$10 DIY Power Lock Tailgate

Way cool too!!!

 

I used a pressure treated 2x4. It will not rot anytime soon that’s for sure. Not to mention it is difficult to get moisture inside the locking mechanism. Plastic is forever. And yeah, I’m a little disappointed at @mesojdm. I think I spent closer to $20!!!!! Haha.

 

Thanks @destin_meeks for suggesting the passenger side wiring route. It makes it a lot cleaner to reuse the factory grommet. Ran all my wiring just haven’t finished everything else.

 

Glad it worked for you! Keep it clean!

 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this post. Did my install after work today. Very happy with it.

 

As a former MECP certified installer, I can't believe I never thought of this. I am going to be all over this. Thank you.

 

Might have to give this a try! thanks for the share

 

Def on the to-do list

 

Thanks for the pictures! I used them, and I even guessed the wiring right the first time!

And thanks to the OP @mesojdm for being a freakin genius!

 

Thanks to everyone in this thread. I will be doing this mod next week (barring anything coming up) when I'm off work for a while. I, too, will be attempting a different mounting method. I intend on 3D printing a spacer/box for the actuator and lining it with some thick rubber matting I have. Will update one I do. Thanks again!

 

So I finally got time to do this thing. Thanks Meso and @destin_meeks as I used a combo of both your advice. I did print a hollow box, placed a piece of rubber between it and the metal when mounting, and did go up under front seat and tied to front passenger door. Got lucky on my first combo. I also placed some quick disconnects between tailgate and truck in case I need to remove tailgate. This is my second (maybe first) favorite mod I've done behind my Clazzios! Thanks again y'all!

 

Just finished install, by far the best mod yet. Just waiting on delivery of my BAK MX4

 

Nice! was just looking for something like this.

 

Thanks to @mesojdm and @destin_meeks its simple. Take your time and you will be very pleased.

 

Finally ordered the parts, I have a LOT of 2-conductor wire in the garage, so that saved a few bucks. Looking forward to getting this one on the "done" list, and off of the "to-do" list.

Edit: The breaking point was coming home from business travel (for a month), and ask her to unlock the tailgate so I can throw my luggage in the bed. Well, it was already unlocked! "How long has this been unlocked?!" Why would I ask her? She wouldn't know...argh!

 

Just finished my install and very easy and extremely useful with my retrax cover.
Many, many thanks to all for your excellence write ups!
Much appreciated.

 

Resurrecting this to say thank you to everyone that left behind information I needed for my install and to offer a little help myself. I used this actuator

$19 Directed Electronics Install Essentials 524N High Power Door Lock Motor

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009SWLE6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 as per someone's recommendation. I found at lock that it was pulling harder than I liked on the linkage but at unlock it was pushing harder than I liked. I spent a long time trying different rod lengths, changing the angle of the actuator etc. Eventually I bent a loop into one end of my rod set up and that allowed it to slide as needed to become longer or shorter reliving pressure, while still actuating. And yes, I used a metal hanger from my work uniform because I was hesitant to bend/cut the one supplied.

 

OK - I'm planning on doing this on my truck but I have question: why is everyone so worried about using spacers to mount the actuator lower? I did a door lock install on my son's Nissan Versa (BTW - that's a royal pain ;-)) and simply bent the linkage when I found that I wasn't quite in line. Why would that not do the same thing as mounting the actuator on a spacer?

 

Yep, that'll work. I just wanted an excuse to use my 3D printer for another utilitarian purpose.

 

For what it's worth - here's what my install looks like. And yes, I could've used a single linkage - but I'm lazy and used two in parallel, so I wouldn't have to try and tweak the bending much (you have quite a range of possible positions that way, so it doesn't matter if your bends are off).