Aftermarket power lift gate finally available

[buckalew]

Holy hell is fishing the wire the hardest part. I've got the actuators installed, all the wires are good to go at the driver kick panel and they have all been run to the rear. But damn if I can't get a single wire (let alone all of them) fished down the sides of the window. Can you guys give me any tips or encouragement for this to work? I've read every post I can find on this and the trial4runner write-up.

I've only managed to get a fish wire from the speaker opening to the grommet hole on the passenger side of the window. Even with the connectors taped inline to the fish wire, it seems impossible to pull back down.

I'm not one to back down from a challenge, but damn is this not fun.

I'm in the same boat... running a fishing a wire from the speaker to the hasn't been much of an issue, but I've spent 2 hours trying to run the wire back towards the speaker opening. I'm about ready to put the stock lift supports back on and throw everything in the trash.

 

[R90esses]

Do not purchase autoease liftgate - flaw!!!

DO NOT BUY THIS 4RUNNER LIFTGATE KIT!!!!

I installed one last month (November). Autoease stopped responding to my emails after I discovered a FLAW in their system for 4Runners. As you all know, 4Runners have a retractable rear window. The instructions and the wiring harness for the liftgate product dictate that the electronic controller for the liftgate must be installed inside the liftgate. Well, the liftgate is not sealed from weather. Rain can and does flow through the liftgate and drain out weep holes in the bottom of the liftgate. After completing my installation I had everything working well for about two weeks until we got multiple days of constant rain. My problems began after driving just a few miles in the rain. I was sitting in a parking lot talking on my phone via the 4Runner bluetooth while my wife was in a store shopping. The installed liftgate beeper, which normally only beeps on and off briefly, began with a constant tone. I pressed the dash button to open the liftgate and IT DID NOT WORK!!! I tried to open the liftgate from the outside by using the key remote and the liftgate factory latch, still nothing. All the while the constant tone of the beeper continued. To stop the tone I had to pull open the footwell cover next to the parking brake to get to the power connection so I could unplug the liftgate.

Leading up to this time I had multiple correspondences with Autoease during the installation and they had been quite responsive - responding within the 24 hour period stated on their website. So, that evening (November 27th) I emailed Autoease stating what had just happened to me. NO RESPONSE! I emailed again the next day. NO RESPONSE! I emailed again December 1st. Today is December 3rd. STILL NO RESPONSE!

My only recourse now is to dispute the purchase with my credit card company. I submitted that dispute this morning.

I wanted this liftgate because my wife has physical challenges and the factory liftgate is challenging for her to close. Consequently, I am severely disappointed with Autoease. The existing instructions are terrible. Between the instructions and the inherent delays in dealing with replies from their tech support in China (typically an email reply came after 10pm local time to me), the whole installation took me two weeks. I even offered to work with them to rewrite their instructions as I have significant technical writing experience. They were interested and even offered to work out a payment for doing so. Honestly, I'm not too interested in this anymore.

The other Autoease liftgates are probably fine because those liftgates are sealed from the weather. The 4Runner is an anomaly with the retractable rear window. So, until a redesign takes place that relocates the controller to a protected area of the 4Runner (and I did suggest a new location to Autoease), DO NOT PURCHASE THIS 4RUNNER LIFTGATE KIT!!!

 

[avo1789]

DO NOT BUY THIS 4RUNNER LIFTGATE KIT!!!!



I installed one last month (November). Autoease stopped responding to my emails after I discovered a FLAW in their system for 4Runners. As you all know, 4Runners have a retractable rear window. The instructions and the wiring harness for the liftgate product dictate that the electronic controller for the liftgate must be installed inside the liftgate. Well, the liftgate is not sealed from weather. Rain can and does flow through the liftgate and drain out weep holes in the bottom of the liftgate. After completing my installation I had everything working well for about two weeks until we got multiple days of constant rain. My problems began after driving just a few miles in the rain. I was sitting in a parking lot talking on my phone via the 4Runner bluetooth while my wife was in a store shopping. The installed liftgate beeper, which normally only beeps on and off briefly, began with a constant tone. I pressed the dash button to open the liftgate and IT DID NOT WORK!!! I tried to open the liftgate from the outside by using the key remote and the liftgate factory latch, still nothing. All the while the constant tone of the beeper continued. To stop the tone I had to pull open the footwell cover next to the parking brake to get to the power connection so I could unplug the liftgate.



Leading up to this time I had multiple correspondences with Autoease during the installation and they had been quite responsive - responding within the 24 hour period stated on their website. So, that evening (November 27th) I emailed Autoease stating what had just happened to me. NO RESPONSE! I emailed again the next day. NO RESPONSE! I emailed again December 1st. Today is December 3rd. STILL NO RESPONSE!



