So as you guys know, I put the BakFlip tonneau cover on my truck a few months ago. Well the BakFlip conveniently turned my entire truck bed into a giant locking trunk. But anytime I wanted to lock stuff back there, I had to manually insert my key into the tailgate and lock it. Not to mention that I was habitually locking it BEFORE I got he cover since I don't want my tailgate to get stolen.

Anywho-- I read a thread online about adding an actuator to the tailgate lock so it would lock and unlock with your doors. Turns out there are companies that make kits for this.

So Trista got me the kit for Christmas! I installed it today, and it's friggin awesome. Here's the one she got me: Pop & Lock PL8250.

You can build your own system with cheap parts for a lot cheaper but this is a really nice turnkey solution. The hardest part with making your own kit is that you have to figure out a good way to mount the actuator-- whereas this kit uses a custom-made bracket that bolts right to the existing studs in the tailgate.

One thing to note-- if you do this yourself, the wire colors in the instructions are outdated. The correct wire colors are gray w/ brown tracer and light blue w/ green tracer. But be aware that there is more than one of each of these and only one of each of them will work correctly, so you definitely need to probe them with a meter before tapping in. If you want the tailgate to only unlock on the second keypress (when you passenger doors unlock) then use violet w/ grey tracer instead of the blue/green.


(per Skandocious request) ON EDIT:

Update-- wiring the unlock wire on the actuator to the purple w/ gray tracer wire (again there are multiple so probe them first) will cause the tailgate actuator to ONLY unlock on the 2nd remote click, when the passenger doors unlock. In my opinion this is much more desirable behavior because the actuator won't click twice when I click the unlock button twice.

Click to expand...

That is a nice add on, way easier to hit the remote button. Cool Christmas gift.

I need to put remote locks in my E350. I'm tired of locking or unlocking 4 doors.
When I bought it , it's all they had on the lot.

Wow, that's a cool gift. I wasn't aware the tailgates had a lock at all.

Ryan

Wow man! That's pretty slick...

pretty cool, how long did it take to install

Where did you tap into the lock circuit? Under the hood?

I looked at the install instructions and it says behind the drivers side kick-panel.

slmann said:

pretty cool, how long did it take to install

Click to expand...

It actually took me about 2 hours, much longer than I thought. I spent a lot of time probing several of the wires with my meter to make sure I found the right ones (remember, there are multiples of each color). I also spent a lot of time running the wire loom from the tailgate-- I actually ran it up their side the frame, which was much harder on this truck because it's fully boxed front to rear. I had to run a coat hanger from hole to hole up the frame. Worked real well but took some time.

john112deere said:

Where did you tap into the lock circuit? Under the hood?

Click to expand...

Came up through a grommet under the front passengers feet (it's there from the factory) and hooked into the wires under the kick plate right next to the seat. I could have tapped in under the kick panel (forward of the kick plate) but I tapped in there for my power deploy running boards and it was a huge pain because of the way the wires are situated in there.

It was very painless to tap in under the kick plate-- plenty of room down there.

Very nice, and a lot less price wise than I expected.

pretty neat mod.. if i had a newer truck i'd definatly do this mod...

5.0Flareside said:

pretty neat mod.. if i had a newer truck i'd definatly do this mod...

Click to expand...

To bad they don't have Pimp My Ride anymore, bahahaha.

Update-- wiring the unlock wire on the actuator to the purple w/ gray tracer wire (again there are multiple so probe them first) will cause the tailgate actuator to ONLY unlock on the 2nd remote click, when the passenger doors unlock. In my opinion this is much more desirable behavior because the actuator won't click twice when I click the unlock button twice.

I rewired mine today-- much better this way

Can one of the mods/admins please edit my first post and add the above section to the end of my post. Thanks

Per OP request, edit done...

Thanks Admin

You call me "OP" I'll call you "Admin"