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So at around 5,000 miles I started getting that dreaded tapping from my cargo area like many others. Tried everything, adding grease to the weather stripping around the tailgate, and to the plastic blocks. Adding fabric tape to where the weather stripping contacts the tailgate and nothing, couldn’t get rid of it. Drove it with the glass up and still had the tapping so it had nothing to do with the rear glass or the weatherstripping.
Finally took the spare tire off and drove it around, tapping went away. Drove with both the glass up and down and tapping didn’t come back. So the tire is causing the tapping. It seems as if the weight of the tire is putting some type of strain on the hinge where the inner nut plate (bracket) is located. In the pic below you can see one of the bolts that attached the hinge to the tailgate. Sprayed this with silicone spray and tried to aim for the inner one closest to the bronco.
And then for the lower hinge you can’t really see it, I think there’s another wall inside the tailgate. But I stuck The nozzle in this hole and sprayed to both sides.
And if you look more to the right of that hole and closer to the inside of the tailgate you’ll see this bracket. Sprayed there too.
I have been driving it for a week now and NO MORE TAPPING, sweet baby Jesus it’s finally gone. I've read up on this and most people that have upgraded to the tailgate reinforcement plate has said it eliminated the tapping so this again reaffirms that the weight of the spare is causing this. So just wanted to pass this along for those that have the same issue as me. Hope this helps.
Finally took the spare tire off and drove it around, tapping went away. Drove with both the glass up and down and tapping didn’t come back. So the tire is causing the tapping. It seems as if the weight of the tire is putting some type of strain on the hinge where the inner nut plate (bracket) is located. In the pic below you can see one of the bolts that attached the hinge to the tailgate. Sprayed this with silicone spray and tried to aim for the inner one closest to the bronco.
And then for the lower hinge you can’t really see it, I think there’s another wall inside the tailgate. But I stuck The nozzle in this hole and sprayed to both sides.
And if you look more to the right of that hole and closer to the inside of the tailgate you’ll see this bracket. Sprayed there too.
I have been driving it for a week now and NO MORE TAPPING, sweet baby Jesus it’s finally gone. I've read up on this and most people that have upgraded to the tailgate reinforcement plate has said it eliminated the tapping so this again reaffirms that the weight of the spare is causing this. So just wanted to pass this along for those that have the same issue as me. Hope this helps.
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