My only recourse now is to dispute the purchase with my credit card company. I submitted that dispute this morning.



I wanted this liftgate because my wife has physical challenges and the factory liftgate is challenging for her to close. Consequently, I am severely disappointed with Autoease. The existing instructions are terrible. Between the instructions and the inherent delays in dealing with replies from their tech support in China (typically an email reply came after 10pm local time to me), the whole installation took me two weeks. I even offered to work with them to rewrite their instructions as I have significant technical writing experience. They were interested and even offered to work out a payment for doing so. Honestly, I'm not too interested in this anymore.



The other Autoease liftgates are probably fine because those liftgates are sealed from the weather. The 4Runner is an anomaly with the retractable rear window. So, until a redesign takes place that relocates the controller to a protected area of the 4Runner (and I did suggest a new location to Autoease), DO NOT PURCHASE THIS 4RUNNER LIFTGATE KIT!!!

That sucks! I was hoping this kit would be reliable. I guess it's too good to be true?

Please let us know if/when they respond.

Best of luck with your situation!

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[mschiavoni]

interesting. i was looking into this for my 4th gen (it's a 2007, selectable from their menu). my thought would be to lengthen the wires, and install the module inside the cabin (possibly inside the drivers' side quarter panel?) just a thought. until there's a solution i think i'm gonna hold off. i []will[/I] be adding a rear camera and parking sensors in the near future to go with the Apple CarPlay/Android Auto head unit i bought. possibly adding Blind Spot Monitoring if i can find a reputable kit

 

[TDMerrittPE]

DO NOT BUY THIS 4RUNNER LIFTGATE KIT!!!!

I installed one last month (November). Autoease stopped responding to my emails after I discovered a FLAW in their system for 4Runners. As you all know, 4Runners have a retractable rear window. The instructions and the wiring harness for the liftgate product dictate that the electronic controller for the liftgate must be installed inside the liftgate. Well, the liftgate is not sealed from weather. Rain can and does flow through the liftgate and drain out weep holes in the bottom of the liftgate. After completing my installation I had everything working well for about two weeks until we got multiple days of constant rain. My problems began after driving just a few miles in the rain. I was sitting in a parking lot talking on my phone via the 4Runner bluetooth while my wife was in a store shopping. The installed liftgate beeper, which normally only beeps on and off briefly, began with a constant tone. I pressed the dash button to open the liftgate and IT DID NOT WORK!!! I tried to open the liftgate from the outside by using the key remote and the liftgate factory latch, still nothing. All the while the constant tone of the beeper continued. To stop the tone I had to pull open the footwell cover next to the parking brake to get to the power connection so I could unplug the liftgate.

Leading up to this time I had multiple correspondences with Autoease during the installation and they had been quite responsive - responding within the 24 hour period stated on their website. So, that evening (November 27th) I emailed Autoease stating what had just happened to me. NO RESPONSE! I emailed again the next day. NO RESPONSE! I emailed again December 1st. Today is December 3rd. STILL NO RESPONSE!

My only recourse now is to dispute the purchase with my credit card company. I submitted that dispute this morning.

I wanted this liftgate because my wife has physical challenges and the factory liftgate is challenging for her to close. Consequently, I am severely disappointed with Autoease. The existing instructions are terrible. Between the instructions and the inherent delays in dealing with replies from their tech support in China (typically an email reply came after 10pm local time to me), the whole installation took me two weeks. I even offered to work with them to rewrite their instructions as I have significant technical writing experience. They were interested and even offered to work out a payment for doing so. Honestly, I'm not too interested in this anymore.

The other Autoease liftgates are probably fine because those liftgates are sealed from the weather. The 4Runner is an anomaly with the retractable rear window. So, until a redesign takes place that relocates the controller to a protected area of the 4Runner (and I did suggest a new location to Autoease), DO NOT PURCHASE THIS 4RUNNER LIFTGATE KIT!!!

Please keep us posted regarding developments. I am planning on installing this kit, since I've tentatively found an installer. I live in Seattle and the vehicle is kept outside, so rain and moisture protection is essential. You mentioned that you suggested an alternative location for the controller, could you indicate where that is?

 

[R90esses]

Autoease responded to the dispute and I have withdrawn it. We are working together again. I have a new controller. They claim that this has not happened before but I am still going to relocate the controller to the space near the jack.

 

[triumphwes]

Everyone on this thread who has installed these, please keep us updated as time/ reliability issues arise. I want to do this, but am wary of R90esses experience, and with this product still being new and will most likely need some revising.

