Ford F-Series pickups have long been popular targets not only for shoppers in the market for a new truck, but also, thieves, as the Ford F-150 and Super Duty have historically ranked at or near the top of the list when it comes to the most stolen vehicles in America, overall. However, thieves just don’t target those trucks as a whole – rather, we’ve seen a massive rise of parts thefts pertaining to pricey pieces like tailgates, headlights, and taillights as of late, and that unfortunate trend recently ravaged the Houston, Texas area as well.
According to Fox 26 Houston, the Webster Police Department is investigating a theft ring that is believed to be responsible for many taillight thefts involving higher-end Ford trucks such as the Super Duty that occurred between September 2024 and January 2025. In total, 34 different victims had their taillights stolen during this effort, at a cost of around $92,000. Luckily, police were able to identify and arrest three individuals responsible for committing these crimes.
Interestingly, most of the trucks involved in this case were Ford F-350 Super Duty models, specifically, which were targeted along I-45 from Galveston up to Houston. Super Duty pickups, in particular, are easy targets for this type of theft, as criminals only need to lower the tailgate to gain access to and quickly remove the taillights, which sell for big bucks these days thanks largely to the abundance of sensors and technology present in them.
This problem has become so common, in fact, that a company called Omaha Bravo Designs recently launched what it calls the AllGuard kit, which includes a trio of parts – the HoodGuard, TailGuard and LightGuard – each designed to prevent specific parts from being stolen from 2017-2022 Ford Super Duty pickups, including the tailgate, taillights, and hood. Additionally, Ford filed a patent for a parts theft detection system last September, which could prove useful if it winds up making it to production, too.
Comments
Now I’m walkin’ in the moonlight
Seein’ nothin’ but the taillights
And that’s a pair of taillights I may never see again
Maybe if you didn’t make it cost $1600 for a piece of colored plastic you wouldn’t have to steal them.