Tail gate reinforcements are they just smoke?

[‘21OBX]

Ok since I decided to go with 37’s I figured heck I’ll get a reinforcement for the tail gate. Had the 37” spare on for one day before my reinforcement arrive no issues everything shut and lined up fine. Follow the instructions get everything together shut lines up great. Set the spare on bangs into the striker. Dropped a touch over 1/4” with the spare. Note everything is loctited and torqued. This was before even driving the bronco. I’ve got to take the spare off and see if it flexes back to normal without it on. If it does then I guess my conclusion is they don’t help a damn thing. I’ll have to try to see if I can lift it 1/4” high and loosen and retighten the bolts. To purposely have it too high so it can flex back to place. Either my hinges have that much flex or the support really doesn’t support. Not naming which one because I do not believe it’s a defect product looks good and lined up well with all holes. According to the specs I’ve found I’m at 103lbs not counting tpms sensor and wheel weights.

Sponsored

 

[Ducati1098]

Ok since I decided to go with 37’s I figured heck I’ll get a reinforcement for the tail gate. Had the 37” spare on for one day before my reinforcement arrive no issues everything shut and lined up fine. Follow the instructions get everything together shut lines up great. Set the spare on bangs into the striker. Dropped a touch over 1/4” with the spare. Note everything is loctited and torqued. This was before even driving the bronco. I’ve got to take the spare off and see if it flexes back to normal without it on. If it does then I guess my conclusion is they don’t help a damn thing. I’ll have to try to see if I can lift it 1/4” high and loosen and retighten the bolts. To purposely have it too high so it can flex back to place. Either my hinges have that much flex or the support really doesn’t support. Not naming which one because I do not believe it’s a defect product looks good and lined up well with all holes.

I don’t think Ford would add it to the bronco raptor if it was unnecessary or smoke.

I had my 37” spare on for a few days before my support. My tailgate made a lot more noise and creaking before the support was installed on my tailgate. And after install I’ve had 0 issues with fitment, gaps or noise

 

[Dmorty217]

Which reinforcement did you get? Not familiar exactly with the “striker” but I had to remove both the rubber pieces on the tailgate for the 35 to fit. Before my tailgate would make excess noise when opening and closing, but not anymore.

 

[‘21OBX]

what rubber are you referring to? The striker is the big round thing under where the latch is. You can physically look and see the misaligned at the latch with the tire on. I don’t want to mention the brand as I haven’t figured it out or messaged them yet.

 

[Baddie64]

Prior to hinge Bolt removal, did you prop the tailgate into place with cardboard, rubber matting etc? It’s critical to do that to maintain alignment.

 

[‘21OBX]

Prior to hinge Bolt removal, did you prop the tailgate into place with cardboard, rubber matting etc? It’s critical to do that to maintain alignment.

I actually had a board the full length of the gate wedged under it cut to a fairly snug fit. Only did one hinge at a time. Everything aligned and shut great without the spare. It’s a heavy guy. Plus I have the tailgate table and molle bags I would guess I have 150lbs hanging on the gate. I gained 28lbs I believe per tire with the new setup.I know I’m asking a lot out of the gate which is why I wanted a support. The plastic bumper doesn’t help much with keeping alignment either it squishes.

 

[‘21OBX]

Ok after double and triple checking then searching here’s what I found.
The reinforcement should be and is fine. Actually where you remove those bolts is not where you would adjust the gate anyway and has no effect. It is all done behind the tailight and plastic rubber close out panel on the hinge side. What has/is happening on mine is the hinges have shifted with the weight. I’ll adjust per the post I’m about to link. And all should be right in the world. A big thanks again to @flip for his access and knowledge to ford database!
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...ar-tailgate-reinforcement-system.45150/page-7

 

[BroncoKong Jr.]

Which reinforcement did you get? Not familiar exactly with the “striker” but I had to remove both the rubber pieces on the tailgate for the 35 to fit. Before my tailgate would make excess noise when opening and closing, but not anymore.

You removed the bump stops? Did you cut them down or replace them?

 

[Dmorty217]

You removed the bump stops? Did you cut them down or replace them?

Just took them off completely

 

[Tricky Dick]

When I had my spare off for a while the gate closed poorly: too high at the striker. There seems to be a decent amount of sag accounted for when aligning the hinges.

 

[‘21OBX]

When I had my spare off for a while the gate closed poorly: too high at the striker. There seems to be a decent amount of sag accounted for when aligning the hinges.

Mine did great until the 37 went on lol.

 

[BroncoKong Jr.]

Just took them off completely

You gotta replace them

 

[DaveInSA]

It's my understanding that the tailgate reinforcement isn't to reinforce the hinges and the alignment to the body. It's to reinforce the tailgate skin where the spare tire carrier is attached.
Obviously the Bronco is fine carrying a 35" tire back there, but some people that have moved to heavier combos of tire/wheel have had issues with creaks and squeaks from the tailgate twisting. The reinforcement strengthen that portion that the spare tire carrier mounts to.
So, it shouldn't* really have any effect on alignment of the entire tailgate to the striker / latch.


* If the tailgate wasn't kept in perfect alignment while changing out the bolts holding it to the hinges, this could have altered the alignment with the latch.

 

[Dmorty217]

You gotta replace them

Have to replace the two rubber bumpers that keep the tire off the tailgate when it’s factory tire? I went from 32s to 35s, and have been off now for almost 2 months without any issues. next month I get a new rear bumper with dual swing outs so the whole reinforcement bracket won’t be a issue.

 

[‘21OBX]

It's my understanding that the tailgate reinforcement isn't to reinforce the hinges and the alignment to the body. It's to reinforce the tailgate skin where the spare tire carrier is attached.
Obviously the Bronco is fine carrying a 35" tire back there, but some people that have moved to heavier combos of tire/wheel have had issues with creaks and squeaks from the tailgate twisting. The reinforcement strengthen that portion that the spare tire carrier mounts to.
So, it shouldn't* really have any effect on alignment of the entire tailgate to the striker / latch.


* If the tailgate wasn't kept in perfect alignment while changing out the bolts holding it to the hinges, this could have altered the alignment with the latch.

Gate shut identical before and after the install. It was immobilized. There really isn’t any adjustment at the strap if you follow the link from flip. It’s all at the hinge. Then the tire went on lol. I went back to my measurements. The strap(hinge) is what has moved. So the reinforcement is fine and probably keeping any actual gate flex from happening.

Sponsored