 

[TDMerrittPE]

Autoease responded to the dispute and I have withdrawn it. We are working together again. I have a new controller. They claim that this has not happened before but I am still going to relocate the controller to the space near the jack.

You mention relocating the controller to the space near the Jack. Will you have to lengthen the cables and where is the particular space you are contemplating? Shortly after the 1st of the year I am going to start pursuing this modification and will need to direct the installer appropriately. I'm also going to send a PM.

 

[ZCYATX]

Does anyone has experience with this kit below.
Toyota 4runner power liftgate | Intelligentized Auto Parts | Hansshow

 

[FZRunner]

Does anyone has experience with this kit below.
Toyota 4runner power liftgate | Intelligentized Auto Parts | Hansshow

Looks like the same kit...from the same country, just packaged differently.

 

[ZCYATX]

Thanks RZRunner.

I ordered the Autoease kit for $599 with the kick open sensor. But the manual I received via email does not include the installation instructions on the sensor.
Any suggestion on the sensor installation? THX

 

[ToyDB]

I ordered and received a kit a few days before reading your post regarding the moisture issue. Thanks for the heads up! Any response from Autoease? What's the alternative location of the controller you mentioned?
I'm holding on installation until there is some clarity.

 

[r1verf3nix]

I have a kit for sale if anyone wants it? paid 500$ will let it go cheaper. PM me

 

[buckalew]

Thanks RZRunner.

I ordered the Autoease kit for $599 with the kick open sensor. But the manual I received via email does not include the installation instructions on the sensor.
Any suggestion on the sensor installation? THX

Shoot me a PM with your email address.
I'll send you what they sent me. Not very good instructions...I ended up skipping the foot sensor for now. I was too frustrated from trying to fish wires.

 

[Steeups]

I don't suppose anyone knows a shop in SoCal (LA) that would be able to install this? I normally wouldn't mind tackling this myself but have a few too many things going on right now. I checked the AutoEase website but the only 'official' installer they list is in FL --

Where to install – Autoease

Aiden James Customs LLC installs them in Socal. They are located in Costa Mesa. 657-233-3504. I believe he said the cost to install was $369 and I believe that included the foot sensor. He does not supply the unit.

 

[ToyDB]

Completed installation of my Autoease lift gate today. Installation is a challenge but overall pleased. Below are few observations that I hope other may find helpful.

1) Autoease responds via email within 24 hours if not sooner. Contacted them several times to get clarity on the instructions. The translation to English leaves a lot to be desired but Tao, the sales manager, was very responsive.

2) The CAN bus clips, and the alternative set Autoease sent, do not work well, CAN bus wires are very small and the clips don't pierce the insulation on the wires. I ended up very carefully striping the CAN bus wires and splicing the Autoease wires in. Autoease, after I advised them the 2nd version of the clips didn't work as well, advised the clips don't work and suggested splicing as well.

3) The power strut wires have a plug in extension set. The 2 extension slips are impossible to snake through the tail gate. I cut off the clips and splice the wires together using marine strip tubing.

4) Makes sure the wire bundle clears the roll down window. I had to re-route a bit. Check for clearance before reinstalling the speakers and hatch panel.

4) Autoease instructions appear to suggest placing the control unit inside the hatch but as a forum member mentioned, I share the concern with potential moisture. I was able to mount the control unit between the hatch and hatch cover zip tying it to the support bar which holds an existing junction box. That is, the control unit is between the hatch panel and the plastic moisture barrier.


5) You may find that the hatch may not always close completely if all windows are closed. The compressed air in the interior provides just enough resistance to prevent the hatch from reliably locking even if the two plastic buffers on the side of the hatch are removes as Autoease suggests. Cracking a window or door just a couple of issues provides enough to overcome the air resistance.

6) I haven't yet, and may not, install the foot sensor. The foot sensor is a one page generic version and it wasn't clear to me that you needed a fish a wire through the hatch gate following the same path as the main wire bundles. Didn't want to risk issues/headache of redoing the wiring. Not a big lost to me as not likely to need the optional feature but I might feel up to the challenge one day.

As others have shared, appears to be a quality/durable product but definitely not a plug and play and Autoease has a few kinks to work out on the 5th Gen 4Runner version to include much better instructions. On the other hand, Autoease was very responsive, via email and phone, when I had a few questions/hurdles.

