Actuators & Accessories

Door lock actuators and central locking

An actuator is a small motor with a rod that pushes and pulls your door lock mechanism. Fit one and a door that only locked by hand now locks from a remote, an alarm or a central locking system. They're also how you add locking to a door that never had it, and how shaved door handle builds open at all.

Choosing pull force

This is the decision that matters, and the one people get wrong. Pull force is how hard the actuator can shove the linkage, and it needs to beat the resistance of the door mechanism.

A light, free-moving lock is fine on 4kg. Most doors in reasonable condition want 7kg. Stiff, worn or heavy mechanisms want 10kg. Under-specify and it works on the bench and fails in February, when the grease stiffens and the linkage tightens. If the lock feels notchy by hand, go up a size.

2 wire or 5 wire

A 2 wire actuator is a plain motor: send it power one way to lock, the other to unlock. That's all you need on a door being driven by a central locking module.

A 5 wire actuator has a built-in switch as well, so it can detect being locked manually and tell the system. That's what you need on a master door, where locking the driver's door by hand should lock the rest of the car.

Complete kits

If you're adding central locking to a vehicle that has none, a kit is simpler than assembling parts. Our two and four door kits include the actuators, wiring harness, door loom, connectors and hardware.

Polarity interfaces

Vehicles and aftermarket systems don't always agree on whether a lock signal should be positive or negative. The interfaces on this page convert between the two, which saves building the same circuit out of loose relays.

Not sure what your vehicle needs?

Call us on 647-439-4485. See also our relays and relay harnesses.