[COStrider]

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.

Yup. It's a glorified wire loom

 

[SilverSport]

My stopper just recently started making a loud pop every time I opened the tailgate. Sounded like it was definitely going to break. Put some white grease on the inside end and had no effect. While slowly opening and closing the tailgate I discovered the problem. The bolts holding the stopper to the tailgate had worked loose.

 

[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.

And...there it breaks again. Today was the second time in almost a month. Very poor design....

 

[CarbonExtreme]

And it BROKE AGAIN! 3rd time in 3 months....

Asked the dealer if Jeep had any mention of a recall...acted like I was the only one. Sigh..I'm not fixing it this time. No point, just going to break again. Until I get the aftermarket rear tire carrer, its just too much weight on that door.

Frustrated..

 

[asianhulk]

Maybe you are the only one in the area, have you tried calling the Jeep customer service line? Maybe they can set something up?

 

[l2abbit]

Had the same issues on my 4 month old jku. After getting the usual run around from my (chapman las vegas) dealership. I decided to fix the problem myself like all my problems I've experienced. I went to lowes and picked up some link chainlink and a few other parts and it works great. No noise and stronger then ever!! Total cost me around $20 to fix.. Not the cleanest fix In the world but it will hold my fat@$$ leaning against it! Haha
It's amazing to me how Chrysler can turn away customers who purchased brand new vehicles and all experience the same issues over time.
This will be the last Chrysler product. Hell I don't even go back to my dealership for the free oil changes.... I think I finally understood why jeep has the shirt that says
"Break it , fix it"
Because Chrysler sure as hell won't!

Best of luck on the gate!
Mike

 

[StephSH]

Had the same issues on my 4 month old jku. After getting the usual run around from my (chapman las vegas) dealership. I decided to fix the problem myself like all my problems I've experienced. I went to lowes and picked up some link chainlink and a few other parts and it works great. No noise and stronger then ever!! Total cost me around $20 to fix.. Not the cleanest fix In the world but it will hold my fat@$$ leaning against it! Haha
It's amazing to me how Chrysler can turn away customers who purchased brand new vehicles and all experience the same issues over time.
This will be the last Chrysler product. Hell I don't even go back to my dealership for the free oil changes.... I think I finally understood why jeep has the shirt that says
"Break it , fix it"
Because Chrysler sure as hell won't!

Best of luck on the gate!
Mike

That doesnt look too bad, how did you attach the end of the chain the photo doesnt show?

 

[Lusus_Naturae]

I like the chain idea myself. I read this early on and have been really careful not to break mine. I just know that it will happen one day when I least expect it. I may have to look into the chain idea more - I'm thinking of using coated cable instead.

 

[mattdenney07]

If anyone's has a tailgate rod that's popped out, or is hearing that loud pop everytime the tailgate opens and you don't want to mess with the dealer, shoot me a PM. I've fixed these problems on both of my JKs several times now and it's not as difficult as you'd think.

 

[The General]

Hey the chain fix actually doesn't look too bad! But it seems like this would be another really good opportunity to make something for the jeep out of PARACORD

 

[DrWardner]

This has happened to me so many freaking times. Dealer keeps fixing it, but it just keeps happening. 3 times now. I'm going to try some cable or chain for the time being.

 

[Scott2373]

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.

HOLY.. I was looking into getting one of those Teraflex tire carriers, but $500?! You gotta be SH!^^ing me! How the he(( can they charge so much for a hunk of aluminum? No thank you at that price! That's highway robbery!

 

[Dusthol]

Mine popped out today. I took it apart and hammered the end that it slides into back on. Really not that difficult

 

[4DoorCrush]

HOLY.. I was looking into getting one of those Teraflex tire carriers, but $500?! You gotta be SH!^^ing me! How the he(( can they charge so much for a hunk of aluminum? No thank you at that price! That's highway robbery!

Have you seen a price for a bumper/tire carrier!!

