advice on popper

[Amack76]

ok did the trunk popper today.

1) I will post picks maybe even a video tomm (too dark now), on how i modified the hatch lock. it only took 4 hours! anywho it works well i checked it, i just gotta wait till my dash comes back this week too hook up the button.

2) raquethomas & the wire. onpen the passenger door, look directly down and you will see the scuff plate (held on by four screws and a christmas tree stud), take it off. lift the rug a bit and you will see wire running there, the wire is all the way toward the left side(gotta cut the electrical tape goin around it a bit.)

Tones kit was def worth the money, but the only thing i would've preffered was that the solonoid had a metal arm instead of a wire(would be so much more easier), but i definately recommend it (and buy the isuzu switch)!

[Raque Thomas]

Amack76 - thanks for the info. I had looked there, but only towards the front of the car. The wire is closer to the back. Thanks again for your help, it's working!

[johnnyapollo]

The first popper I did took about 4 hours (on my truck). I was using directions posted by swordy (Andy).. this was way before Tone offered a kit, so I didn't have the advantage of using a pulley, and had to wing it pretty much. Since then, I've helped install 4 other poppers and have got it down to about an 1-1.5 hours. I think running the wires takes the longest, plus people have varying ideas about where and how to tie it in.

If you cut a notch on the latch arm for the cable to loop around, you can just use the cable lock and not worry about trying to get that hook to work.

-- John

[paultvx]

How hard is it to drill a small hole in the latch arm to loop the cable through and aorund? If you're going to cut a notch... why not drill? would be more secure.

Just wondering...

[johnnyapollo]

Unless you had a 90 degree chuck, it would be hard to drill without dissembling the entire lock assembly. With a notch, you can get a cutting wheel on a dremel in there and go at it. A hole would be a much better install, though.

-- John

[Tone]

There is always tension on the cable so really no way it can come off the arm - mine has been on for over 3 yrs, been to Moab 3 times, and never had the hook in the kit come off.

[paultvx]

Makes sense. Been at least a year since I looked at the latch mechanism. I guess this is where the pulley does it's job... keep some tension on the cable. Could be a problem without it. Only way I can think of doing it without a pulley is with a section of bicycle cable housing to route the cable in the same way a pulley would.

[johnnyapollo]

Hey Paul,

I initially tried using a section of bicycle cabling (main reason it took 4 hours the first time). The issue with doing that type of install has to do with a mount for the cable housing ends. On a bike, the cable is held straight by bracketing. Unless you fabricated something, the bicycle cable twists to one side and kinks, preventing the internal cable from contracting properly. I played with this for some time trying to get it to work, and finally gave up. I did not use the hook, but rather looped the cable around the notch and crimped using the split nut and washer as supplied. Early on, the cable came off once, but an adjustment has prevented it from coming off since.

-- John

[omegavx]

Ok, so I got a response from Gary. I'll place it at the bottom of this post.

My thoughts on his response, it sounds like he had the same problem as raquethomas was having (ie: when you unlock the doors on the door console it also pop's the trunk) His solution was to wire the safety interlock to the solenoid like you should, then you can't pop the trunk while in drive. You would have to be in park for it to fire. Maybe if we can find the wire that ties the door console into both doors we could rewire it at that location. (ie: instead of splicing the wires out at the actual relay find the controller box, if there is one, hook both doors to the first click, hook the solenoid to the second click and hook the door console to the first click) That way, the console would fire just like a first click on the fob instead of like a second click on the fob.

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Gary's Response 1
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It's not real simple, but I'll be glad to detail it to you when I get a few
minutes. And, just so you know, if you buy the garage door opener module
from Isuzu for $100, it could be wired easily to control a popper from the
"option" button on the factory remote. I wanted to do that, everyone I
talked to said "no way" including Isuzu factory people, so I did it my way
(2nd press of main button). After I did it my way, then I ordered the garage
door opener when I had a spare $100, just to check it out, and found out it
works on a 120V house current to 12v DC transformer. And all it does is
complete a two wire circuit. So, if I had it to do over (and didn't care
about the garage door opener aspect-which is pretty neat if you have a
dedicated garage for the Isuzu like I do- would be to wire the module as a
ground control on the primary side of a relay, with the secondary side
controlling the high amp current directly to the door opener solenoid. And
power the module with 12V from the vehicle, and throw the transformer away.
Thanks,
Gary Bucklew

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Gary's Response 2
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The thread you linked me to provides virtually all the details, although
it's pieced together from several posts. Do you have a specific question?
It's true, the down side of my method is that if in neutral or park, if
someone hits the "unlock" switch on the door panels (either one), the hatch
will pop. But 1) if both doors unlock off first press, and they do and 2) if
you wire the safety interlock to the shifter (as you should), there is
really no problem. I did this two years ago, and have only accidentally
unlocked the hatch a couple times, both while dead stopped. And I think it's
convienent to have a switch to pop the hatch in both doors-I use it all the
time loading and unloading my greyhound from the hatch.
Just some info.
Thanks,
Gary Bucklew