m-l_johnny
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Did a quick interwebz search and didn’t find anythin, at least not in the Gladiator world, so I came up with my own.
If you have a topper camper, or simply like the idea of being able to open the tailgate from inside, you may find this of interest. If not, move along. Nothing to see here…
Pretty simple, really. Attach to the mechanism and run the strap out a hole inthe side of the tailgate.
My initial attempt was using a length of cable through some nylon tubing, but the friction was too much and it was extremely difficult to pull. I also tried paracord through tubing and it also had a lot of friction. The paracord by itself wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t like the idea of running small cordage across potentially sharpish edges. The webbing from a ratchet strap was the winner. I also tried running it through tubing, but again, very difficult to pull. The one idea I didn’t try, because I never expended the effort to get one, is a bicycle brake cable. I tend to work and experiment with items I have on hand.
I’ll stop opining now and explain what I did.
I folded over the end of the strap a couple of times and hot glued it together. Then heated the tip of an old philips screwdriver to cauterize a hole.
There is a white clip (circled) that easily unclips from the linkage, allowing the strap to go on the linkage. The strap needs to go below, not over, the linkage rod that goes to the latch.
I ran the strap through a small embossed opening that’s below the latch mechanism so it could change direction from down to across. From there the strap exits through an existing hole on the drivers side just above the hinge.
I made it what I thought was an appropriate length and terminated it with a handle.
The red webbing is to facilitate closing the tailgate from inside.
If you have a topper camper, or simply like the idea of being able to open the tailgate from inside, you may find this of interest. If not, move along. Nothing to see here…
Pretty simple, really. Attach to the mechanism and run the strap out a hole inthe side of the tailgate.
My initial attempt was using a length of cable through some nylon tubing, but the friction was too much and it was extremely difficult to pull. I also tried paracord through tubing and it also had a lot of friction. The paracord by itself wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t like the idea of running small cordage across potentially sharpish edges. The webbing from a ratchet strap was the winner. I also tried running it through tubing, but again, very difficult to pull. The one idea I didn’t try, because I never expended the effort to get one, is a bicycle brake cable. I tend to work and experiment with items I have on hand.
I’ll stop opining now and explain what I did.
I folded over the end of the strap a couple of times and hot glued it together. Then heated the tip of an old philips screwdriver to cauterize a hole.
There is a white clip (circled) that easily unclips from the linkage, allowing the strap to go on the linkage. The strap needs to go below, not over, the linkage rod that goes to the latch.
I ran the strap through a small embossed opening that’s below the latch mechanism so it could change direction from down to across. From there the strap exits through an existing hole on the drivers side just above the hinge.
I made it what I thought was an appropriate length and terminated it with a handle.
The red webbing is to facilitate closing the tailgate from inside.
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