact point would go. Then a lead to interface with the alarm trigger. If the alarm sounds when the door handles are 'checked' when armed it would be easy to chase down. We've already seen that the Ford pass reports alarm events, I haven't looked to see if it does push notifications as well? That should avoid the 'hood ajar' warning of tapping into the hood trigger when driving with tailgate open.
I think most agree but a week in jail convinced me that 1: I needed to stop drinking (33 years on 12/26) and 2: I don't ever want to spend another night there.
