Do It Yourself: Mopar Under-Floor Storage Locks

There are lots of cubbyholes and storage compartments in the current Ram pickups, but what if you want to stash something completely out of sight, under lock and key? Mopar makes this elegant storage lock kit, which is also exceedingly simple to install. Basically, if you know which end of a screwdriver to grab, you can install these locks yourself in minutes. No, it doesn't turn your Ram 1500 into a rolling Fort Knox. Then again, compared with (potentially) losing your wallet and/or camera, at $118, these replacement locks can be a real bargain.


1. The Mopar kit (part number 82211653) includes everything you need (except the screwdriver) in a set with two locks. Each stainless-steel lock also comes with two keys, so even those clumsy enough to somehow lose three of them should be fine. Ours were keyed alike, anyway.   |   01 Mopar Under Floor Storage Locks


2. If you've never poked around in the back of the cab, it's fully possible you didn't even know that these 12-inch-long, 5-inch-wide, 8.5-inch-deep compartments even exist, but you'll most likely find them under the floormats in any crew cab half-ton Ram, one on each side. That's the new, shiny lock to the right, about to be installed.   |   02 Mopar Under Floor Storage Locks


3. Open the lid, unscrew the two Phillips screws, and remove the standard latch. That's 25 percent of the job done. No, really.   |   03 Mopar Under Floor Storage Locks


4. Insert the new lock in the lid, then place the latch back (the U-shaped part) over the lock from the back side and tighten up the two new, longer screws. That concludes the installation procedure, meaning that you're done with one side. Yup, we told you it was simple.   |   04 Mopar Under Floor Storage Locks


5. Now, the next time you go surfing and don't want to carry your wallet, checkbook, and camera in the wetsuit, there's an out-of-sight, lockable, reasonably secure place to put your valuables. We say "reasonably" not because of doubting the locks, but the plastic lids aren't that sturdy. But being hidden as well as locked, these compartments are a great place to keep what's yours. And help keep it yours.   |   05 Mopar Under Floor Storage Locks