- OP 🔹
- #201
‘24 Owners Who Removed Tailgate
- OP 🔹 cs0430
- Start date
I have been lurking on this thread waiting for someone/Ford to come up with a fix for this. (as you can tell this is my 1st post)
I want to thank everyone that worked on this, the internet is great.
I don't have a Tremor, just a Lariat, but the info is the same for what I need.
I have a Wolf Creek 850 with the "Fox Landing" I am going to wire up a switch on the Fox Landing so that the tailgate ajar message appears if the Fox Landing is down so I don't drive off with Fox Landing down. I actually figured out how to do this, except the incomplete tailgate delete kit foiled my plan. I guess in about 2018 there were issues with the tailgate ajar warning, especially in F-150's. The tailgate connectors are the same. I located the wire in my wiring harness and grounded it out and it didn't clear the tailgate ajar. That is when I found this thread and figured that it would be figured out eventually.
My truck has the 360 camera, I ordered a camera from Camera Source and mounted it to the Fox Landing, it works fine. Except that the image doesn't know that it is about 2ft behind the OEM location, so there is some distortion.
When I do my install I will verify which of the 3 wires is ground, I will have to figure that out since I will have a switch installed.
I thought the reverse brake assist went off when there was a trailer plugged in? So when my camper is plugged in the reverse brake assist warning comes on? With the tailgate ajar I don't pay attention to all the warnings on startup, so I don't know what is on/off.
I have noticed that with the camper on sometimes the blind spot system is active, sometimes it is not. I figure it is just the system picking up my camper jacks depending on where the camper is sitting. (the orange icons that light up in the side mirrors)
Thank you all!
Nathan
I want to thank everyone that worked on this, the internet is great.
I don't have a Tremor, just a Lariat, but the info is the same for what I need.
I have a Wolf Creek 850 with the "Fox Landing" I am going to wire up a switch on the Fox Landing so that the tailgate ajar message appears if the Fox Landing is down so I don't drive off with Fox Landing down. I actually figured out how to do this, except the incomplete tailgate delete kit foiled my plan. I guess in about 2018 there were issues with the tailgate ajar warning, especially in F-150's. The tailgate connectors are the same. I located the wire in my wiring harness and grounded it out and it didn't clear the tailgate ajar. That is when I found this thread and figured that it would be figured out eventually.
My truck has the 360 camera, I ordered a camera from Camera Source and mounted it to the Fox Landing, it works fine. Except that the image doesn't know that it is about 2ft behind the OEM location, so there is some distortion.
When I do my install I will verify which of the 3 wires is ground, I will have to figure that out since I will have a switch installed.
I thought the reverse brake assist went off when there was a trailer plugged in? So when my camper is plugged in the reverse brake assist warning comes on? With the tailgate ajar I don't pay attention to all the warnings on startup, so I don't know what is on/off.
I have noticed that with the camper on sometimes the blind spot system is active, sometimes it is not. I figure it is just the system picking up my camper jacks depending on where the camper is sitting. (the orange icons that light up in the side mirrors)
Thank you all!
Nathan
Attachments
Last edited:
I confirmed that #13 is the ground, so #11 and #14 presumably go to the latch sensors.
I only have 2 pigtail wires on hand so I only got to test my setup and mount my sensor to my Fox Landing.
It will work for me, when the Fox Landing is up no "tailgate ajar" when the Fox Landing is down "tailgate ajar"
My other pigtail wire comes in tomorrow, I have a crazy weekend so I don't know when I will get to finish it up.
Nathan
I wired together #11 and #14, I then attached a 2 wire plug that will go to a magnetic sensor that will be mounted on my Fox Landing.
Here is my soldered, heat shrunk and taped tailgate delete harness.
Here is a picture of my magnetic sensor, I couldn't figure out if I needed normally open, or normally closed so I bought a sensor that can be wired either way which is why there are 3 wires on the sensor, one wire (black) is not used.
The sensor installed on the Fox Landing.
