I went to Home Depot yesterday and bought a new back door for my house. When i put the tailgate down to load it i noticed that the tailgate cable on the passenger side is not tight i can grab it and flop it back and forth. The one on the driver side is tight. Are the supposed to be this way and if so what is the reason?

 

Old subject of frequent discussion. Welcome to your '09 F-150.

 

https://www.f150forum.com/showthread...tailgate+cable

 

I just went out to check mine and found that each side had an equal amount of tension. However I did notice that when the tailgate is fully open, for just a brief moment each cable is fully stretched, then the tension rod inside the tailgate takes over and pulls it up slightly creating a little play in each cable. Due to the soaring number of box alignment issues on the 09's I could see how one side could be out of line. It would only take a small alignment issue to throw the tailgate cables out of whack and it could possibly place undue pressure on the tension rod inside. I decided to also check the alignment of everything on my truck, everything was in order with no balance issues. I would suggest checking everything on a flat level surface and see what you come up with. Good luck.

 

To the OP, it's typical and not it's not a situation that will affect your truck. A little weight on the tailgate takes up the slack.