Tailgate assist soft open bushing breaks again and again

Hoping to find a solution to this repetitive problem on my 2021. The bushing on lower left tailgate hinge keeps cracking resulting in the tailgate just crashing down when opened.

Dealer replaces hinge/bushing under warranty and all is great. About 50 openings, and BAM, bushing cracks again. Truck is going in tomorrow for its 3rd replacement. What is causing this repeated failure?

Truck is in great shape, no twisted frame or body panels, and only has 70K miles on the clock. I do not subject the tailgate to overly heavy loads. Heaviest thing loaded is a quad from time to time. Failure happens without warning and without any pre-existing conditions.

I had mentioned to dealer that maybe they should replace the strut as well, but they say no, its fine and there's no need. The hinge on right side is just a "dummy" hinge, but it appears to be fine and smooth.

I will say the dealership has been great about it, even sending the hinge to a body shop for color match painting before installation.

Why the repeat fails? One of my friends has a 2018 with 200K mile, he uses the truck hard, and its still on its original hinge, working just fine.

 

$19 Casrram Upgrade Aluminum Tailgate Hinge Bushing Compatible with Toyota Tundra 2007-2021 for Rear Tail Gate Left Driver Side

https://www.amazon.com/Casrram-Aluminum-Tailgate-Compatible-2007-2021/dp/B0DKCT5KF5

 

I might have to include you in my Will. At the VERY LEAST, you made it onto my Christmas Cookie List!

THANK YOU X`s 10,000!

 

If I still had my 2014, I would buy that and install it even if I didn't need it.

 

Where have you been for the last 10 years.... whichbis as long as my tailgate has been broken, stripped the bolt heads and I have the part. May have to add you to my will as well.

 

Since absolutely nothing in this post contributes anything whatsoever , at least you raised your posted messages count by 1. Great Job! Thanks for your insightful response.

 

Lol what’s with the hostility? This is a forum, not every post in every thread is going to be a direct contribution. @blackdemon_tt was just joining in and saying thanks to @SM Tundra for the reminder about this part.

 

Zero hostility. And after RE-Reading things, completely my BAD. I read it as if blackdemon_tt was asking me where I`ve been for the past 10 years. As if I've been under a rock and should have known about this part for the past 10 years.

Looking again, I CLEARLY see my error. Its been a long day. My sincere apologies to you blackdemon_tt.

Read it wrong, took it wrong, responded wrong.
IM WRONG! 100%

 

Ahhh gotcha that totally makes sense, I could have easily read it like that as well. No harm no foul, cheers to the weekend!

 

No offense taken. If it came out wrong my bad, but I've thought about something like this for a long time and never found it until now,
I'm honestly tired of cooking my fingers everytime I knock the tailgate out of the hinges, especially when it's 1000 degrees out here in the summer. Already purchased it this bad boy.

 

+1 to the just ordered one. My tailgates fine for now but whenever I see threads like this with cheap little upgrade/replacement parts I try and order em before I forget and toss em in my stash of truck parts to eventually install.

 

Glad I saw this post- ordered this along with a new dampener, since my tailgate has been a slammer for about 5 years now!

 

Welp, got it and installed it... not sure if its my situation specifically, or you'll all need additional tools.
Mallet, maybe some lubricant.
Mine wouldn't go in, so I had to massage it in. You may need to remove the hitch, I kept tripping over itand the tailgate would slip out. I needed the mallet once more to get it all the way in. I got soft open back, but I have to oull the bumper cover out or it will knock the tailgate out, but that's a different problem.
I'll add pics later if anyone wants them.

 

Wow, how did you get yours so fast? Mine is set for delivery tomorrow. Glad to hear it worked and you got soft open back.

As a side, its best to remove your hitch when not in use, If you get hit from behind, the hitch can provide enough leverage to bend your frame where it otherwise would not have bent. That results in your truck being totaled by insurance company. This actually happened to a member on the forum, if you search long enough you'll find the thread on it.

 

Here you guys go. Not sure if the female side was damaged, but it wouldn't slide in. So, I had to beat it. Ordered mine Friday got it late last night. Once I got the tip in, I had to tap the tailgate from the passrger side along with a forceful push before it slid all the way in.

 

Great pictures, Thank you for taking the time to post. I've read where many others have had to use lube and rubber mallet to help with fitment.

So I understand, Did you install the new aluminum bushing onto the truck side first, and then install tailgate onto new bushing? or did you put new bushing into the tailgate first and then slide entire tailgate onto truck?

 

I used a mallet as well, no lube.

I test fitted on the truck side and it cleared fine, but no luck on the tailgate side.

I forced it on the tailgate side first then struggle slid it on the truck side. You will need the mallet to force it on to the truck side. Then either push it or hit it a couple more times on the passenger side of the tailgate to mount it on. I hit it at the bottom area just above the C fitting.

 

Installed today, went super easy for me. I did use a rubber mallet to gently tap bushing into tailgate, the gate then slid on the truck with no effort at all. I applied Fluid Film to all surfaces. Tailgate works butter smooth like new.

It amazing to think the money my dealership spends to replace this under warranty. New hinges left and right, sent out to a body shop to color match, new strut. All they had to do was this. At least now I get to go pick up all those parts for future use if ever needed. Doubt I`ll ever have the need though.

Thank you again sm_tundra as well as everyone else.

 

Wow!
I just logged on to find out why my tailgate still drops after a new damper!
Thanks!

 

Looks like Amazon has a couple of these for sale. Not sure if one fits better than the other.
Maybe post a link to the one you bought with how it fit so everyone can compare.

 

I bought the Casrram. Worked great for me. Slight tap to get it into the tailgate, but thats a good thing, you don't want to lose it if you take the tailgate off. Slipped onto the truck with the greatest of ease.

Look at above posts and you will find a link to the Casrram.

 

Received the bushing and new dampener yesterday. I replaced the dampener first, since it's kind of the lower hanging fruit. That solved the issue for me. When I started pulling the tailgate off, I could visualize the factory bushing, and it was fine, still unbroken and intact.

Given that the tailgate is working smoothly, it was getting late, and it was getting damn chilly, I just opted to remount the tailgate, and I'll worry about replacing the bushing later. I used the extra time to give the truck a quick wash in the garage since it was really filthy.

 

Great to hear its working smoothly again, no need to replace the bushing yet. Hang onto it, chances are you`ll need it in the future. At least now, you have it.

 

How hard is it to pull the tailgate off by yourself without scratching it?

 

I didn't find it very difficult at all. Tailgate is not that heavy. I wore a pair of thick winter gloves so it was a soft grab on the tailgate. Open tailgate about 1/4 the way and pull, concentrate on pulling the passenger side off the hinge first. Once you are free from that hinge, gently move the whole gate to the right to free the other side. At this point you can set the tailgate down gently on its bottom edge right onto the bumper plastics without fear of scratching it. I then put the whole tailgate into my bed, paint side up, with lower left facing out.

Be deliberate in your moves, go slow, and you`ll be fine.

One word of caution, try to avoid using the tailgate handle as a holding point. Its ok to use to free one side from hinge, but don't use it to hold the entire weight of tailgate.

And don't forget to disconnect your camera and tailgate lock harnesses before removing.

 

I used the posted link quoted above.