This works as expected, when the Fox landing is down the "tailgate ajar" warning is displayed, which is what I want. This is to remind me to not drive off with the Fox Landing down.
However I may end up undoing this. If the truck is locked and I lower the Fox Landing the alarm goes off, so if that becomes annoying I may remove the sensor and just ground #11 and #14.
The next thing I want to do is wire the light that goes to the tailgate to a light on the camper so when the walkup lights turn on a LED on the back of the camper lights up. Does anyone know which wires in this harness go to the light on the back of the tailgate? It won't be hard to figure out, find the pin that is hot when the zone lights are on, so I will just find it with my meter if no one knows.
Thanks everyone for the info on this one.
Nathan
Here is my soldered, heat shrunk and taped tailgate delete harness.
Here is a picture of my magnetic sensor, I couldn't figure out if I needed normally open, or normally closed so I bought a sensor that can be wired either way which is why there are 3 wires on the sensor, one wire (black) is not used.
The sensor installed on the Fox Landing.
This works as expected, when the Fox landing is down the "tailgate ajar" warning is displayed, which is what I want. This is to remind me to not drive off with the Fox Landing down.
However I may end up undoing this. If the truck is locked and I lower the Fox Landing the alarm goes off, so if that becomes annoying I may remove the sensor and just ground #11 and #14.
The next thing I want to do is wire the light that goes to the tailgate to a light on the camper so when the walkup lights turn on a LED on the back of the camper lights up. Does anyone know which wires in this harness go to the light on the back of the tailgate? It won't be hard to figure out, find the pin that is hot when the zone lights are on, so I will just find it with my meter if no one knows.
Thanks everyone for the info on this one.
Nathan
New here. F-350 Lariat long bed 4 door high output diesel. Camper pack etc.
The one thing not mentioned about the tailgate removal is that my car play will not operate by blue tooth. Must plug in with phone cord. Anyone else have this issue?
Auto fold mirrors, non opp.
Alarms at startup,
Tailgate ajar.
Rear parking sensors not available sensor blocked see manual.
Dan
The one thing not mentioned about the tailgate removal is that my car play will not operate by blue tooth. Must plug in with phone cord. Anyone else have this issue?
Auto fold mirrors, non opp.
Alarms at startup,
Tailgate ajar.
Rear parking sensors not available sensor blocked see manual.
Dan
Nice work. Really slick idea. If you ensure you lower the Fox Landing before locking the truck, you'll avoid tripping the alarm, correct? Then, you'll just have the same symptoms as if you didn't update the wiring or really had a tailgate down which is auto folding mirrors wont' work and lights may not flash when using fob to lock, but at least it will lock. Just a timing issue for when you drop the Fox Landing so really nice and workable solution.
I don't have any insight into Carplay being impacted, but Android Auto continued to connect and work fine even with Tailgate Ajar message/warning, and Android tends to be even more finicky than Apple CarPlay. Ha. Auto manufacturers (and apps creators) seem to prioritize integration and support of apple products and apps over android and other operating systems. Someone else will need to chime in regarding carplay as it relates to the tailgate ajar issue, but I don't imagine it is related since it's simply a warning and if an owner was hauling a sheet of plywood with tailgate down, there is not a safety issue or reason to disable carplay like there is with locking features (tailgate ajar is impacts features the same as other passenger door ajar warnings).
It's not that simple.
I need some time to figure out the specifics, but...
I lock the truck with the Fox Landing down. I put the Fox Landing up, the mirrors fold in. This would be like if you got out of the truck hit the lock button on the inside of the door then closed the door (I think)
Then after some time if I lower the Fox Landing the alarm goes off. There is a time element to it. Maybe they figure that if you lock the truck you might then go lower the tailgate to get something from the bed so the alarm doesn't arm immediately following a lock up.
I know I can lock the truck, raise the Fox Landing, the mirrors fold in. Then lower the Fox Landing right away and the alarm doesn't sound.
