Tailgate opening by itself

[John500]

I have a 2019 2500 and so far I haven't found any other thread on this issue. Thus, I'd like to interject.

I've never had the tailgate open up in two years until just yesterday. I'd been having problems with my fob. The unlock portion of the fob is busted. I brought it into a place that fixes these types of things. The guy took it apart to determine exactly why the unlock portion wasn't working. As it turns out, the button needs replaced if I could manage such a replacement.

He put it all back together and I walked out. As I backed up I could see my tailgate was down since my camera was blocked. My first impression was that someone was looking inside the truck. Suspicious minds, I'm sorry. Over the next 30 minutes it went down three times. I thought, what the hell?! Each time it happened the truck was NOT moving! The 3rd and last time it happened I was walking away from the truck to enter a store when I heard it slam down! I guess gravity, along with a released latch was doing this. For the rest of the day I rigged it with a bungee.

Today I left the fob at home and used my other fob and it didn't happen once. Isn't it safe to assume that a faulty circuit on the fob would be unlocking the latch? As I was entering the store the truck was locked. In theory (my theory) the busted circuit was only sending a partial signal that didn't unlock the entire truck but only the tailgate. I realize that some central receiver on the truck would process the unlock command throughout but maybe not....

On this note, if anyone knows of the least expensive options for replacing fobs, I'd be interested.....

 

[JHardin]

I know this is a 1500 thread but my '01 2500 had this happen yesterday. Loaded the trailer, put the dog in the back of the truck, closed the gate and made sure it was secure. When making a turn out of my neighborhood I heard a strange crunch sound. I immediately activated the rear camera and knew right away what the crunch sound was. The gate dropped and got pinched on the spare tire thats mounted on the tongue while making the turn. I had to apologize to my kids for choise words... Even my wife said to me "I just watched you close and check the tailgate"

 

[Jrjeepin]

I understand this is a 1500 chat but I am dealing with my second smashed tailgate on my 21 3500 HD Big Horn with around 12k miles on it. Truck was bought to tow so it has my toy hauler or equipment trailer hooked to it most of the time. Tailgate fell down while driving last fall and got smashed between the truck and my toy hauler. Fixed it out of pocket myself thinking I didn’t close it hard enough or something . Now here I am again second smashed tailgate same scenario. I am very positive this time it is not my fault after paying close attention to the use of my tailgate. Anyone else deal with this or deal with RAM on a possible issue that needs to be addressed. I am beyond pissed at this point! Any info would be greatly appreciated. My truck does have a electronic tailgate but does not have the option to open it with the key fob so I know it isn’t that.

 

[Gatekeeper59]

2021 1500........my tailgate has fallen open no less than 8 times over the last two years. I always make sure to firmly shut the tailgate now and it still happens occasionally. Luckily nothing has fallen out of the truck or had a trailer attached at the time.

 

[Crazy Dane]

I have a camper shell on mine and the window catches the gate which has save me from a crunching. The first time it happened the truck was less than a month old. I was hauling some lumber and had to leave the window open, and the gate opened on me. I blamed it on the lumber but since then I have found mine unlatched a few times.

 

[Rick3478]

I think remote unlatch is an available option. Could be a firmware glitch or you're sitting on the remote.

 

[crusher]

dont think its suppose to unlatch if the truck is in drive with either the switch or the fob?

if yes thats not good

 

[Crazy Dane]

I should add that I don't have passive entry nor the fob that drops the tailgate, just lock, unlock and panic.

 

[crusher]

I should add that I don't have passive entry nor the fob that drops the tailgate, just lock, unlock and panic.

have you found the problem ?

 

[Sinister4]

2023 TRX had the tailgate flop open 4 times so far totally on its own while driving in gear