Bed stiffeners and tailgate gaps

Curious if anyone was able to safely close the excessive gap between the tailgate and bed side safely using bed stiffeners. I thought about trying it but thought the stiffener bolts may tear open the plastic composite bed when torqueing it down

 

I guess I did this. I have a RTT and bed stiffeners. My gate wasnt opening without yanking on it. I loosened the stiffeners, attached a ratchet strap to my rack and the stiffener. pulled it all back in and torqued down the stiffener. that was months and many off road adventures ago. My gate opens everytime easy.

I am using the Rago stiffeners.

 

I have the Ragos just not the nerve lol. I also noticed the tailgate slides back and forth making the gap look bigger until you move the gate back into the middle