iamsuperbleeder

well the tailgate still feels pretty solid, so I'm not really scared of it like falling off while I'm driving around or anything, lol

truth be told I'd probably laugh my *** off if I looked in my rear view mirror and seen my tailgate hanging on by the cables



from the looks of it, it looks like one of the welds has been broken loose for a while; you can see how one is rusted over, like it's been separated and open to the elements for a while



I probably wont have a chance to get it to a dealership until next Saturday... I'm out of town right now, and really wont have the chance to take it by a local dealership. Unless I get the time, then it'll wait. I know they'll have to order in a new complete tailgate and then have it painted to match and all, so that'll take a little while; maybe if I get a chance to visit a local dealer around here, they can have the tailgate delivered to and be ready to installed at a dealer that's close to me back home; we'll see...

pig9r

Probably a bad weld from the get go. Where was your truck built?

iamsuperbleeder

that's what I was kinda thinking; could have been bad to start with...

how would I check to see where it was put together? I know it use to have that ugly green and white stick on the window; Deerborn or something like that I think it said?

faster_than_u

Then thats the place it was built. In Dearborn Mi.

Sturgisfdb

It look's to me like the left side never did weld. The right side doesn't look to be a good spot weld either. Either the hinge bracket or tailgate is bent; or the bracket wasn't touching the tailgate flush when it was spot welded. There should be alot more heat to weld a bracket of that thickness. I just hope it's an isolated incident!

xciton

Having them re-spot weld it would be a good repair option if there is no damage to the outside lower tail gate from it dropping down. I really wouldn't want a new tailgate and having it repainted to match, too many 'issues' to watch for.

iamsuperbleeder

yeah however they have to do, I don't care that's for the dealership to decide, lol, as long as the repair work is approved by me once the work is done...

I wouldn't mind if I have to just drop the tailgate off to them for a few days... Or hell if they want to hold the truck in the shop for a few days and give me a rental, I could live cruising around in a Mustang for a few days

Sturgisfdb

All the paint will have to be removed before it can be rewelded anyway. There was a reason the spot weld was poor the first time. I would opt for a new tailgate; before trusting a repair on this one. I also believe the tailgate will need to be sent back to the factory for repair. I certainly wouldn't be satisfied with a body shop to repair it!

iamsuperbleeder

I wonder...

1) Do you think the dealership could order in a replacement tailgate that doesn't have the step-option, even though the truck is obviously equipped with the rear step

2) could JUST the step be removed from my current tailgate, and put in the non-step tailgate, so that just the pull out step is installed and not the handle on the inside?

RES4CUE

I want the same!! I like the step but the handle sucks especially when trying to slide heavy objects over it going in or out of the truck.