Tailgate

[Mike Flea]

Bought a used 2010 RCSB last October. My wife and I cleaned out her brother's apartment when he passed away in May, made a few trips to a storage lot until we find the time to go through all his stuff, didn't have any issues with the tailgate throughout the entire move.

Couple of weeks ago, I went to pick up some top round for shish kabobs, tossed my big cooler in the back of the truck through the camper shell back window, picked up the meat, and headed home. Got home, went to unload, ( now heavier with ice and meat), went to lower the tailgate, and I had a hard time doing so. Had to force it to go all the way open, and while I was trying to get it to open all the way, heard this god awful creaking noise like it was going to snap something. Grabbed a can of Rust Buster, and gave it a couple good squirts in each side of the hinge. It helped a little. Once I got it down, upon closer inspection, there is a rod running through both sides of the hinge.

Now I've had plenty of P/U's in the past and none of them, including my 2003 Quad Cab, had that rod. The left side, where all the rust is, is where the creaking sound is, obviously something is binding.

What is it's function, and how do I correct the problem?

 

[ramrocker]

Looks like Torsion Rod for tailgate lift assist.

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/installing-4th-gen-tailgate-on-a-3rd-gen-truck.99700/
Mar 7, 2017 at 6:23 PM #3
chrisp2493

"The last thing to do is deal with the torsion bar on the bottom if it came with one. The one end of the bar has a slot that is supposed to go into a slotted mount on the truck. My truck didn't have that, so I'm searching for a 4th gen tailgate mounts and hopefully I'll be able to use that. If you need to remove it, loosen the holding bold on the passenger side, give it a yank and it will slide right out. Then make sure the tailgate bushings are in and it should be ready to hang on the truck."

 

[Mike Flea]

Thanks ramrocker

 

[Mike Flea]

Finally got around to fixing the problem. Took the tailgate off, nylon bushing on that side was so tight, had to pull it out with a vice grip. Cleaned the built up rust, & sprayed the pocket with lithium grease, bushing rotates nicely now.

Loosened the bolt on the passenger side, the drivers side is so rusted into the pocket, it won't come out, so I stood the tailgate up on end, and sprayed it with the RustBuster. Banged on it a few times with a plastic hammer, still couldn't get it to come out.

Put it back on the truck, doesn't squeak anymore, and the tailgate locks again. I'll try again next weekend to remove that rod.