Nathan
Maybe I'm missing something obvious here, but wouldn't it be simple enough to not lock the truck until after you lower the Fox Landing? Is there a need to lock the truck while you are presumably setting up camp and lowering the Fox Landing? Also presumably, your Fox Landing would stay lowered until you break camp again. So isn't the easy answer just park, lower the Fox Landing and wait to lock the truck after that if you have the need? And, since there is no alarm event when raising the fox landing even if truck is locked, no issues there (or raise it after unlocking the truck since I imagine your are prepping to break camp already if you are raising the fox landing)?
You are correct. For typical camping setup it won't be an issue.
I accidentally set it off twice yesterday. Yesterday I moved the truck, locked it, then later went to get into the camper, lowered the step and set off the alarm. The plausible scenario for us is if we are traveling, stop for lunch, lock the truck, come back out and go to get something from the camper before unlocking the truck, we will set off the alarm. I don't think it will be often, especially since I will think about it before lowering the Fox Landing. In all scenarios that I can think of we will have our keys close by, and I can use the keypad on the door to turn off the alarm.
Nathan
I took some time to find the wire that turns on the tailgate/puddle/zone light. It seems to be #13 on the other connector, the light gray or beige one. I did not find a ground in that connector.
I used the same wire pigtail from digikey and added it to #13 on this connector.
When walking up to the truck the lights come on including this new wire.
Now I need to find a suitable light to mount to the back of the camper so we will have an exterior light come on when walking up to the truck.
(Sorry I know this doesn't really belong in this thread, but I thought that it was good info)
Nathan
I used the same wire pigtail from digikey and added it to #13 on this connector.
When walking up to the truck the lights come on including this new wire.
Now I need to find a suitable light to mount to the back of the camper so we will have an exterior light come on when walking up to the truck.
(Sorry I know this doesn't really belong in this thread, but I thought that it was good info)
Nathan
New to forum, and this thread has been awesome, thanks to everyone who’s figured this out and posted about it, I just did the pigtail fix, and it worked!
NathanG - I think I want to do what I perceive you did. I’ve removed tailgate, have the jumper in place with the three joined pigtails and all is well in the truck (no ajar warning, prox sensors work, and lines on camera work), but I want my puddle light to still work as I’m going to repurpose it. I can’t quite tell what you did to make that happen:
1) Are you still using the delete jumper?
2) did you connect a wire all the way across the jumper - meaning going into both connectors?
3) Were you modding the connectors on the truck at all, or just the jumper itself?
4) Any other help/pics/suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone!
I am sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I got busy with a camping trip and other camper mod.
I have not added my walkup light yet, but I will get it done when my light gets here.
I only modified the tailgate delete harness, I added a wire to the beige/gray connecter on #13. That wire has 12v on it when the zone lights/puddle lights are on. For a ground I am going to use the same ground for the tailgate ajar, #13 on the black connector.
I have been using these connectors from amazon
Nathan
Awesome, thanks for the additional info. Just added the pigtail, and now get 12v when I walk up to truck with keys. Now just to wire up the lights. I’m going g to switch to having this activate some rear rock lights rather than the factory gate light.
I wanted to add a big thank you for "those who came before" on the tailgate ajar issue and to add another datum point to confirm the 3 ground wire fix solved the tailgate ajar issue. I used the Digikey leads referenced in the forum previously and tied them together using a splice (Digikey P/N 2946-221-413/VE00-2500-ND).
My truck is a 2024 Lariet 7.3 SuperCab 8 ft bed SRW non-Tremor with camper pkg AND 5th wheel prep. Build date was February 2024. Selling dealer salesman (Granger, IA) and local dealer service department (Reno, NV) were no help when I asked if they had a solution. Reno told me that's the way it is supposed to work because if the tailgate is removed, "of course it's ajar". Since I didn't buy from them I didn't push the issue.
After fix and with camper connected to bumper 7-pin: mirrors fold when locking and no longer receive tailgate ajar warnings. I receive warning that cross traffic alert is disabled because connected to trailer. Camera lines do not show and rear parking assist sensors don't work, likely because truck believes there is a trailer connected.
