Looking to add electric locks to my tailgate and hard tonneau.
Does anyone sell a kit that will work with the Ford keyless entry system?

 

The power locks for tailgate and tonneau that I have seen all tie into your existing lock wires. They should work fine with your existing keyless entry.

I haven't seen a kit for both in the same place, though.

 

Hey Rob,
Do you know who I can get them from?
Thanks for the help.

 

I purchased my tailgate lock from Cabelas.com. Made by Popnlock. Cost around $60 for the tailgate lock only. Included all the necessary wiring harnesses to tie into the truck's system. My only complaint was where the instructions told you to tie into the system. I found it easier to tie into the lock wires along the harnness under the door sill, drivers side. Took about an hour to do the work.
Good Luck

 

I bought one for $46.99 @ pickuptruckaccessories.com. They just went up to $74.99

 

Beast,

I never could find hard cover tonneau locks so I made my own. You can do it with aftermarket electric door lock motors and some ingenuity.

I'm curious. What do you think a fair price would be for a set of hard cover tonneau electric locks?

 

$50 per lock kit would be agreeable to most, I would think. Though the motor cost would be largest part and possibly not cheap.
I'm quite capable of design/builing my own and even have a source to try different actuators, solenoid vs. motor and screw shaft similar to luxury car trunk closers. A screw type would give maximum seal compression and minimul opening and closing effort. The motor driven screw shaft would unscrew and release the tonneau a few inches up and then the lid could easily be lifted full open. To close, lower the lid to the point where the screws could engage and screw the lid down.
Both functions operated by the Ford keyless entry fob.


What do you think?
Want to start a business now that I engineered it for you?
I'd be interested in hearing how you did it.
Thanks,
Rick

 

I've looked at the screw type locks, and have eliminated them because of cost. I agree with you... $50 per lock is about the max that anyone would reasonably expect to pay... thus manufacturing costs must be no more than about $10 per lock in order to turn a profit.

I've used simple after market power door lock actuators tack welded to a standard commercially available slide type lock. All of this is mounted to a piece of channel aluminum. I've also developed a lock which does not mount to the tonneau cover but rather mounts under the bed rails.

I've thought long and hard about producing these locks but the market seems dismally small. Only a fraction of pickups have a hard cover, and only a fraction of those with covers are interested in electric locks. Finally, for some brands of covers (Snug, Lo Rider, and others which prevent the tail gate from being opened when the top is down), it is necessary to create an emergency release system in case of lock failure. This adds to the cost and complexity.

 

Hey BeastRider ...

Am I to take it then that the Snugtop I ordered yesterday may not be hooked up with my keyless entry locks?

I was hoping to be able to use the double click to unlock all four doors and the tonneau lid at the same time. Is there a way to hook up some automatic lifts? I like the way my wifes old Caddy would slowly open when clicked and the way it drew down tight with just a little effort.

Mac

 

The Snug Lid comes with two keyed locks that rotate the locking tab under a bracket that is fastened to the bed rail. So far as I know, there is no tonneau cover made stock with electric locks. I have found electric locks that can be purchased for over $100 a piece that can be adapted, and I have previously built my own custom locks that worked great. However, reading your post gave me a great idea for a lock that would be cheap and will do exactly what you want. Back soon after I build a prototype.

As for the automatic top raise, I understand that there are direct replacement pistons for the shocks but I have never searched for or found one. Let me know if you find something.

 

Thanks BeastRider. I'll continue to be interested in what you can come up with. I'll also get on with trying to find some automatic struts.

Mac.

 

Well good news. I found a kit for an electic lock option for a hard cover like snug top, innovation, with cam locks on each side. I am having trouble getting the manufacter name from the place I ordered it from ( took about a month to come in) But I will install this weekend and take pictures. Still ongoing to find company whom made it. It allows you to still use the original key for manual entry, has glow-in-the-dark emergency release and can be hooked to alarm or keyless entry and comes with button for inside cab of course.

Mike

 

The A.R.E. LSII is the only hard tonneau that I have seen with power locks as a factory option.

 

Me too until now after a long hard search I got the kit today A Box full of parts abut looks easly too install. It is for any cover with the camlock on the sides like snugtop, etc. two actuators and cam levers. I will post pics when Installed this weekend. I am actually doing an install on a Toyota Tacoma Prerunner with a innovation cover ( excatly like snuglid). It is true this instuctions and hardware have no copyright or company markings, so trying to get the company from the place I got it from.

Mike

 

Mike - No flame, but...

Are you ever gonna' tell us what kit you ordered, and who from??