Pop and Lock Fix

For those of you with the Pop and Lock locking rear handles for your tailgates, you likely know how fragile the little plastic nub that is connected to the handle is. It is a plastic piece that presses on a metal lever to actuate the tailgate opening mechanism. While looking for ways to fix it, I came across many other threads from people with the same issue. I was also in communication with Pop and Lock. I had purchased my truck with the handle and figured it was likely a dealer add-on, however, despite contacting the dealer who originally sold the truck I was unable to prove that they had added the Pop and Lock. Pop and Lock also basically told me that if I could prove it had been added by the dealer perhaps there was something they could do. After I told them that I couldn't prove it, I never received another email.

I decided to fix it myself.

Here's a photo of the unit I have. It's just a simple mechanical one, no connection to the electrical on my truck.



Two plastic pieces had broken on my handle. The first to go was a little black plastic nub that kept the spring tight which caused the handle to return to it's starting position after you opened the tailgate. That piece had broken off. The second is the larger piece that I referred to earlier where it connected directly to the handle and actuated the tailgate opening. That piece broke off too meaning I couldn't open my tailgate at all and was using a coat hanger to fish under my tonneau cover to open it.

The fix is the same for both pieces.

While tearing apart a DVD writer to harvest the laser diode inside, I came across the rails that the sled would move back and forth on. It was a 3mm dia. stainless steel rod.

I cut a small piece off and heated it up with a torch and sunk it into the plastic where the little black tab would go. You can see where the plastic has melted around the little metal post. The spring isn't going anywhere now.




I then cut off another piece of the rod, heated it again and then sank it through the handle where the other black plastic piece went. I went all the way through the handle and over the little rod that the handle rotates on. Once it was in place and cool, I used a two-part epoxy to help hold it though I don't think it needed it.




You do have to sink the rod all the way through the handle and into the cubby where your fingers go and then to the end. You will be able to see it when you look underneath your handle from below, but it's just a thin steel rod. It has no effect on the cosmetics of your truck. It is much stronger than the plastic piece.

I have had this done for a few weeks now and it is as strong as ever. Hope this helps some other people with the weak Pop and Lock.

 

Nice!!! Going to start looking for a steel rod now!!!

 

To help others, I've gotten a pop n lock from woot.com a while back for dirt cheap. The lock is coded to my ignition key. I was hesitant to install it out of the box due to the various stories of the unit failing in various places as documented by @Neveraeon

Heres what i did:

First, i epoxy'd the underside of the plastic pin that moves the metal lever by filling in the cavities of the pin to further strengthen it to the entire pull handle. Sorry about the dark picture, i can take more upon request as I'll be installing it at a later date.

Second, i moved the spring clip off the plastic pin and anchored it to a piece of aluminum with a small hole drilled to house the end of the spring clip. Its wedged down and epoxy'd. It's not going away and alleviated the pressure off the brittle plastic pin. I used a spare xbox elite controller paddle button from my random parts bin and it fit perfectly.