New half doors

[Bachman]

Got some new to me half doors yesterday. Does anybody know how to get them re-keyed? I would like to be able to lock them to make it maybe a little harder to get inside the Jeep.

Thanks,

[Jerry Bransford]

My best possible advice for any time you're running half doors is to NEVER EVER lock them. This is Basic Jeep 101 stuff. Thieves need 2 seconds to slice your top or windows so they can look around inside if your half doors are locked. The only time I ever locked my TJ's doors were when I had the hard top and full steel doors on. Another Basic Jeep 101 thing is to never keep anything of value inside unless it's in a Tuffy security product of some type, especially if it's in plain sight.

[Bachman]

Great advice!, I would like the keys to match though...

[sarah]

I disagree, Jerry. I think it depends on where you park your jeep. If it's in front of your house, and someone comes sneaking around your front yard at night looking for unlocked cars, anything you've left there overnight accidentally will be gone. In that situation, they aren't going to slit your windows and make a bunch of noise to try and wake you up. They're just looking for the quiet, easy answer of opening the door. (Yes, this happened!)

[Lawrence]

I have both full and half doors and I never lock them. I agree with Jerry, my Jeep is always unlocked (including the tailgate), and I make a habit of never leaving anything inside. It is not a guarantee that someone won't slash your top, but after having it happened to me years ago, that's the route I chose.

If you want to re-key the locks, pop the inner door panel off to reveal the inside of the lock. With your fingers, take the connecting rod off. Now, look for the retainer and use a flat head screwdriver to pop the retainer off (need to move it toward the front of the Jeep). Now the whole cylinder comes off. Take it to your dealer (with your key) and for a minimal fee, they'll re-key it. If you have a good relationship with them, they might even do it for free.

[Dukes69]

Sean, to answer your question you can do one of two things. Get keys made to the locks, or have new locks made. A good locksmith can do this for you. Not sure how much it'll cost, but it wont be much.

[maddmike]

i've also seen fellas that re-key their doors and trunk with bicycle locks. i'd be willing to bet they're harder to pick (anyone know if this is true?) if you are in fact concerned about this.

cheers,

[Jerry Bransford]

In that situation, they aren't going to slit your windows and make a bunch of noise )

Sarah, how much noise does slitting open a vinyl plastic window make?

[Bachman]

Im not really worried about anybody stealing stuff, the top is off most of the year. I just would like to have the keys match so if I did want to lock it up i can unlock it.

Thanks for the advice guys, when I get back from the Rubicon I will take the cylinders in and get them done.

[sarah]

Sarah, how much noise does slitting open a vinyl plastic window make?

When it's right outside my window - enough to wake me up!

[VVjeepfreak]

I disagree, Jerry. I think it depends on where you park your jeep. If it's in front of your house, and someone comes sneaking around your front yard at night looking for unlocked cars, anything you've left there overnight accidentally will be gone. In that situation, they aren't going to slit your windows and make a bunch of noise to try and wake you up. They're just looking for the quiet, easy answer of opening the door. (Yes, this happened!)

I had my jeep broken into in my driveway and the rear side windows were slashed to see what was in the back seat. The bad part was the halfdoors were on unlocked with NO windows in them and the back was rolled up. Im guessing somebody was too short to reach into the back seat through the open back. Never did catch who did it or you would have see it on the news. "2 dirt bags gunned down messing with man's Jeep" LOL

[Bachman]

Sarah, sorry to hear your jeep was broken into...

My CJ-7 was an attempted theft about 8 years ago. The thief got to the end on the street then jumped out and let it roll into a car around the corner.