* If I unplug the camper the camera lines show and the parking sensors work and I believe the cross-traffic alert is active.
* My next step is to order/install the camera source kit others have mentioned.
* I've not actually driven the truck, only tested it in the driveway at idle.
Anyone know if there is a way to configure for a slide-in camper so the truck doesn't think there is a trailer? I can start a new thread but figure most people remove the tailgate because of their truck camper.
My truck is a 2024 Lariet 7.3 SuperCab 8 ft bed SRW non-Tremor with camper pkg AND 5th wheel prep. Build date was February 2024. Selling dealer salesman (Granger, IA) and local dealer service department (Reno, NV) were no help when I asked if they had a solution. Reno told me that's the way it is supposed to work because if the tailgate is removed, "of course it's ajar". Since I didn't buy from them I didn't push the issue.
After fix and with camper connected to bumper 7-pin: mirrors fold when locking and no longer receive tailgate ajar warnings. I receive warning that cross traffic alert is disabled because connected to trailer. Camera lines do not show and rear parking assist sensors don't work, likely because truck believes there is a trailer connected.
* If I unplug the camper the camera lines show and the parking sensors work and I believe the cross-traffic alert is active.
* My next step is to order/install the camera source kit others have mentioned.
* I've not actually driven the truck, only tested it in the driveway at idle.
Anyone know if there is a way to configure for a slide-in camper so the truck doesn't think there is a trailer? I can start a new thread but figure most people remove the tailgate because of their truck camper.
I've not flipped through the "Trailer" menu with an eye towards telling the truck there is no trailer even though something is plugged into the 7 pin or flat 4. I actually am the opposite and like that it's in trailer mode when I have my bike rack on and plugged in (it has brake light and turn signals and so a flat 4 plug) because it activates the side mirror camera with blinker activation and keeps track of how many miles I've driven with the bike rack (no practical reason that is needed; it's just interesting to me).
Whether you set up a profile for your pickup camper or use default, nothing comes to top of mind as a way to ignore. What is your camper is your camper doing with the plug? Likely a 12v source to charge camper battery, but that allows very small current so there are better ways to do that. Does it have running lights and/or built in brake lights that are using the 7pin? Depends on how far you want to go, but you could tap into the running lights and use a separate plug for running lights and set up a nice heavy gauge pair of conductors for your DC charging.
But, let's start with you sharing for what your camper uses the 7 pin to power.
Camper has running lights and tail/turn/brake lights (covers up the truck's tail lights). It also has the trickle charge for the battery. I'm guessing the only thing off the 7-pin that I don't use is the brake. I could try a 4-pin adapter but assume the truck would still "think" there is a trailer.
Trailer menu only lists standard or 5th wheel.
I agree the side cameras are great so I don't want to disable them. The fact that I could back over something (or someone) is my concern, especially since I haven't added a remote camera (yet).
Yes, 4pin or 7 pin connectors both trigger/register as a trailer. And that is what triggers the side display (in the direction of your turn signal) to display on screen. Adding the backup camera is probably going to be the quickest and easiest solution for added backup confidence. I'd rather see what is behind me rather than just a sensor beeping that "something" is there. But it would be nice if Ford had an "trailer type" that accounted for using the trailer connectors but not towing an actual trailer.
I am in a similar spot to you - have a flatbed camper on so no factory lights at all (rather than just obscured). Any time I accessed the 7 pin, either directly plugging in a harness I made or just tapping one of the wires, the truck thought that there was a trailer attached. I have the wiring diagrams for the factory tail lights if you want to tap into those for your wiring. That is what I’ve done and everything is perfect, no warning lights (although I did spend some time w/ Forscan turning off a lot of cross traffic and backup stuff).
Tremor Forum Photos
![What did you do to your Tremor today? [2026 edition]](https://www.fordtremor.com/data/files/featured_images/featuredimages_thumb_6.webp?1790206280)
Tremor Forum Photos
