Tail gate support cables

[Zeeya]

I have looked, but not found anything as of yet in regards the support cables on the tailgate. As I was looking at LPR light bar on license plate and tailgate touching it. I removed light bar and license plate. Let tailgate down and got back underneath it to look at clearance. I started looking the support cables. There is slack in both of the cables. The tailgate does not rest on the support cables when down. Is this common? On my old trucks the tailgate relied on the cables to support it when down. What could it be sitting on that would not allow the support cables to support it? It is not touching the bumper at any point. Thanks for any hints.

 

[SpeedyV]

I have looked, but not found anything as of yet in regards the support cables on the tailgate. As I was looking at LPR light bar on license plate and tailgate touching it. I removed light bar and license plate. Let tailgate down and got back underneath it to look at clearance. I started looking the support cables. There is slack in both of the cables. The tailgate does not rest on the support cables when down. Is this common? On my old trucks the tailgate relied on the cables to support it when down. What could it be sitting on that would not allow the support cables to support it? It is not touching the bumper at any point. Thanks for any hints.

It always rests on at least one of them, but the assist damper takes a bit of the load. Put a little pressure on your tailgate (or let it fall open), and you’ll see one of the cables appears more loaded than the other (there are hundreds of prior posts on that). Chalk it up to build tolerances, as it’s not always the same side.

 

[Diamondback]

I took both cables off yesterday (one at a time) to install the 'nubs' for the Bed Extender. I have the Star Case regarding the cable slack so I measured both cables. The passenger is 1/4" shorter than the driver's side (which has the damper). When I reinstalled both cables, I gave the longer cable a full twist -- didn't look right, so I gave it a full twist in the opposite direction .. nice and taught ..

I agree (and almost always do) with @SpeedyV , but I think my tailgate was like yours, in the sense that I was holding it up with me knee (aluminum is so much lighter LOL) while playing with the cables. I don't believe my tailgate 'dropped' without the cables either as if the damper was holding it .. THAT SAID - I wasn't going to push my luck and put any weight on the tailgate .. I just redid the cables and closed the tailgate.

The star case does say that if the cables are of different length, you can have them replaced .. (the proceedure says to swap cables and if the loose cable is still loose on the other side, etc.etc.etc.)

I dunno what that yellowish stuff is, but it is nasty slimy and to me, shouldn't be there .. it is like a lube (or maybe protectant) .. The red circle is where the damper attaches to the tailgate hinge itself.

 

[Zeeya]

I’ll try the twist and see if it gets tight and keeps it level. Right now when lowered the tailgate does not sit level.
Thanks for tips

 

[Edwards]

I took both cables off yesterday (one at a time) to install the 'nubs' for the Bed Extender. I have the Star Case regarding the cable slack so I measured both cables. The passenger is 1/4" shorter than the driver's side (which has the damper). When I reinstalled both cables, I gave the longer cable a full twist -- didn't look right, so I gave it a full twist in the opposite direction .. nice and taught ..

I agree (and almost always do) with @SpeedyV , but I think my tailgate was like yours, in the sense that I was holding it up with me knee (aluminum is so much lighter LOL) while playing with the cables. I don't believe my tailgate 'dropped' without the cables either as if the damper was holding it .. THAT SAID - I wasn't going to push my luck and put any weight on the tailgate .. I just redid the cables and closed the tailgate.

The star case does say that if the cables are of different length, you can have them replaced .. (the proceedure says to swap cables and if the loose cable is still loose on the other side, etc.etc.etc.)

I dunno what that yellowish stuff is, but it is nasty slimy and to me, shouldn't be there .. it is like a lube (or maybe protectant) .. The red circle is where the damper attaches to the tailgate hinge itself.

View attachment 34922

You are a genius! I went out and twisted my slack cable and now they are both tight! I'd say the slack one is ~80% as tight as the "tight" one but now they both look tight and when sitting on the tailgate one is not still flopping around. You found the fix and it only takes 20 seconds!

I did have the same issue as you when I first twisted it. It curved in all the wrong places like a teenager recoiling a garden hose. I simply removed the top and twisted the other direction, one turn, and put it back on. It will obviously take a short while to "re-learn" it's new shape when closing but I'm chalking this issue up as resolved.

Thank you!

 

[Diamondback]

You are a genius! I went out and twisted my slack cable and now they are both tight! I'd say the slack one is ~80% as tight as the "tight" one but now they both look tight and when sitting on the tailgate one is not still flopping around. You found the fix and it only takes 20 seconds!

I did have the same issue as you when I first twisted it. It curved in all the wrong places like a teenager recoiling a garden hose. I simply removed the top and twisted the other direction, one turn, and put it back on. It will obviously take a short while to "re-learn" it's new shape when closing but I'm chalking this issue up as resolved.

Thank you!

I'm doing some "stress tests" on them to see how long they (the twisted one) lasts before "failure" .. but since I don't regularly put more than my own bodyweight on the tailgate, I would hope to be fine. Also relieves a bit of pressure off the damper hinge as well. I'll get new cables ordered under the TSB, but I just wanted to see if it'd even work (as others said before, a bit of OCD when you see a floppy cable that should be taught).

 

[Edwards]

I'm doing some "stress tests" on them to see how long they (the twisted one) lasts before "failure" .. but since I don't regularly put more than my own bodyweight on the tailgate, I would hope to be fine. Also relieves a bit of pressure off the damper hinge as well. I'll get new cables ordered under the TSB, but I just wanted to see if it'd even work (as others said before, a bit of OCD when you see a floppy cable that should be taught).

I don't see them failing due to an extra twist but since they are twisted steel cables it does make sense that an extra twist would shorten one just enough to take the slack out.