Magic Touch System on a 2004 Chevy Silverado - Now You See It

1. We started off by removing the factory door panel by removing the three screws, the door locks, and window crank. Then, the panel lifted straight up and out.

2. The Autoloc keyless entry system comes with the proper actuators to engage the locks. We installed them near the latch itself, in the factory hole.

3. The door solenoid was mounted in the very corner of the door, and then we used the included wire to connect the solenoid to the latch. By doing this, when the solenoid gets power, it will pull the wire, which in turn opens the latch and the door.

4. There are three 10mm bolts holding on the handles, one of which is hidden behind the window. To get to it, use a wrench, and a ratcheting wrench makes it that much faster. We also disconnected and removed the linkage from the latch to the handle.

5. Here are the Magic Touch handles. We want to thank Josh at Dirty Kid Kustoms in Scottsdale, Arizona, for painting the handles for us, completely last minute.

6. On the backside of the handle, you can see the sensor, as well as the mounting pieces. These screws provide a positive lock from the handle to the door, and keep it flush and tight.

7. Holy crap, where'd our handles go? We bolted the handles in place, but we couldn't get a picture, since it was inside the door panel.

8. Now we need to install the Autoloc keyless entry system and remote, so we started by taking off the upper part of the dash. It pulled right off with a little pressure.

9. Using some hook-and-loop tape, we secured the keyless entry system to the bottom of the steering column. This way, it's easily removable for wiring, and we don't have to worry about a mounting screw lancing a wire.

10. The remote system was mounted the same way, right to the left of the column.

11. There are two wires that need to be connected between the two brains, so we used a butt connector to put them together.

12. Next, we wired in the ignition power, the constant power, the ground, and the corner light indicators, completing the under-dash portion of our install.

13. We ran the wires from the keyless entry system under the dash, into the doorjamb and in the door, then connected the matching colored wires to the lock actuator. While we were pulling wires, we also pulled a 10-gauge wire in from a fused post under the hood. This is to power the Magic Touch system.

14. This is the Magic Touch control box. Inside is a complicated system of relays and electronics that we can never hope to understand. Just know that it works, and works well.

15. We mounted the control box in the corner of the door with a custom bracket.

16. The wires were then connected by following the diagram provided to us by LaFrance International.

17. Once all the wires were connected, we could test out the system. With just a simple touch, the solenoid was activated, and our door popped open. How cool is that?

18a. Here are the before and after views of the door. The Magic Touch replacement handles really smooth out the panel, and we didn't even have to use a welder or body filler to install them.