Tailgate is stuck shut!! 😡

[highvoltagetiff]

Well… Ford seems to have a reoccurring issue with latches, and I guess I’m not immune on yet ANOTHER vehicle —our F450 haa tailgate latch recall, too.

My tailgate is stuck shut. The latch is frozen and doesn’t even try to engage at all when you pull on the handle. The first time this happened, it “fixed” itself after several tries, giving up, going to the store, then trying again.

Now, here we are again… tailgate stuck shut, and I can’t even begin to tell you how inconvenient this has proven to be… from transporting football players and all their crap to trips from the sticks to the grocery store in town.

I suppose it’s better than it being with the door open with the latch stuck in the closed position.

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[JimmyG]

Cue Ford Motor Company, "PM us your VIN and Dealer and we'll help you"

 

[Razorbak86]

Well… Ford seems to have a reoccurring issue with latches, and I guess I’m not immune on yet ANOTHER vehicle —our F450 haa tailgate latch recall, too.

My tailgate is stuck shut. The latch is frozen and doesn’t even try to engage at all when you pull on the handle. The first time this happened, it “fixed” itself after several tries, giving up, going to the store, then trying again.

Now, here we are again… tailgate stuck shut, and I can’t even begin to tell you how inconvenient this has proven to be… from transporting football players and all their crap to trips from the sticks to the grocery store in town.

I suppose it’s better than it being with the door open with the latch stuck in the closed position.

Tiffany, your swing gate probably needs to be adjusted. There is a procedure for doing that in the Workshop Manual, but it requires more than one person and is pretty involved, so you may want to have your dealer handle it.

In the meantime, you may be able to get it open and then apply some white lithium grease (or equivalent) from an auto parts store to the latch to lower the friction and enable you to open and close it in the interim until you get the gate formally adjusted at the dealership.

If you have a helper available, I would suggest that one of you climb into the cargo bay through one of the doors, and the other person remain outside. Then have the outside person lift up on the gate handle while the inside person strikes the door with the palm of their hand on the metal surface as close to the latch mechanism as possible. By doing this, you may be able to shake the stuck latch free long enough to open it once.

If that doesn’t work, have the person on the inside try to lift up from the lower metal surface of the wider portion of the gate that houses the trim panel while the person outside lifts up on the door handle. The objective here would be to overcome some of the weight of the door, which may be what has jammed up the latch.

If you are finally able to open the gate, then you can apply some white lithium grease to the latch to hopefully allow the latch to open and close in the interim until your dealer can formally adjust the gate in the shop.

 

[highvoltagetiff]

Tiffany, your swing gate probably needs to be adjusted. There is a procedure for doing that in the Workshop Manual, but it requires more than one person and is pretty involved, so you may want to have your dealer handle it.

….

So it’s looking like the tailgate is “twisting” from the weight on on the back. There’s a rubber stop at the opening above the latch

,
but nothing on the bottom, so the tailgate sits flush at the top, but it’s slightly (and I mean really slightly) inward from the body on the bottom. That was enough to freeze the latch.

I wonder if adding another one would fix that or if there’s a way to adjust that outwards. I’m guessing it’s the former.

 

[JediMcMuffin]

So it’s looking like the tailgate is “twisting” from the weight on on the back. There’s a rubber stop at the opening above the latch

,
but nothing on the bottom, so the tailgate sits flush at the top, but it’s slightly (and I mean really slightly) inward from the body on the bottom. That was enough to freeze the latch.

I wonder if adding another one would fix that or if there’s a way to adjust that outwards. I’m guessing it’s the former.

Just let the dealer fix it using a proper alignment procedure

 

[Razorbak86]

So it’s looking like the tailgate is “twisting” from the weight on on the back. There’s a rubber stop at the opening above the latch

,
but nothing on the bottom, so the tailgate sits flush at the top, but it’s slightly (and I mean really slightly) inward from the body on the bottom. That was enough to freeze the latch.

I wonder if adding another one would fix that or if there’s a way to adjust that outwards. I’m guessing it’s the former.

Glad you got it open. Hopefully my suggestions helped. I would let the dealer take it from there.

Q: Do you have additional weight on the tailgate from a larger aftermarket spare wheel and tire? If so, that is very likely the reason for the binding and need for adjustment,

 

[highvoltagetiff]

Glad you got it open. Hopefully my suggestions helped. I would let the dealer take it from there.

Q: Do you have additional weight on the tailgate from a larger aftermarket spare wheel and tire? If so, that is very likely the reason for the binding and need for adjustment,

I do. Same size wheel, but 37” rather than the 35’s it had. I’ll get with the dealer and update here

 

[Lifeliberty]

Did you reinforce the tailgate when you put on the 37 tire? I suggest a tailgate reinforcement bracket for any tire heavier than a 33. Plenty of threads on here about those.

If you don't do that, it will just keep bending back after adjustment

Thread 'Tailgate is rattling AGAIN!' https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/tailgate-is-rattling-again.54072/

 

[Jdyount]

I do. Same size wheel, but 37” rather than the 35’s it had. I’ll get with the dealer and update here

The factory 35s are a very light tire. If you put 37s on you absolutely need to re-enforce the tailgate. That's 100% the problem.

 

[flip]

One of our demo units had the latch fail and door not stay closed. Didn't do an autopsy but we did find a small piece of rubber that fell out which we assume was part of whatever went south.

 

[JimmyG]

I guess I jinxed it. @Ford Motor Company y'all slippin' You just gonna let this Bronco owner forge on alone with no help? C'mon man!

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Well… Ford seems to have a reoccurring issue with latches, and I guess I’m not immune on yet ANOTHER vehicle —our F450 haa tailgate latch recall, too.

My tailgate is stuck shut. The latch is frozen and doesn’t even try to engage at all when you pull on the handle. The first time this happened, it “fixed” itself after several tries, giving up, going to the store, then trying again.

Now, here we are again… tailgate stuck shut, and I can’t even begin to tell you how inconvenient this has proven to be… from transporting football players and all their crap to trips from the sticks to the grocery store in town.

I suppose it’s better than it being with the door open with the latch stuck in the closed position.

Hey Tiffany, I'd be happy to look into your Bronco concerns on my end. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

 

[Felix808]

The factory 35s are a very light tire. If you put 37s on you absolutely need to re-enforce the tailgate. That's 100% the problem.

Yep, the swing gate hinges are rated at 133 lbs. total weight.

 

[rtazz17]

37 without reinforcements is your problem. Thats too much

 

[highvoltagetiff]

37 without reinforcement is definitely NOT my problem. I got the @Hammer reinforcement bracket when I ordered my tires.

Tailgate was operating fine, and then one day, it just wasn’t.

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