Gen 3 Misaligned Tailgates

I'm one of the ones with the misaligned tailgate on my new '24 (Rubbing the paint off slightly on the bottom right edge.) I've seen several complaints about it and I saw about 5-6 other brand new Tundras at the dealer with the same issue of the tailgate hugging the passenger side tail light. Since I'm waiting for the body shop to get back in touch with me, I just started looking at the gate and hinges real closely for the hell of it. Wouldn't you know it, the driver's side hinge is actually bent. Dropping the tailgate you can see the passengers side hinge is flat and mounts flush to the bottom of the tailgate. However, the driver's side is bent downward and it doesn't mount flush to the tailgate. It also causes the driver's side bottom of the tailgate to press against the bed when closed, whereas there's a slight gap on the passenger side. Anyway, it's something to check for others having the same issue. The attached pictures help illustrate.

 

I ended up just looking up the part #s for the left and right tailgate hinges and ordering new ones. They're only about $40 ea. and picked them up at the dealer same day, which was surprising. After taking the tailgate off and removing both hinges, it looked like maybe the driver's side hinge wasn't bent, but it was somehow mounted improperly. I put both new hinges on anyway, touched up the paint on the edge of the tailgate and then re-installed it. The gap by the passenger side tail light is still smaller, but it's better. It also doesn't rub the paint off anymore and it doesn't pinch the bed on the driver's side when closing the tailgate. That was really all I cared about. Kinda lame having to fix stuff like this, but the dealer didn't really even try to fix it and I'm tired of waiting for the body shop to someday get back to me.

 

I've seen a few threads on misaligned or gapped tailgates.

The gray paint you see by the bracket (smaller red circle) and the bolt hold the bracket are from tailgate adjustment. It's usually done by a body shop when lining up door jams and fitting fenders and reveals. In the case of a new vehicle, it may be an adjustment made after assembly during QC or possibly at the dealership before final check. I'm not suggesting the vehicle has had body work or anything - it's not a big deal to adjust things like that. But seeing as you have a spray in bed line, I would think that perhaps the bed liner caused some interference between the bed and tailgate, so whoever applied the liner had to adjust the tailgate in order to close it. That's just a guess..

 

Yeah, I was wondering about the port installed bedlinder as well and if maybe someone tweaked it then. The drivers side bracket was moved at some point because I could really see the outline of where it was painted over at the factory on the side of the bracket (Not shown in the pic). When I reinstalled, it fit pretty much prefect over the paint pattern. Yeah, it ended up being a fairly easy fix once I just decided to do it myself.

 

The trucks with misaligned beds/tailgates are they all lined or rhino guard already from Port? Or effects non sprayed beds too?

 

An easy fix you should not have to do yourself. I get it. I am impatient as well.

Thanks for posting so other can check.

This should have been caught in QC. How did it get bent in the 1st place? If you didn't fix the cause, it will happen again unless there was a single incident that happened to bend the bracket.

 

Yeah, it drives me nuts just waiting and waiting while people sit on their thumbs. After removal, the side part of the driver's hinge did seem to flare outward a little (Passenger side did not.) The bracket was obviously moved or shifted at some point because you could really see the outline on the side where the bracket was painted over at the factory. Possibly something when they did the port bed liner? I ended up just buying both replacement hinges since they are only about $40 ea. They even come pre-painted black which was kinda cool. When I put the new one on the driver's side, it pretty much lined up perfectly to the paint outline from the factory. In the end, the tailgate is still a little closer to the right side, but it's better. It doesn't rub against anything now and the drivers side of the tailgate doesn't pinch against the bed when you close it.

 

Some times it's easier to just do it your self than spend that effort on complaining about it. Most folks don't give a shit their tail gate is out by .27 of an inch.....me being one. I would just adjust it, drink a beer, watch sports in the process

 

^this

 

Sometimes it would be nice after paying a extravagant amount of money to get what you paid for. I get that that gap doesn't look bad, but why should anyone have to buy parts to fix a multi-billion dollar companies mistake.

 

It could be the port installed bed liner caused an interference fit and the installer adjusted it, as evidenced by the paint witness marks. Still part of the Toyota group, sure, but not on the main assembly line. They are constantly working out bugs in that process.

 

Could be. Still I dont see the point of buying something for a brand new truck to make it right. Just like when I bought my truck. The steering wheel was off center. You think I should have to pay to have an alignment done, no. Took it to the dealer on the first (and last) service and had them do it.

 

Yes, it would be nice, but seems to be a rarity these days. I'm not even one of those people out with a micrometer measuring the gaps on each side (Especially since you really don't notice it on a black truck.) I would've left everything alone except I couldn't use the tailgate without pinching the bed on the left side and taking paint off the right side. Now that both are resolved, everything is good.

 

My tailgate gaps are off too. Not so much that there is any rubbing, but the passenger side gap is definitely tighter than the drivers side. When I brought it up with my dealer they told me that it’s within spec and the gap on the drivers side is bigger by design because of the release button actuator. Hard to swallow that one!

 

Yeah, the dealer I went to said they'd never heard of this type of issue with the tailgates. Most all of the new ones on the lot I looked at were similar and several of those definitely looked like they would rub slightly when opened. I never looked at whether the worst ones had the spray in liners or not to where they may have been adjusted post factory. The 1794 LE that was in the showroom when I went and picked up my replacement hinges had no spray in liner. The tailgate had enough clearance on the right side where it did not rub the bracket mounted to the bed.