popnlock pl8510 not fitting

installing powered lock on 1st gen tacoma, model

$117 pl8510 power tailgate lock for toyota tacoma

pl8510.
Ran into some trouble with fitment. when all pieces are bolted in the locking bolt on the PnL impacts the y mechanism of the tailgate latch. (picture 1)
Instead its supposed to slide smoothly under the Y piece to prevent motion, as i had when it was just held together by hand outside latch hole.(picture 2)
I scraped off as much of the sprayed on bedliner hoping that would give me the wiggle room i need but no luck.
Anyone else experience this issue?
Any ideas on how i can make this fit?

 

Hey man, got your DM. Just chiming in on what I think it could be as I ran into a few issues once installed. My guess is the "Y" mechanism is bent or not aligning properly. Do you still run the factory tailgate cover? It's pretty flimsy as I found a few times when trying to unlock/lock the tailgate handle after either fully loading the bed (where there are items pushing up against the backside of the handle, or after stepping on the backside of the handle with the tailgate down).

After messing with the "Y" and "PnL" till they lined up properly, I made sure to spray some lubricant on there. I also wanted to purchase a more solid tailgate cover. Planned on purchasing a Relentless Fab tailgate reinforcement but the wait time back then was pretty long. Decided to get a Mountain hatch tailgate and it's worked out okay so far.

 

yeah reinspected y piece. looks pretty straight and fine to me. it sits too low (~1/8") to let the locking bolt slide under it, but if i were to try and bend it up, it would slide off the plastic arm that is moved when you pull on the handle and then be all out of wack

 

You're not alone, I had the same problem.

The "rod" is supposed to slide behind the the metal swing arm like you have it pictured, but it seems like the rod is not the right length. Mine would also slide back out and unlock on it's own.

I ended up cutting an angle on the end of the "rod" to help it make it's way under the bracket. I also used a piece of foam rubber gasket (from my topper) on the back side of the tailgate cover panel to keep the rod from sliding around on its own.

I bet your tailgate handle is just worn out so it doesn't line up that well.

 

Washers shims and spacers to get it to fit are your friend.

Mine has an issue of sliding around on its own so I added a tension spring to hold it in the direction it should be held. Without some mod to prevent "self locking" it is pretty annoying. like @nzbrock said with the foam to keep it from sliding around.