$10 DIY Power Lock Tailgate

Here's the file for the box I made that fits preexisting bolts. You'll need longer bolts and to drill the holes to attach your actuator to the box and a rat hole for cables. Hope it's useful to somebody!

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4555389

 

Did my DIY install today, just under $25 for the hardware, wire, connectors and loom. Thx to the orig OP (MESO) for sharing this must have cheap mod.

 

That seems pretty cool.

 

subscribed

 

Do you have more pics? I'm having a hard time envisioning this. Not sure why, normally I'm very good with that. Thx.

 

Welcome to the best damn Tacoma forum on the interwebs

You're just scratching the surface

 

The red is were the box is located. It’s a box with and arm that attaches to factory bolts. The yellow points at the factory bolts that you use and the blue is a piece of metal that connects the actuator with the locking mechanism. I hooked it up similar to how the KTJO 4X4 kit attaches. Hope this helps!

 

Hey thanks a lot! I was going to ask if you wouldn't mind sharing the file. I'm trying to figure out how to make a setup like this work on my cap and a custom printed box might be just the ticket!

 

Yes, this helps immensely. I get it it now. You created a housing for the actuator that has a bracket attached to it that utilizes the existing bolt locations for the OEM handle.

Quite Ingenious!

 

Great idea with pvc Junction box, hit HD and picked one up, worked good. Just installed it tonight.

 

Great grab!
Love mine and it's been working flawlessly since the day I installed it. Love the peace of mind of my tailgate locking!
Post pics if you can!

 

I don't have a printer... any chance you'd be willing to sell one?

 

Just done installing mine using @Afilao 3D printed design, also used the rear door lock as a connection point. It's not pretty but it works and it cost me maybe 12$CAD total.

 

It looks great to me.

Nice work.

 

Awesome!! I'm glad someone put it to use! I hope it was useful and didn't have many issues.

 

I honestly don't feel like the quality of my printer or the model is good enough to print it and sell it to you... I know places like https://www.shapeways.com/ that you can order prints of your design. If there was a lot of demand I would improve the design and sell it but I just don't think it's there...

 

I did this about 3 months ago and it's still going strong!!!!

 

Older thread but only saw questions about doing this MOD on a 2nd Gen and most of the pics and instructions are for a 3rd Gen... so I thought I would post pics of how mine worked out.

2006 Tacoma. Pop Lock handle. Tailgate beat to sh*t.

I did this MOD for a couple reasons....

One, it seems like a really cool idea. Two, the key would almost never turn in my Pop Lock. It seems this motor will have a lot more "oomph" and make the lock actually function.

Actuator (Kit of two plus hardware for around $20 from Amazon). I did however drill out the tab end to a 1/4" to fit over the Pop Lock pin.:



Tailgate with Pop Lock handle installed:



Cut a piece of 1/2" MDF I had lying around. Thickness was perfect and allowed the actuator to be aligned with the pin tab on the Pop Lock. This MDF was attached with three bolts. Two at the primary cross member, one through a secondary tab. Actuator was then screwed to that.



Close up of tab / actuator interface:



I activated the mechanism about 20 times (unlock / lock) and pin didn't shift at all.

Removed PS door sill and located the BLU/BLK and BLU/RED wires. Tapped into these and ran the wires to tailgate. Keep in mind that attaching to the PS wires in this way, you will need to double click the remote to unlock tailgate (single click to lock). Single remote click will only unlock DS door as usual. There is a grommet right under the PS seat mount. I made a small hole and exited wires there.



One problem I always had was the Pop Lock handle would rattle when mechanism was locked with the key (when and if I could ever get that to work). It's possible my unit was broken or a spring had failed, but I added a small spring from the lock to the tailgate that keeps the handle under tension when locked (no rattle).



Works well so far. Much better than the key ever did. My truck is a bit beat up so I don't really care about noise from activation, but I think rubber isolators at the mounting bolts would deaden that quite a bit... if this concerns you.

Thanks to the OP for the inspiration. Very sweet and relatively simple MOD.

 

Would this also work instead of tapping into existing locking wires on the door just plug in like the oem version does?