Anyone have a power tailgate lock?

There seems to be three major competing brands: Pace Edwards, Pop N Lock and DynoLock. Anyone have any experiences with any of these locks? Words of wisdom? I have read some accounts of people having installation issues due to poor instructions. I am not the most handy, so I need to know if this is something that is reasonable for me to attempt.

Thanks.

 

Bump. Is there anyone out there who can offer some guidance?

 

I am in the process of installing the Pace Edwards.

I am having a problem finding the correct wires to tap into.

The instructions for 04-05 Super Duty states tap into the Pink w/black stripe wire and the Red w/orange stripe wire located in the passenger side sill plate next to the base of the seat belt.

My 05 PSD F250 SD does not have these wires located there.

Another instruction for 97-2005 F150/250 Light Duty & Supercrew states the wires are in the passenger side kick panel.

My 05 PSD F250 SD does not have these wires located there.

Another instruction for 1999-2003 Super Duty states the wires are under the dash above the steering column.

I looked there but cannot find the wires.

The wires control the lock & unlock feature on the doors.

Sorry about all of the above, just frustrated.

 

I can appreciate your frustrations. There's nothing worse than getting into the middle of a project and feeling stuck. Was the install of the actuator itself pretty easy? Does it bolt in securely inside the tailgate? I can't remember which brand, but I have heard that with some locks a hard tug can cause the bracket the actuator is mounted on to flex and allow the tailgate to open.

Any reference on the instructions to the wire colors/locations for pre-97 model f-150s?

Please stay in touch and let us know how it all works out.

Thanks for your reply. I knew there had to be someone out there with some experience with these locks.

 

The unit itself was easy to install. It bolts directly to tail gate latch. There is a round bar, when activated, slides forward to prevent the tail gate latch from opening. On the MANUAL test it works great. I put a little grease on the bar before closing up the tail gate.

You might try looking at http://www.pace-edwards.com/ to see if your year is listed.

 

Yep--I have checked it out and I am able to get any of the three brands I mentioned above for my truck. I was just hoping to find someone with an older truck that has installed one to see if they ran into any problems. I have read a few accounts of folks not finding the colored wires that the installation instructions suggest tapping into.

Were you able to find the wires you needed? Have you competed the installation? If so, how is it working?

BTW, is there any mention in the paperwork about what to do if the unit malfunctions for any reason. I ask because I have a tonneau cover that locks from the underside. Therefore, in order to access the bed of the truck, I HAVE to open the tailgate. Going over top is not an option. I'm just trying to think through what I would do i a situation like that. I would hate to have to destroy my cover to get into the bed. Of course, the likelihood of having a problem with the tailgate lock is (hopefully) slim.

Hope things are going well.

 

Emailed tech support at Pace Edwards. Recommended that I hook up to the pink/orange instead of the red/orange in their instructions and the pink/black wire in the driver side kick panel. Haven't had a chance to complete the hookup, but I do remember seeing the pink/orange wire in the driver and passenger side kick panels. Never did find the red/orange wire even when I pulled the dash apart.

I asked Tech Support what to do if the unit failed. I was told that you would have to remove the plate in the tail gate to fix. Same procedure as you install. I have a full bed cap on my truck, so that would not be as much of a problem that you might have with the tonneau cover.

He did state that over the years, he has not had many problems with the unit failing.

Haven't been able to find an electric lock for my cap.

I did finish the install of the backup camera for my Eclipse AVN 7000. It works great.

Thanks for your support.

 

Glad to hear they were responsive. Sounds like you're on the right track. Once you're finished, let us know how well it works and if the rest of the install went smoothly.

Good luck!

 

I just finished my Pace Edwards electric tailgate lock install on my '05 PSD Crew LB. Not too bad if you just chuck the instructions. Here's what I did :
I have factory electric door locks so I tossed the wire-harness with the relays attached. First, install the electric actuator in the tailgate. Second, the instructions are wrong about feeding the short harness through one of the drain holes on the bottom of the tailgate. These drain 'holes' are really slits and the plugs will not fit through them. You will find an adequate hole right next to the tailgate attach / pivot point on the left side. Next, open the driver's door and remove the plastic sill plate (the piece that holds the carpet down at the door edge) by pulling up on it. It is held in place with bayonets that just pop out. You will see the wiring harness at the door edge. Look for the place where the harness makes a 'T' for the wires to go under the driver's seat. This is where you want to work. Locate the orange/pink stripe wire (it comes fron the front and turns inboard at the 'T'. Connect the tap to that wire. Then locate the pink / black stripe wire (it comes from the back and turns inboard at the 'T'. Put the other tap on this wire. Drill a hole in the floorboard right next to the harness (where you made the wire taps) just large enough to feed the plug of the long harness through. Plug the wires onto the taps and squirt a generous amount of silicone an the hole you drilled with the wire running through it to weather seal it. Now run the wire over to the frame rail and wire-tie it to the OEM harness that goes aft. Connect it to the short harness plugs that are coming out of the tailgate hole. It's time to test it. If all works well, reinstall the tailgate acess panel and the sill plate. If the actuator is working opposite of what it should be, either reverse the wires at the sill plate or at the actuator pigtail. Now reinstall the plate and panel and you are good to go. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the information. Glad to see that someone else found the instructions useless. After numerous emails, Pace Edwards admitted that the wiring color was wrong in the instructions. I actually ran the wire from the unit thru a rubber plug under the drivers carpet to the kick panel on the drivers side. Found the wires that you did and everything works great. Thanks for the reply.