[Blastek]

Is this happening to people with the rear subwoofer, or without? I noticed the tail gate stopper goes into the sub enclosure.

 

[CarbonExtreme]

Mine had the subwoofer.

Just dropped it off. No mention of warranty or no warranty. They said they'd call me. Lets see what happens.

 

[redz2002]

I too have had this happen to me. I opened the tailgate on a slight incline, and the stopper ripped out, and swung out so far that it cracked my tail light. The stopper being ripped out also cause the plastic trim around the subwoofer enclosure to crack. I brought my jeep to my dealer and they told me there was nothing they could do even though I have a bumper to bumper warranty!!!! This is absolutely insane that Chrysler isn't manning up about obviously having a flaw in their design....I mean c'mon that stupid black nylon strap does absolutely nothing in the way of helping stop the tailgate. I am beyond angry with this situation(I've only had my jeep for 6 months)

 

[TX95YJ]

Anyone have pics? I don't have my jeep yet and I'm trying to picture what's going on here. As far as chyrsler cheap parts I do know about that. I have a 2011 Challenger RT and parts are breaking and falling apart all the time. I do agree that an offload vehicle should be able to handle opening the tailgate a few times without parts breaking in 2
Crazy

 

[CarbonExtreme]

Good News and Bad News - The good news is that my dealership fixed the problem at no cost. I didn't even have to ask.

Bad news is they didn't do anything to prevent it from happening again. The Nylon strap has about 4 inches of slack in it so the arm will simply pop out again and break as there is no stop. I may have to see about shortening it myself.

 

[StephSH]

My dealer is covering the repair under warranty, I would never have paid $700 for it, I would have just left it off.
Anyone have a good fix or aftermarket part for this? I need something that wont let it swing open so far, not really something that holds it open....

 

[ddbartley]

My dealer repaired the broken tail gate latch for the second time but when I got it back I noticed that they had cracked the sub woofer case! Of course they had to order it and that was another 3 hours sitting at the service department! Luckily I took pictures of the latch after it broke and it showed that they case wasn't cracked until after the "repair"! Love to know of an after market strap that would work with the sub-woofer case.

 

[Wingsnut72]

This what I love about this forum. Here you have everyone talking about the same issue. I'd take this topic to the dealer and let them see the people talking about the issue. Maybe they'll be more inclined to fix it under warranty after seeing more customers having the same issue.

I will receive my unlimited in a couple weeks, and have an AEV bumper and tire carrier ready to go on. I hope this addition will help the tailgate stay to gather since there will be less weight on it.

Maybe, there'll be a permanent fix with a metal bracket in the future.

 

[asianhulk]

I wonder if you can just unbolt it and let the strap do the work? Or shorten the strap to match up with the hinge?

 

[roadrunner58]

I wonder if you can just unbolt it and let the strap do the work? Or shorten the strap to match up with the hinge?

I think that making the strap shorter would be the the best and cheapest way to keep the tailgate stopper from breaking.

 

[4DoorCrush]

The strap has wires in it so letting it to all the work is a bad idea

 

[sbjeep2012]

Tailgate woes

Within a week of purchasing, the tailgate on my 2012 Sahara unlimited flew open breaking the hinge and the taillight housing. Immediately called the service dept and brought the car in. The service manager and a few other service guys told me they had never seen it happen. The hinge is way too flimsy to support the tailgate and attached spare tire. It was all covered under warranty, even the body work to repair the cracked paint around the outside hinge.
Picked it up, took it home, and within three days the same thing happened. Again, everything was covered. I noticed right away they has installed a different, more substantial hinge and housing unit. I ended up selling that jeep and buying a 2013...another Sahara unlimited. Turns out all 2013s come with the stronger hinge arm and more sturdy housing unit. Chrysler should recall the stock 2012 hinge before someone's kid gets knocked over and seriously injured by the tailgate. I called Chrysler and told them such. Maybe if they get enough calls they will actually proactively fix the problem.

 

[StephSH]

Within a week of purchasing, the tailgate on my 2012 Sahara unlimited flew open breaking the hinge and the taillight housing. Immediately called the service dept and brought the car in. The service manager and a few other service guys told me they had never seen it happen. The hinge is way too flimsy to support the tailgate and attached spare tire. It was all covered under warranty, even the body work to repair the cracked paint around the outside hinge.
Picked it up, took it home, and within three days the same thing happened. Again, everything was covered. I noticed right away they has installed a different, more substantial hinge and housing unit. I ended up selling that jeep and buying a 2013...another Sahara unlimited. Turns out all 2013s come with the stronger hinge arm and more sturdy housing unit. Chrysler should recall the stock 2012 hinge before someone's kid gets knocked over and seriously injured by the tailgate. I called Chrysler and told them such. Maybe if they get enough calls they will actually proactively fix the problem.

My 2013 broke, so they arent much better . Covered under warranty, thank goodness.

 

[estes]

I think that making the strap shorter would be the the best and cheapest way to keep the tailgate stopper from breaking.

I've been told by the service manager that the tailgate strap is not meant to be a stopper or limiter. It actually holds the electrical wiring for something - probably the lights.

 

[StephSH]

I've been told by the service manager that the tailgate strap is not meant to be a stopper or limiter. It actually holds the electrical wiring for something - probably the lights.

Mine SNAPPED, LOL, there is nothing in that piece of crappy foreign made metal, I promise.

 

[ncjkphil]

I can't tell you all how many times this has happened to me. It's crazy how people are saying that the dealerships are charging $700, that's pure robbery!!! the entire replacement part is only $60 from the dealer themselves, and it's real easy to install, even for the ones who aren't familiar with tools. or you could just use my "3 screwdriver" trick to reinstall the one that pops out. first, you take the arm bracket off the tailgate. then you take two fairly long flat head screw drivers and pancake the two tips together. then you push them in the rollers inside the sub case. once you have them spread apart, you simply place the 3rd flat head driver vertically between the two rollers on the metal parts on the side. Remove the two screw drivers you pushed between the rollers, and simply take the arm and force it back in. once you have it in, just replace the two screws that held the the tailgate.
this is a complete design flaw and Chrysler should be ashamed of themselves for not recognizing it and giving us some sort of solution.
on a second not, DO NOT CUT THE STRAP TO SHORTEN IT!!!! Inside the strap are the wires that go to the 3rd brake light. if you cut the strap, your 3rd brake light will most likely not work anymore.
hopefully this helps someone, and i hopefully my rough description made sense. if not, let me know and maybe i can post pics next time.

happy jeeping!!!

 

[termite]

I've been told by the service manager that the tailgate strap is not meant to be a stopper or limiter. It actually holds the electrical wiring for something - probably the lights.

He is right. The nylon strap at the top of the tailgate (not the plastic stopper arm that everyone seems to rip out) is only there to protect or maybe prettify the wiring harness that goes to the third brake light and locking mechanism in the tailgate. It is pretty much secured to the wires by electrical tape.

Here.

 

[JK Coaster]

Here is my pic. I had an oversize/overweight 35 tire on mine so my aftermarket fix was to just buy and install myself a Teraflex HD hinged carrier for $499. It has a built in stop, so I just tossed out my factory part. I'm amazed that they would not honor the warranty with a stock tire mounted.

 

[Boxerdad]

I saw that rugged ridge sells a tailgate stop part number 11238.11 maybe this is worth trying

Quadratec has it for $54.99 with free shipping

 

[StephSH]

Mine popped out again on Easter but it didnt break this time. Thanks for the do-it-yourself repair directions .