Pop and Lock PL8521 Power Tailgate Install (2012 Tacoma)

I wanted to save some money so instead of pop'n'lock I installed this

 

Thanks to the OP for creating this thread. I installed my pop n lock on my 2013 last weekend. I can confirm that the wire colors are the same. I did my install slightly different.

First when I installed the lock mechanism in the tail gate I cut off the quick connects and soldiered the connections. When I ran the wiring from the tail gate to the cab, I took out all of the slack and trimmed the wires to the right length before connecting the wiring to the factory harness in the passenger kick panel. I don't have any extra length of wire wrapped up in the tail gate. I didn't take a picture of the connections in the tail gate...

I passed the wires up into the cab via the grommet under the passenger seat. Afterwards, I sealed it up good afterwards to ensure no water infiltration into the cab.



I wrapped the pop n lock wire loom with electrical tape and ran it along side the factory harness in the door sill.



Next I located the connector with the blue wires (see original post for colors). Pulled it off the white plastic mount in the top of the picture and separated the connector.



Then I removed the pins from the connector.



Stripped the wire housing back a little and soldiered the wires together. Of course you'll want to test the pop n lock before soldiering the connections to make sure you have them wired up correctly and that the lock mechanism actually works.



A little shrink tubing and then reinstalled the pins into the connectors.



I wrapped the harness with electrical tape and neatly pushed in into place. I reinstalled the factory connector back into the original location and put everything back together. Everything works like it should...

 

I've had this a few years on my 09, make sure you grease the sliding mechanism with some white lithium grease so it doesn't bind/stick.

 

Just finished installing mine on my passenger door. Over all, not too complicated. I went pretty slow to make sure I did not have any wires hanging under my frame and am very pleased. Now the bed of my truck is fully secure!

 

Good to see this thread is still going and helping out fellow TW members. Looks like there have been a few improvements to the install.

Overall after having mine on for a year and some change it still works like a charm. No issues so far. The sound when locking and unlocking has died down a bit (unless I just got use to it) and will definitely check the slide to make sure it well lubricated.

 

I just tried installing my Pop n Lock Power on my '13 Tacoma. I followed this guide. At first, I used the provided wire taps but it didn't work when I tried to use the remote to lock the car. Then I went out and got the Radio Shack wire taps and tried that too. It still doesn't work! Any help? Thanks a bunch.

 

My

$104 PL8521 Pop & Lock – Power Tailgate Lock for Toyota Tacoma, Fits Models 2005 to 2015 (PL8521)

PL8521 does not look like that, specifically the wiring. My plugs look more like a trailer harness, rather than clips. I don't think my cables are black and white tied in at my passenger door.

 

Either your unit is faulty or you don't have a good connection to the wires. Those radio shack connectors are very hard to push down all the way. Are you sure you're tapped in to the wires fully? Looks like you kind of mangled the stock wires, hopefully you didn't damage them.

I think there are a few variants out there but they're all basically the same. Different colored wired and sliders on some but they work the same.

 

I made sure the connection was good. I'm pretty sure the wires aren't damaged. Just lightly stripped. It should be fine.
If it is indeed faulty, how's TruckAlterations with their replacement policies?

 

Not sure, I got mine from Amazon.

It's a pretty basic set-up, if you have it hooked up to the right wires (looks like you do, even if they were reversed it would still do something) it should work.

 

Well, my pop-n-lock failed me the first time I actually needed it. Took a quick 3 day vacation with the Tacoma. Obviously had all my luggage secured under my G4 Elite with built in locks and my pop-n-lock. Get to my destination and the pop-n-lock quick locking. It was still clicking but it wasn't actually locking. Got home, opened up the tailgate and found that the little spring that supports the sliding lock mechanism had come loose. So it was locking but without the spring to support it, the mechanism was just sliding back into the unlocked position. All fixed now but was kind of frustrating not being able to secure anything in my bed when I really needed to.

 

Did you figure it out Kenny? No offense but your wire connections look pretty bad. That Blue and Black wire doesn't even look like it is going in the right terminal. You might want another set of eyes/hands to check your connections. Even if they are good right now those connections won't last.

 

I assume the answer to this would be yes, but I thought I would throw it out there...

Were any of these done with a Double Cab and did you need additional wiring?

What about with a Double Cab long bed?

Regards.

 

Double cab long bed here and still had too much wiring. No need to worry about that.

 

How did you mount that eyelet to the tailgate?

 

Sweet, thx Brad

 

From the picture it looks like it's threaded into a tailgate cover screw hole.

 

I just want to say thank you for this thread. I just finished installing one of these, and this thread definitely saved me a lot of time. The install, from opening the package to putting my tools away, took around and hour and was very easy. I bet it would've taken me two or three hours, had I needed to follow the supplied instructions.

Thanks again!

 

My spring is falling out again, so it is not staying locked. Amazon is sending me a new one 4 months after purchase though which is good.

 

I did it! Thanks TW members for all your help!