Attempted to install the Mabett tailgate reinforcement on a non-SAS BD today. Ran into the exact same problem as reported for the SAS folks - the new brace would not align to all mounting points. I could either get it to line up to the four bolts on the hinges or the four bolts on the spare tire mount but not both. Spent two hours futzing with it, no dice. At the end I gave up, packed it up and sent back to Amazon.
I had sent some DMs to Mabett asking for advice but it is night in Taiwan and he probably won't get to them till after the weekend.
My best guess is that the tolerance stackups on the product are not correctly calculated, and the hole diameters for the screws are not sufficiently large to capture the variability of the two floating plates in the tailgate and the four floating plates in the tire carrier. Was also surprised to find countersunk screws for the tire carrier but no matching countersubk holes on the brace. These are behind the tire and not visible, but it does show some lack of attention to detail.
This could be some type of user error so I will not be leaving a review on Amazon, but from the pics below you can see that the tailgate was reasonably well aligned and yet the holes did not line up.
I had sent some DMs to Mabett asking for advice but it is night in Taiwan and he probably won't get to them till after the weekend.
My best guess is that the tolerance stackups on the product are not correctly calculated, and the hole diameters for the screws are not sufficiently large to capture the variability of the two floating plates in the tailgate and the four floating plates in the tire carrier. Was also surprised to find countersunk screws for the tire carrier but no matching countersubk holes on the brace. These are behind the tire and not visible, but it does show some lack of attention to detail.
This could be some type of user error so I will not be leaving a review on Amazon, but from the pics below you can see that the tailgate was reasonably well aligned and yet the holes did not line up.
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