Help - removing bolt from tailgate

I bought an EZDown tailgate damper. The instructions say to remove a bolt from the tailgate. They show someone using an allen wrench to do it. A 3/16 allen wrench fits, but the bolt's too tight. There's what looks like an adhesive between the hinge and the tailgate. You can see it in this picture.

There's no way an allen wrench will loosen this--it'd snap. Any suggestions on what I can try?

 

Torx socket ?

 

Be sure to use a torx bit to avoid stripping the screw:



From what I've read, though, '08+ trucks have the screws tack-welded in place. Mine was like that. Not sure how much effort it would take to break the weld. I think the EZ Down is advertised for '05-'07 only. You can open up the fiberglass liner and see how the screw is attached inside the tailgate.

 

Hmmmm. Don't have any torx bitx. I read on TW that this would work on my '13. Crap!!!

 

Of course not, you have to use the Torx bitx............ use the right tool for the right hardware.

 

Looks like you messed up the torx head on that. Like everyone else has said use a torx bit.

 

Or not! This is the hinge on the opposite side of the tailgate. I haven't even tried this one.

 

EZ-Down is overrated anyways.

The Redline hood struts are awesome, but everyone who has installed the EZ-Down has indicated that they have not been pleased.

It causes interference with the cable (and if you take the cable off then any weight on the tailgate stresses the strut), and it's not like the tailgate is off of a 3500 Dually and weighs a ton... The Tacoma tailgate is super lightweight and the strut really is useless fluff that just makes it more difficult to remove your tailgate if needed.