 

[ddbartley]

Well it happened again! Latch broke for the 3rd time. I've been really really careful with it also. Just happened that it was a very very slight decline toward the curb and when I bent down to load in my small dog it extended fully and then "Pop". I threw the dog in and grabbed the door to try to save the plastic U brackets. Saved one of them but it's back to the dealership. Problem is that my model has that damned SubWoofer that's in the way of attaching something substantial as far as an after market bracket. Don't you just hate when the service guy makes it sound like you are the only one this happens to!!

 

[Lusus_Naturae]

I came up with a possible solution, although I may not be the best one to test it out. Mine never broke, but I was working on the Jeep last week and decided to take it apart and see if I could come up with a better failsafe then the design from Jeep (not a hard stretch).

Aside from the plastic covers in the rear, I suppose a subwoofer might be a pita to deal with here, I have a fairly simple idea but I'm probably too easy on mine to really see if it will hold up. Of course you run the risk of not ever get it repaired again under warranty after doing this, because it does modify it slightly.

I took the entire swing arm off the Jeep - unscrew it from the door first, then from the inside tub. The whole unit will come out easy with an electric drill.

If you look at the arm, it's the same width to the end, where it widens to hold it behind the rollers in the main unit body. I pulled my arm all the way to the open position and looked at where it was on the back of the main body. I marked it on the arm right at the edge of the roller. The roller is designed to hold some weight, but not a lot and not if the door gets caught by the wind or slides from your hand.

I got a self tapping screw (just a nice big one I had on hand) and my electric drill again, and put the screw through the arm where I had marked. The screw is long enough to rest against the top and bottom frame of the body where it's metal, thus alleviating the pressure on the rollers to hold it in place.

The arm is quite strong, I had to use an electric drill because my battery op drill wasn't strong enough to out the self-tapping screw in. The arm has a metal piece in the middle of it, surrounded by plastic. Once the screw went into the arm, it grabs so hard it pulled it out of my hand. I recommend putting the arm in vice grips or bracing it against a wall when doing this.

I reinstalled the unit afterwards and tested it a little. Like I said, I'm pretty easy on my tailgate anyhow, but it held nice when I let it swing open freely towards the curb. I did get it a bit close though, when I open it fully, I get about 85 degrees open when it catches, but that's ok with me. You may want to move your screw towards the end more since it the width of it will take up some room on the arm. If I had moved mine down 1/4 inch it would be perfect.

 

[mellonia]

I Have HAD THREE break! They keep saying it's me...

My dealership is so friendly but they say I'm the only one this is happening to, however I met a couple last night, BOTH have 2013 4 door jeeps and BOTH of them had the back tailgate thing break when on level ground during normal use. Since I'm on my 3rd replacement (left this one broke for several months giving up) AND NOW THAT I HAVE CONFIRMATION I am asking they replace it or re-inforce a new one with a nylon strap. LOVE my jeep other than this but this is pretty bad for jeep qualify.

 

[DrWardner]

Ok... So I fixed this problem permanently. I took a piece of 740 lb test 3/16" coated steel cable, hooked a loop into one end, and put the other end through the factory metal piece behind the subwoofer and clamped it with 3/16" u-clamps so it can't pull back through. On the door piece I drilled a hole just large enough for a small d-ring shackle and hooked the looped end of the cable through it. D-ring is 280lb test I think. To finish it off I bought an 18" piece of black elastic from the fabric store and wrapped it up tight and glued it to itself. It looks clean and semi stock-ish. Total cost for parts ~$8.00. Took me about an hour to do! PM me if you want to see pics.

 

[Szejnfeld]

Me too. 4 times. Totally tweaked the subwoofer housing each time. I paid $900 the first time to get it fixed. I'm not happy. I'm so grateful for this forum. Now I can print it out and show my dealer and hopefully get reimbursed.

 

[mellonia]

Jeep Tailgate

Yep, just got my 4th one today. If your dealership needs verification call "Town & Country Jeep" at 800-519-7044, the said they had a lady in last week with same problem. The tire on the back is too heavy and is throwing off the weight apparently. Also call Jeep Corporate Client Sercvices at 800-992-1997.