Patent ID: 7896419

Claim:
A vehicle tailgate side mounted step assist mechanism attachable to a vehicle including a vehicle bed coupled to at least one pillar and a tailgate pivotally attached to the vehicle bed for providing access to the vehicle bed in a tailgate open position and securing contents of the vehicle bed in a tailgate closed position, the tailgate having at least one side generally orthogonal to the pivotal attachment and capable of engaging a pillar when the tailgate is in the tailgate closed position, the mechanism comprising: a slide assembly mountable along a side of the tailgate for deployment when the tailgate is in the tailgate open position, the slide assembly including a plurality of guide channels, generally parallel supports that communicate with the guide channels to extend away from and generally orthogonal to the side of the tailgate, a step rotation limit apparatus acting between the guide channels and the supports, and a tailgate step disposable between the supports at a predetermined distance from the side of the tailgate; and a lockout device disposable between the pillar and the side of the tailgate when the tailgate is in the tailgate open position, the lockout device capable of preventing the tailgate from returning to the tailgate closed position when the slide assembly is deployed, the lockout device further capable of stowing between the pillar and the tailgate when the tailgate is in the tailgate closed position, wherein the supports rotate generally about the side of the tailgate when the supports are extended and the step rotation limit apparatus restricts rotation of the tailgate step when the supports and tailgate step are in a deployed configuration.