I'm having trouble installing the tailgate assist...

[Old Man]

Mine was tight but I watched an Arnold movie beforehand and felt superstrong so it came off. I do have 24" biceps so maybe that helped.

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[Rojo]

Mine was super tight as well. I ended up putting a vice grip plier on the outside and broke it free. Then I could use the socket from there.

Good looking out, I'll give that a shot.

 

[Tremor guy]

You can put electrical tape around it so it doesn’t scratch the paint and use vice grips like Dbert76 says. I used a impactor

 

[GPSMan]

Remember that "locktite" I mentioned in post #7 above?

Looks like you got an extra dose from the factory.

Lol!

 

[Jeffr4JC]

I just used my hand, a T50 and a 3/8" drive ratchet no power tools. I used a vise to get the bolt they have loctited to the maximum to be able to turn in slot making it to where i had to spend less time on tightening it. I would say if a power tool isn't working something is wrong.

Same! A T-50 torque socket on a 3/8 ratchet got mine right out. It was more work putting the new bolt in with the lock tight on it.

 

[Rmalone]

I had a hard time finding a T-50. all the sets went up to T-45. Once I found one at O’Reillys it wouldn’t budge. I ended up calling my son in law and he had it off in 5 minutes but he struggled too. I also had to remove the locktite on the bolt for the channel nut.

 

[Exranger]

I’m 5-06 150 pounds. If I can do, you can do it.

Tighten it first

 

[PebbleMav]

Pretty tight. But a 3/8" T50 with an adapter to a 1/2" breaker bar did the trick.

 

[Hardening2753]

I literally cannot get past step 1 which is removing the bolt that tailgate cable rest on. I've tried a regular socket wrench and it wont budge, I've WD40'ed it to try and loosen it up, I tried putting the 50 socket bit in both a normal drill and an impact driver to try and reverse it out. All I've accomplished it stripping the bit and part of the bolt. Anyone have this issue when trying to install the tailgate assist? How did you get it out?

Can you take a pic of it? Maybe try some proper penetration oil and let if sit overnight

 

[Hardening2753]

Pretty tight. But a 3/8" T50 with an adapter to a 1/2" breaker bar did the trick.

Ah yes the of this don't work get a longer one lol

 

[Rojo]

Just wanted to let everyone know I finally got this installed a few weeks ago. I think the problem was the bits I had. I'm a fan of harbor freight, I think that generally all of their tools are good and fine for most things unless you're a mechanic or something. The torx bits I got from HF to try to remove the bolt from the truck to install were garbage and started to strip immediately. I ordered a cheapish bit set from amazon and the bold removed with little effort. There was some locktight on my bolt but not much.

If anyone else is having this issue, get some better bits, let your truck sit out on the sun for half the day to warm up, and give it a try.

For anyone interested, these are the bits I ordered from amazon: Torx Bits

 

[Redline]

Sounds like more trouble than it's worth. I'll put my tailgate up and down the old fashioned way. It's half the weight of my last one and it literally takes 2 seconds.

 

[tom_tucker]

Sounds like more trouble than it's worth. I'll put my tailgate up and down the old fashioned way. It's half the weight of my last one and it literally takes 2 seconds.

Correct. Here's how my tailgate assist installation went...

 

[cyberdog]

Like others, T50 on a normal 3/8" in ratchet. It was snug, but a little oomph, and it broke free fairly easily, then ran it out. - Honestly, don't recall seeing lock-tite on the threads, but that was a couple weeks ago.

Yes the tailgate is fairly light, however, others might not realize it isn't dampened and may drop it, and I didn't want it to just slam down. It also gives it a little more posh or luxury feel when you can pull the handle and have it gently lower itself. My only small quibble is of course loosing the tie-down, which I'll work on at some point.

 

[JP4AZ]

Here is another little tip that may help anyone installing the tail gate assist.

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