TN_Ryan
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2024
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- 14
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- Location
- Chattanooga, TN
- Vehicles
- 2021 F150 XLT RCSB Oxford White
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- #1
During the course of adding all of the personal touches to my truck, I paused at the power tailgate mod since it seemed the general consensus was that the tailgate itself was internally different between a standard remote release tailgate and a power open/close tailgate. So instead, I upgraded my tailgate from a standard lock/unlock tailgate to a remote release tailgate. Which served its purpose quite well for almost a year now...
Until recently that is...I got bored and decided to venture further down this power tailgate rabbit hole...turns out, there isn't a difference structurally if you have the built-in step style tailgate. The step tailgate has the large removeable hard plastic panel that allows you to access the lower area of the tailgate needed to add the actuator motor. The non-step tailgates have a much smaller access panel that will not allow you to access the lower portions of the inner tailgate. The step tailgate also has the correct mounting brackets on the inside panel that capture 2 of the 4 bolts that hold the actuator to the tailgate.
There are a few components that are needed to make this work, the RGTM (rear gate trunk module), this is the module that is mounted in the tailgate that handles all of the inputs and outputs to control the power tailgate. The wiring harness inside the tailgate is obviously different, and thus would be needed. The latches needed are electronic, which differ from the standard manual latches that all other tailgates employ. You will also need the main actuator motor that is responsible for opening and closing the tailgate, and finally you will need the lower hinge plate that bolts to the bottom of you tailgate and the pivot bracket that bolts to the passenger side of the bed. These component's are the main ingredients in upgrading your truck from a standard remote release to a power open/close tailgate. If you still have your step, then you will also need the step position sensor, this sensor monitors the step's position to ensure you can't close the tailgate with the step deployed. I deleted the step from my factory tailgate when I converted it to a remote release tailgate, so I had to come up with a custom solution to fool the RGTM into thinking the step is stowed.
But the fun doesn't stop there...you will also need to run "a few" new wires from the front of the truck to the back to support the added functionality. How many wires depends on the package level of your truck. Mine being heavily modified, has several new wiring harnesses that it did not originally come with from Ford. So I only needed to run a total of 3 wires to the rear of the truck. A 10GA power wire that is fed from fuse 37 under the hood...and the other (2) 22GA wires are needed to allow your PTTB button to work on the inside of the truck to open the tailgate, and lastly, to signal the BCM that the tailgate is ajar. The RGTM communicates on the MS2 bus...which my truck already had wires ran back to the C408 connector for this. I'm assuming this had to do with a towing prep package that includes TPMS sensors for trailers. My truck was a 301A XLT...so it came with several options in 2021 that many of the XL trucks do not. The rest of the wiring will already be there if you already have the remote release tailgate. If you have the standard lock/unlock tailgate, it will require a few more wires to make everything work.
And finally, programming. The changes needed are pretty straightforward in Forscan, but nothing treacherous. There are a few different modules that need to be updated in order to allow the power tailgate to work. But I was able to figure it out on the first shot by comparing AS-BUILT data between a truck with and without the power tailgate option.
All together, I have around $450 in this mod. Not too shabby considering I'm far too old nowadays to have to bend down and raise my tailgate on my own being that I found out on Thanksgiving that I'm going to be a Grandpa
Until recently that is...I got bored and decided to venture further down this power tailgate rabbit hole...turns out, there isn't a difference structurally if you have the built-in step style tailgate. The step tailgate has the large removeable hard plastic panel that allows you to access the lower area of the tailgate needed to add the actuator motor. The non-step tailgates have a much smaller access panel that will not allow you to access the lower portions of the inner tailgate. The step tailgate also has the correct mounting brackets on the inside panel that capture 2 of the 4 bolts that hold the actuator to the tailgate.
There are a few components that are needed to make this work, the RGTM (rear gate trunk module), this is the module that is mounted in the tailgate that handles all of the inputs and outputs to control the power tailgate. The wiring harness inside the tailgate is obviously different, and thus would be needed. The latches needed are electronic, which differ from the standard manual latches that all other tailgates employ. You will also need the main actuator motor that is responsible for opening and closing the tailgate, and finally you will need the lower hinge plate that bolts to the bottom of you tailgate and the pivot bracket that bolts to the passenger side of the bed. These component's are the main ingredients in upgrading your truck from a standard remote release to a power open/close tailgate. If you still have your step, then you will also need the step position sensor, this sensor monitors the step's position to ensure you can't close the tailgate with the step deployed. I deleted the step from my factory tailgate when I converted it to a remote release tailgate, so I had to come up with a custom solution to fool the RGTM into thinking the step is stowed.
But the fun doesn't stop there...you will also need to run "a few" new wires from the front of the truck to the back to support the added functionality. How many wires depends on the package level of your truck. Mine being heavily modified, has several new wiring harnesses that it did not originally come with from Ford. So I only needed to run a total of 3 wires to the rear of the truck. A 10GA power wire that is fed from fuse 37 under the hood...and the other (2) 22GA wires are needed to allow your PTTB button to work on the inside of the truck to open the tailgate, and lastly, to signal the BCM that the tailgate is ajar. The RGTM communicates on the MS2 bus...which my truck already had wires ran back to the C408 connector for this. I'm assuming this had to do with a towing prep package that includes TPMS sensors for trailers. My truck was a 301A XLT...so it came with several options in 2021 that many of the XL trucks do not. The rest of the wiring will already be there if you already have the remote release tailgate. If you have the standard lock/unlock tailgate, it will require a few more wires to make everything work.
And finally, programming. The changes needed are pretty straightforward in Forscan, but nothing treacherous. There are a few different modules that need to be updated in order to allow the power tailgate to work. But I was able to figure it out on the first shot by comparing AS-BUILT data between a truck with and without the power tailgate option.
All together, I have around $450 in this mod. Not too shabby considering I'm far too old nowadays to have to bend down and raise my tailgate on my own being that I found out on Thanksgiving that I'm going to be a Grandpa
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