Tailgate opened while driving

[pcorrao1]

Just recently completed a 6 week, 7,500 mile cross country journey with my '19 1500 Laramie. During the trip, the tailgate opened twice while I was driving with no warning light showing on the instrument cluster. Fortunately, the first time, nothing was lost and I assumed I had not closed it well. I was especially careful when closing it for the rest of the trip. We were not so lucky the with the second opening as my wife's suitcase fell out and was lost. I am aware of the 2013-2018 recall, but am wondering if there remains a problem with 5th gen trucks as well. I contacted FCA, but they only advised that I bring it to a RAM dealer. I have scheduled a service appointment, but will be very upset if it is a costly repair, as my warranty has expired. I was wondering if anyone else is having similar issues or can offer some advice.

PS: During the trip, the passanger side sun visor also broke. Saw a thread in the forum showing this to be a common problem. FCA said no extended warranty for the visor. Found one for $80 and will replace it myself.

 

[Rlaf75]

I had that happen to my 11 Ram once during cold weather. I bought the truck used and what I found was the previous owner used some type of grease to lube the latches. The problem was, when it got cold the greasy substance would become thick and not allow the latch to work freely to catch the striker. I used bake parts cleaner to clean the grease off and used WD40 to lube it. Never happened again. Im not saying that's your problem but it's something simple to check and lube.

With all of that said, if your tail gate is electronically operated I would let the dealer look at it

 

[brian42]

I've not had this issue but read about lots of people not having the tailgate open warning not activated on their truck. I don't know if the dealership will fix that (needs a setting change in the BCM) under warranty or not.

 

[vincentw56]

My tailgate ajar warning wasn't activated in the BCM. I did it with AlfaODB. I did have my tailgate open once. It was because it wasn't closed completely and the tonneau cover was misaligned.

 

[MikeyHo808]

My tailgate ajar warning wasn't activated in the BCM. I did it with AlfaODB. I did have my tailgate open once. It was because it wasn't closed completely and the tonneau cover was misaligned.

Mine popped open because of my tonneau too.
The clamps closet to the tailgate were a bit too tight, so it was a very snug closure. Just didn’t close it all the way. Have since adjusted that.

And the dampers are so soft, had no idea it was open. Went over a speed bump in a parking and felt the tailgate jump, then tried to back into a space, all I saw was ground
no warning light either, so I would assume mine isn’t activated either.

 

[MValdez]

"The FCA has the best customer service"... said no one, ever.

 

[20NightEdition20]

I had mine pop open on mine when i opened then reclosed it in a VERY short amount of time. When I open my tailgate, I can hear an electronic click after a second or two, that's when I know it's good to close it again. I am assuming before that "click" that the latch is not ready to receive the hook on the truck. In this instance in closed, but did not latch. Mile or so down the road it opened. Since i've been cautious about not opening then closing it in under a second, it has yet to do that again. Probably not your issue, but figured i'd share mine. Also, is the tailgate open warning light on all 5th gens? I don't show that on mine.

 

[brian42]

It is there but not all trucks seem to have it activated when they leave the factory.

As vincentw56 mentioned, you can activate it yourself with the AlfaOBD software but that is an investment if you are only getting it to activate that light. You need some supporting hardware (bluetooth OBD-II connector and security gateway bypass) in addition to the software. All in all you're looking at about $100 to activate it yourself unless you know someone who has the stuff and can do it for you (it is not VIN-specific so you can use it on as many different trucks as you want).

While the AlfaOBD stuff is a good investment if you want to do other things in the future, spending a C-note to turn on a warning light might be steep for some.

 

[pcorrao1]

I had mine pop open on mine when i opened then reclosed it in a VERY short amount of time. When I open my tailgate, I can hear an electronic click after a second or two, that's when I know it's good to close it again. I am assuming before that "click" that the latch is not ready to receive the hook on the truck. In this instance in closed, but did not latch. Mile or so down the road it opened. Since i've been cautious about not opening then closing it in under a second, it has yet to do that again. Probably not your issue, but figured i'd share mine. Also, is the tailgate open warning light on all 5th gens? I don't show that on mine.

 

[pcorrao1]

Thanks for your response. It is very likely that what you described caused my issue as well. On the day it happened, I had opened and closed it fairly quickly as I was trying to be sure it was closed well before hitting the road. I just tried it in my driveway and exactly what you said happened. I am very upset that the warning light was not activated. We lost several thousand dollars of jewelry which was packed in my wife's bag. Made an insurance claim, but we don't expect much or anything to come from that.

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

Thanks for your response. It is very likely that what you described caused my issue as well. On the day it happened, I had opened and closed it fairly quickly as I was trying to be sure it was closed well before hitting the road. I just tried it in my driveway and exactly what you said happened. I am very upset that the warning light was not activated. We lost several thousand dollars of jewelry which was packed in my wife's bag. Made an insurance claim, but we don't expect much or anything to come from that.

You weren't in Northern Virginia were you? Color of that case?

Really though, that sucks. Sorry about the bad luck.

 

[pcorrao1]

Just returned from the RAM dealer. They informed me that that the tailgate ajar warning light was an option which my vehicle was not equipped with. I find that hard to believe, considering all the other safety features the truck came with Also, in the manual, where it describes the warning light and chime, it does not say "if equipped". Will be contacting FCA with my concern next.