EZ Down tailgate strut

IF anyone has installed one, can you tell me if the bolt on the tailgate closest to the bed is the one that has to be removed, or the one a little further out? A pic would help...searching for one on TW now.... Thanks!

P.S. I have seen a picture that seems to suggest the EZ Down strut for the Tacoma comes with a bracket that is bolted on top of the existing tailgate hinge flange. It appears that the bolt furthest from the bed is the one that has to be removed...? Also, a few members have expressed dissatisfaction with the cable getting pinched between the truck and the strut? If so, can you hook the upper end of the cable on the inside of the strut instead of the outside?

 

i tried to install my ez-down kit yesterday...i got everything just about buttoned up and when it got to the bracket part of the installation this is what i found...



apparently toyota decide to either tac weld the star bolt (t30) to the bed from factory or at the stealership...but either way I may have rounded out that bolt...argh

I'm either going to buy a SCREW EXTRACTOR or GRAB IT (yes the 1 advertisde by BILLY MAYS) to get that thing out...but not after i take my truck down to toyota and ask them WTF is up with this...

does anyone else have that bolt welded to their tailgate...i asked a couple guys already...they said no some were able to remove there's while other's couldn't even get the bolt to budge or break loose....

 

I have the Ez-Down strut, here are some pics...I have had it on my truck for almost 2 years. My Bolts were tough to remove, there weren't any tack welds on it. The other thing is the tailgate is rubbing on the right side because of the pressure of the cable getting pinched. I'll see if i can get some pics of that.

 

of those two were hard for me to remove no welds to speak of. Here's a pic.
Cavate, some on this board don't like the easy down b/c it wil kink the tailgate strap, with that said, it does, but my passenger side has already a chaff in it just from normal operation. So I bought two ready to go when or if one or the other breaks.
This probably did not help, sorry.

 

what did you guys use to remove those bolts...cause i swear mines were starting to get rounded yesterday...argh

 

Oh no! Looks like you might need to grind that weld out man.

 

I used a quality set of torx head sockets, so they themselves would no round off.
One of them was in there pretty good, so I did get a breaker bar out, put a little more leverage on the situation.

 

that's what i'm afraid of...cause i don't want to screw up the paint any where else on the tail gate...

ok thanks bro...I will pick up a set of torx head sockets today...hopefully that helps me out...

 

It works good but the cable has to be pushed each time the gate is closed or it jams, which cuts the cable.

 

That thing should come with additional instructions. Did this mod then discovered that irritating cable pinch Googled it found this site. If I hadn't done that i would have never found this site.

It needs a good quality TyRap near the bottom of the shock. I did that and it works perfectly now. About 3/16 " TyRap. Bigger will not fit. Stick it on there so the head of the TyRap will catch the cable so it can't go beside the shock. Super tight. Noticed if it gets wet in the rain the TyRap might turn even if super tight. Super glue it in place so it can't rotate.

 

Use a set of side cutters to get the T & B TyRap super tight. A useless Zap strap will probably break before you can get it tight enough. I used a black one rated for outdoors. They never get brittle. Pick them up at a Electric wholesaler or even Good Old Home Depo MAY have something similar.

Ez Down Tailgate Cable Pinch Fix !

 

and that worked how long have you had it on your truck
i had that on mine for about two weeks and it was pinching the cable

 

Nope never had a problem after I installed the T & B TyRap. I could see it screwing up in short order with a useless Zap Strap though. T & B are the original makers of TyRaps. They're the best. Unless you use them you would never understand the difference. I throw other makes away now. There not worth the effort to put them on anything. The lock is stainless steel. The plastic is super strong. The ones I used are 3/16" wide and 7.5 inches long. Don't know the part number because I don't have the original bag and there is no part number on them only a single 32 mark near the head. 1/8 is too small and the 1/4 inch ones don't fit, the head is to big.

The black ones are UV proof and as industrial as you can get. How to get them on super tight. Pull them as tight as you can get them then put a part of diagonal cutters on the end and use handles as a pry by twisting them gently and it will tighten up even more. Don't squeeze you'll cut it off. keep doing that till you can't seem to get it any tighter. Like clamp on the end rotate the handles slightly take another bite keep doing it. The thing is the shock is so smooth there is not much to grip on. Like if it gets wet in the rain it still might goof up. Some Lock Tight Superglue will take care of it moving around.

 

I had one on my truck for about a month and had to take it off because it wore a hole in the tailgate cable. Had to replace cable. Not worth the money. Took it off and returned it. By the way, the bolts on the tailgate aren't welded. The heads have grooves cut in them. I guess it acts as a locking head.

 

They are torx head bolts and you need an impact driver to bang it out. With impact driver, it comes right out. Impossible to get out otherwise.

 

Welcome to Tacomaworld. May you stick around long enough to look back at this thread and laugh

 

I installed mine last week. Had no problems with the bolts, install maybe took 10-12 minutes as I did it on my lunch break.

I would like to note that the cable was troublesome for the first few closes, but the I took the cable off and gave it a bend in the middle with some pliers so the material has a"memory" of where to bend.
After this it has been no problem and I use it every day.

 

Old tread but do you have any pics of the wire tie in place ? Thanks for any reply.

 

Been a TW member for almost 3 years and 1 and only post is offering "helpful advice" in a thread that is 7 1/2 years old. That's the strangest thing I have seen today.