OEM tailgate lock, supposed to see the heat shield of the harness?

Installed the OEM tailgate lock using YouTube instructions since it doesn’t come with any in the kit. I noticed that the wiring gets paired and zip tied with the wire loom running along the top of the frame down the passenger side which makes the new wiring (specifically the heat wrap part) very visible from the back wheel well.

Did I run it incorrectly? Did anyone else notice this after install?

thanks!

 

here’s a pic of what I mean.

 

There's a pdf of the official install instructions around TW somewhere. I followed them when I installed mine, and yes I can see the harness high up in the wheel well.

 

I see mine too

 

I installed mine, and it is slightly visible too.

 

I had to check mine...thanks for that! lol

I feel like @Rock Lobster following up on shit. Buahahahaha!

 

I wasn't too concerned about somebody cutting those wires and applying 12V to unlock the tailgate. It just occurred to me that applying 12V to the upstream side of such a cut might unlock the cab. Any experience with this? I might put an inline diode near the upstream plug when I install this for peace of mind.

 

Thanks all! Sounds pretty normal and I didn’t mess up the easiest install ever. Phew! Gonna hit it with some fluid film black in those few spots you can see it.

Interesting thought about cutting this harness for unwanted unlocking… hmmm

 

I can see mine too....I was going to move it because it bugged me at first, but then life happened and I really don't pay any attention anymore.

 

Let us know what you do. I like your thought pattern.

 

mine was visible I adjusted it

 

Once it gets coated in dust from driving, it won’t be shiny enough to stand out anymore.

 

I noticed mine after the install. If I was doing it again, I would have rattle canned it before install. Now I just don't care enough to do it.

 

Same - when I first installed it bothered me how you could see the silver foil stand out so much. One of these days I plan to hit it with some rustoleum spray to make it less visible but honestly, I stopped noticing it haha.

On another note - I love the oem tailgate lock. So nice to be able to lock the bed with the fob. It was a very straightforward install too. Well worth the $!

 

This might be an interesting experiment. I don't expect a 9v battery will do much, but dunno if connecting quickly to a 12v motorcycle battery might be able to pulse the lock.

OP, note the pulses are reversed for lock vs unlock so I'm not sure diodes will work here, unless you want to lose the convenience feature of unlock and only utilize it for locking.

Not something I've thought of before, thanks for bringing it up. I don't expect a thief to have the knowledge or time to bother with this approach, but it's nonetheless an interesting potential vulnerability.

@Puppypunter in case he has thoughts on this.

 

If one was to cut the wire and apply voltage I'm pretty sure the tailgate would lock/unlock based on polarity as you mentioned. I am OK with the tailgate opening as such, but my principal concern is what happens if one applies voltage back to the cab. I haven't tried it, but suspect one could unlock the cab this way.

A fast solution to this would be to add a relay to the upstream end of the cable where it connects in the passenger side of the cab. Voltage of either polarity would activate a DPST relay, and when activated the contacts would connect both rails of the wire that runs to the bed. When not activated, both wires running to the tailgate would be disconnected where they connect in the cab.

If I had the OEM connector plugs to put this inline, I'd make one. If you make them, please send me one to test lol.

That said, I am happy to have installed this every time it gets used.

 

So, to spell out your proposed idea, starting with

In-cab lock: L1
In-cab unlock: U1
To Tailgate lock: L2
To Tailgate unlock: U2

And assuming +12v difference between L and U performs a lock, while +12v between U and L performs an unlock.

I think you'd need two independent relays to detect either lock or unlock and turn that into a single trigger feeding a third relay that connects the L2 to L1 (and possibly U2 to U1 as well with a DP relay but really you only have to break one side to neutralize the vulnerability?)

I guess that works if the relays can switch fast enough to propagate the pulse to the actuator.

Interesting suggestion, I like the creativity.

 

Agreed you only need one side to break connectivity. I figured why not break all access to internal wiring from outsiders to avoid a fried OEM circuit somewhere etc.

You mention needing two relays or three. A single relay coil is not polarized but I assume you are imagining the addition of a clamping diode which would make any single coil polarized and thus requiring more than one. One quick solution to this would be to use a bridge rectifier to drive a single coil.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode_bridge

Also yes I suspect relays would be fast enough given the sound from the tailgate motor, it appears to be a 1/4 to 1/2 second pulse.

Cheers.

 

I have the passenger kick panel open at this time and I noticed two 7.5A fuses in the added tailgate lock harness. Do you have a schematic for the tailgate lock? If the installation instructions came with a schematic I do not remember. The standard Door Lock schematic does not show the tailgate lock electrical. If I knew just what leg(s) of the circuit the fuses were on I might be able to remove them and test your theory that the doors may unlock with the injection of power from the rear of the vehicle.

I do not understand how you would use the bridge.

 

I am pretty sure the tailgate lock just has two wires. One polarity opens, one closes. I think.

I'll make a 3 mins or less schematic, won't be pretty.

Edit: here's a schematic. Its purpose is to interrupt both lock lines to the tailgate except when either polarity is present on the two wires from the upstream side. The key point of a diode bridge (full wave bridge rectifier) is that either input line connects to diodes of either direction. Either line of the output connects to two diodes of the same direction.