Tailgate Play?

[Edwards]

I just noticed that my tailgate has excessive play side to side and gets dangerously close to chipping paint on the right side. I can slide it back and forth (easiest when at about 45 degrees) but it gets much closer to the right side. Here is a shot of it as it likes to scoot over by driving around:


The lower right side is where I'm concerned about paint chipping due to clearance. I took the right side off and it just has free play on the left/right hinge to slide either direction. Does anyone else have this going on?

One thought is that perhaps I'm missing a bushing or something and wondered if it got lost when the tailgate was removed for the bedliner. Here are two shots of the right hinge if you've got the same or see that I'm missing something. Otherwise I may fab something up to keep it more centered.

 

[NHREBEL2]

Yes one of the first things I noticed when closing the tailgate when I got home from the dealer . Mine was touching on the right side at the top. Definitely would have chipped the paint eventually.
Shoved it to the left and noticed paint crumbs on the hinge post. Lined up perfectly, then two days later it slipped back to the right.
Heading to the hardware store today to get some rubber washers to slide over the right post.

 

[Edwards]

Think I may have figured it out. The tailgate is supposed to have the left/right play on the hinges and is designed to be kept centered by the bottom black rubber bumpers mounted to the sides of the bed. There are two bumpers - the top ones look to keep the tailgate against the latches front/rear and the bottom ones are to keep the tailgate centered side/side.

In my case, when the tailgate is roughly centered, the left bumper makes decent contact but I still have ~1/16" gap between the bumper and the tailgate on the right allowing it to wiggle to the right too far. Looks like Ram made the right bumpers to short or some other tailgate spec is off.

To remedy, I unscrewed the plastic screw holding in the lower right bumper then pulled the bumper and screw mount from the side of the bed. I put a rubber hose garden washer between the bumper and bed and reinserted the screw mount into the hole. Lastly, lightly hammer the plastic screw back in.

The bed still has a little play side to side (doesn't move easily) but both bumpers are now making contact with the sides of the tailgate so I think this will work, at least until Ram comes out with AB tailgate bumpers I can get.

 

[Gman]

I checked mine at lunch, and it's centered and doesn't have any side play. I also don't see a gap on one side like you had pictured above.

 

[Edwards]

Here's a shot of the rubber bumper with the washer behind it. I used a black garden hose washer so it would match! Makes the whole bumper sit ~1/16" closer to the tailgate to prevent it from shifting to the right.
Ideally, I'd use a rectangular piece of rubber so that the bulk of the bumper would be moved left. with nothing behind the bumper in the corner it can flex back to it's original position over time but I'll keep an eye on it.


I also noticed there are dates stamped into the sheet metal underneath this bumper. Wouldn't have seen them otherwise.

 

[NHREBEL2]

I ended up putting an 1/8" rubber washer on the hinge post. Not quite as elegant as yours but it did the trick. I see where there is a space now between the tailgate and the rubber bumpers. I wonder if this is a Rambox issue? Need different bumpers?

 

[ericd]

good post. I have the same exact issue. Only on mine I have zero play in the tailgate. Everything is bolted down tight and the tailgate doesn't move. It's scheduled to go to the body shop through the dealer to get adjusted. When I close my tailgate it doesn't seem to come into contact with any of those bumpers.

 

[Highlander_1]

good post. I have the same exact issue. Only on mine I have zero play in the tailgate. Everything is bolted down tight and the tailgate doesn't move. It's scheduled to go to the body shop through the dealer to get adjusted. When I close my tailgate it doesn't seem to come into contact with any of those bumpers.

View attachment 9865 View attachment 9866 View attachment 9867

Here's a shot of the rubber bumper with the washer behind it. I used a black garden hose washer so it would match! Makes the whole bumper sit ~1/16" closer to the tailgate to prevent it from shifting to the right.
Ideally, I'd use a rectangular piece of rubber so that the bulk of the bumper would be moved left. with nothing behind the bumper in the corner it can flex back to it's original position over time but I'll keep an eye on it.
View attachment 9693

I also noticed there are dates stamped into the sheet metal underneath this bumper. Wouldn't have seen them otherwise.

Just this afternoon when trying to seal the tailgate top gap I noticed the gate was to the right more than it should’ve been. I’m going to use your washer solution, thanks for bringing it up.

 

[Edwards]

Just this afternoon when trying to seal the tailgate top gap I noticed the gate was to the right more than it should’ve been. I’m going to use your washer solution, thanks for bringing it up.

The thinner o-ring I'm now using (half as thick as garden hose washer) is perfect and I consider it fixed until Ram comes out with an official fix.

 

[Highlander_1]

The thinner o-ring I'm now using (half as thick as garden hose washer) is perfect and I consider it fixed until Ram comes out with an official fix.

Cool. I installed one on each side tonight and look evenly centred after closing it several times. Thanks

 

[Highlander_1]

While I was installing the tap washers on the tail gate guides. I also installed temporary gaskets on the top tailgate gap for now, coating it with lots of mothers protector sealant for now until a more permanently fix is found.. ( I split the insulation and tucked it under the tailgate access door to keep it in place)

 

[RAMpage]

Reviving an old post as I had to do the same to my new truck. The first truck I had a couple months ago had a perfectly centred tailgate but the new one (with RAMbox) is almost rubbing the right side. Used a garden hose washer like in the above posts but almost needs just a tad more (however the plastic screw isn't long enough to add anything else since it won't catch when trying to screw it back in). Perhaps I just need to hammer it back in after making it even thicker.

 

[Eltaco]

Old thread, but I’m seeing the same problem on my 2020 with Rambox. My tailgate gap on the right side is variable each time I close it, but sometimes the gap is zero. My paint has worn off where the two touch.

I couldn’t seem to get the rubber bumper off. Tried the screw and it just spun without coming out. I cut a hose washer into a C and jammed it behind the bumper, but that didn’t seem to resolve my issue completely.

Is there a more permanent solution from Ram? It seems the bushing between the tailgate and hinge post could provide the required gap. Wondering if there’s a new part to achieve this?

 

[barrak]

I had the same issue... tailgate slightly shifted to passenger side. What drew my attention to it is the effect it had on my BakFlip MX4 bed cover. When I let the rearmost cover panel fall into place, its left tap would not engage with the left cover rail unless I gently tap the cover down where the BakFlip logo is.

It seems when the tailgate was installed (which involves sliding it leftward into the driver side hinge then sliding it downward into the passenger side hinge), it wasn't fully inserted into the driver side hinge. This caused a very slight droop at the passenger side resulting in reduced gap there, increased gap on the left, AND a slight rise of the top left corner of the tailgate which impeded the BakFlip locking tap engagement there.

All I needed to remedy the situation was to hold the tailgate open at 45 degrees, then heave on it from the right side to seat it fully into the left hinge. Now all gaps are even and the BakFlip locks down perfectly.

I think an effective permanent solution would be a sturdy rubber C-ring thick enough to fill the gap at the passenger side hinge (second photo of Post #1) to prevent the tailgate from shifting to the right.