 

[124runner]

Update with some good and bad news:

Good: After my earlier post about how to fish the wires through the passenger side of the hatch I gave it "one more go" and was able to successfully run the wires with the connectors and all. Word of caution, I sliced my thumb pretty good when it met the sheet metal edge when I was pulling...dumb on my behalf. Once that side was fished down everything else was pretty straight forward and I was able to finish the wiring. So it was successful. Door opened from keyfob, button on dash, and the hatch handle. Cool...right? Yes, until the rain came...

Bad: First time we had a rainy day it just stopped working. So I took the rear panel off to check it...seemed dry, so I just unplugged the power, waited, and reconnected. Started working again. Reinstalled the panel and worked great until the next rain. I'm in SoCal, so rain isn't really an issue, except I installed it right when we had rain on and off for a couple weeks. So I went back and reset it and again it was functioning.

Here's where it goes real bad. The morning after a rainy night, I walk out to the hatch doing a Tesla Model X dance routine and beeping. It would go all the way up, then half way down and back up again. Over and over and over. I don't know how long it was doing it, but the neighbors probably had a laugh. In order to stop it, I had to hold the hatch (the motors are very strong) and unplug the power from the control box...luckily I had left the rear panel off because I had to reset it so often. At this point I just left it unplugged and let my anger fester for a few weeks.

It was after this incident I started to have problems with the hatch fully latching, and it even began to rub against the body at the hinge edge of the door. Something had happened. The panel gaps were way off...with the door shut, I could see the struts from the side panel gaps. At this point, I replaced everything back to stock and ended up taking it to a body shop this week to see if they could re-align the hatch. They discovered the sheet metal where the hinges attach had pulled up. They had to hammer the hinge area down in order to get the door to sit back where it should be.

I think this all happened when the door was "dancing" as it was doing it so rapidly I think it was jarring the hinges causing the sheet metal to "pull".

So yay! This was all a mess. At the very least that control box should absolutly be mounted inside the car somewhere. It would even be easier to fish the wires into the car than down the hatch sides. Yes the system seemed like a quality setup, but not an OEM solution. I'm frustrated and out 500 bucks plus 250 for the body shop to whack everything back to where it should be. When it worked, it was cool. When it went haywire...not so much. Ill be emailing them.

 

[RichinRidgewood]

Update with some good and bad news:

Good: After my earlier post about how to fish the wires through the passenger side of the hatch I gave it "one more go" and was able to successfully run the wires with the connectors and all. Word of caution, I sliced my thumb pretty good when it met the sheet metal edge when I was pulling...dumb on my behalf. Once that side was fished down everything else was pretty straight forward and I was able to finish the wiring. So it was successful. Door opened from keyfob, button on dash, and the hatch handle. Cool...right? Yes, until the rain came...

Bad: First time we had a rainy day it just stopped working. So I took the rear panel off to check it...seemed dry, so I just unplugged the power, waited, and reconnected. Started working again. Reinstalled the panel and worked great until the next rain. I'm in SoCal, so rain isn't really an issue, except I installed it right when we had rain on and off for a couple weeks. So I went back and reset it and again it was functioning.

Here's where it goes real bad. The morning after a rainy night, I walk out to the hatch doing a Tesla Model X dance routine and beeping. It would go all the way up, then half way down and back up again. Over and over and over. I don't know how long it was doing it, but the neighbors probably had a laugh. In order to stop it, I had to hold the hatch (the motors are very strong) and unplug the power from the control box...luckily I had left the rear panel off because I had to reset it so often. At this point I just left it unplugged and let my anger fester for a few weeks.

It was after this incident I started to have problems with the hatch fully latching, and it even began to rub against the body at the hinge edge of the door. Something had happened. The panel gaps were way off...with the door shut, I could see the struts from the side panel gaps. At this point, I replaced everything back to stock and ended up taking it to a body shop this week to see if they could re-align the hatch. They discovered the sheet metal where the hinges attach had pulled up. They had to hammer the hinge area down in order to get the door to sit back where it should be.

I think this all happened when the door was "dancing" as it was doing it so rapidly I think it was jarring the hinges causing the sheet metal to "pull".

So yay! This was all a mess. At the very least that control box should absolutly be mounted inside the car somewhere. It would even be easier to fish the wires into the car than down the hatch sides. Yes the system seemed like a quality setup, but not an OEM solution. I'm frustrated and out 500 bucks plus 250 for the body shop to whack everything back to where it should be. When it worked, it was cool. When it went haywire...not so much. Ill be emailing them.

That sucks. $550 out the window and a bent up truck.

 

[r1verf3nix]

Selling my kit just never got around to installing it after all. PM me

 

[avo1789]

I'm glad I didn't jump on this when it first came out! I hope they get their sh*t together and revise the kit to address those issues mentioned. Most notably the location of the control unit!

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