Tail Gate Actuator Failure

Has anyone had their tail gate drop unexpectedly with the truck running or off? At least 5 times mine has just 'dropped' and twice I had it on my trailer- needless to say it dropped hard on the trailer and dented the heck out of my new truck gate- I called the dealer, and the service tech said it was a known problem, and the mgr would call- been 4 months, don't think there's a call coming... Got a letter from FCA about recalls that were already done so I called them and filed a 'complaint' but they said the 2017 model had no known issues but earlier trucks did have a non-fixable problem at this time. No help.
SO... I have an expensive truck (third Dodge Ram I've bought new) with a dented tailgate that I bought for work/towing and a jimmy-rigged system to keep the tailgate up... and it looks like I'm a moron who lets his tailgate drop on the trailer stand... Maybe we can get them to start addressing if enough owners have had happen just once or twice. pics to follow...

Why would you wait 4 months to place a second call to the dealer ?

I wouldn’t wait 4 days ... Squeaky wheel gets the grease ...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did you check your vin against the tailgate recall(U74)? I know some dealers are just dumb as f**k.

Mine doesn’t seem to get the picture. 3 trips to get the cruise control fixed. Just got a new switch in. But on the second trip they claimed the U61 software update would fix it. That recall was issues with not being able to shut off the cruise. Mine I couldn’t even turn it on.

Now I’ve also made 2 trips to the dealer for flickering dash lights. First time it was a “loose battery cable”. Called BS on that. Second trip it was a “software update” and only 2 days later I’m still having the flickering lights on my dash.

As for your tailgate the U74 recall is a very simple repair, they should be installing the little part at the factory going forward or else it’s a known issue on all 4th Gen rams.

Problem is they likely won’t address the body damage for you which isn’t fair given the known problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

White618 said:

Has anyone had their tail gate drop unexpectedly with the truck running or off? At least 5 times mine has just 'dropped' and twice I had it on my trailer- needless to say it dropped hard on the trailer and dented the heck out of my new truck gate- I called the dealer, and the service tech said it was a known problem, and the mgr would call- been 4 months, don't think there's a call coming... Got a letter from FCA about recalls that were already done so I called them and filed a 'complaint' but they said the 2017 model had no known issues but earlier trucks did have a non-fixable problem at this time. No help.
SO... I have an expensive truck (third Dodge Ram I've bought new) with a dented tailgate that I bought for work/towing and a jimmy-rigged system to keep the tailgate up... and it looks like I'm a moron who lets his tailgate drop on the trailer stand... Maybe we can get them to start addressing if enough owners have had happen just once or twice. pics to follow...

Click to expand...

Hi White618,

We're sorry this has happened, and we can certainly look into this further for you, Please private message us with your VIN and the name/location of your dealer!

Jennifer
Ram Social Care Specialist

White618 said:

Has anyone had their tail gate drop unexpectedly with the truck running or off? At least 5 times mine has just 'dropped' and twice I had it on my trailer- needless to say it dropped hard on the trailer and dented the heck out of my new truck gate- I called the dealer, and the service tech said it was a known problem, and the mgr would call- been 4 months, don't think there's a call coming... Got a letter from FCA about recalls that were already done so I called them and filed a 'complaint' but they said the 2017 model had no known issues but earlier trucks did have a non-fixable problem at this time. No help.
SO... I have an expensive truck (third Dodge Ram I've bought new) with a dented tailgate that I bought for work/towing and a jimmy-rigged system to keep the tailgate up... and it looks like I'm a moron who lets his tailgate drop on the trailer stand... Maybe we can get them to start addressing if enough owners have had happen just once or twice. pics to follow...

Click to expand...

I can tell you for a fact they won’t do a thing for your dented tailgate.

When my tailgate had this issue I was driving down a hill and hit a small unavoidable pothole. My tailgate dropped so hard that the right hinge came off and my tailgate slammed into my bumper denting it and pulling off the top trim piece on that side.

Dealer said word for word “sorry I know it looks bad but we arnt even going to pursue this further as it will be a waste of time”

Hopefully RamCares has a better attitude than your dealer ...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There’s been a recall on this since August

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/recall-for-tailgate-flying-open.124144/

I had my recall done as soon as it came out and all. Had my dent and trim piece dealt with after the fact not by the dealer. FCA was 100% useless in my case. Hope everything goes better for the OP

several posts from members tailgates falling, getting dented and dealer/FCA paying for the damage

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/tailgate-falling-open.87098/page-2#post-1438302

Mine happened way before the recall was a thing and FCA refused to do anything.

But I’ve added a deezee tailgate assist since and fixed the dent

White618 said:

Has anyone had their tail gate drop unexpectedly with the truck running or off? At least 5 times mine has just 'dropped' and twice I had it on my trailer- needless to say it dropped hard on the trailer and dented the heck out of my new truck gate- I called the dealer, and the service tech said it was a known problem, and the mgr would call- been 4 months, don't think there's a call coming... Got a letter from FCA about recalls that were already done so I called them and filed a 'complaint' but they said the 2017 model had no known issues but earlier trucks did have a non-fixable problem at this time. No help.
SO... I have an expensive truck (third Dodge Ram I've bought new) with a dented tailgate that I bought for work/towing and a jimmy-rigged system to keep the tailgate up... and it looks like I'm a moron who lets his tailgate drop on the trailer stand... Maybe we can get them to start addressing if enough owners have had happen just once or twice. pics to follow...

Click to expand...

Mines a 2017 and FCA sent a recall letter for the tailgate and I have had that recall done. Your dealer is clueless.

I have a buddy with a 17 and his tailgate fell open while pulling his travel trailer. He has one of those assist things that slowly lets gate down (can't think of the brand name) so he didn't know it had opened. While back up the trailer his gate made contact with front corner of trailer and crunched the tailgate. This was about 2 weeks before recall came out. He went to dealer and it was covered 100%.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

grizzstang said:

Mines a 2017 and FCA sent a recall letter for the tailgate and I have had that recall done. Your dealer is clueless.

Click to expand...

Same here, get the recall taken care off by the dealer of your choice.

Thanks for the responses- I'll follow up and see if there's a way to get the problem fixed and if we can somehow get the damage addressed- will post as it unfolds.

UPDATE: Took ****** to another dealer for front end recall and seatbelt flash recall- asked them to loo into tailgate recall that we started this thread for and they told me it was on the list to replace despite local dealer telling me it was NOT- they ordered the parts to complete the tail gate and I mentioned it had fallen several times while my trailer was attached- Davis Dodge in Yulee FL had me contact FCA and start a claim- I was able to return to Davis and have them document the damage and the faulty tail gate mechanism- they took pics and I was just notified they will be repairing the tailgate (possibly replacing it due to amount and location of damage) and will paint the new one while assembling with existing g and new parts. VERY SATISFIED with Davis in Yulee and FCA-

Not so funny side not- I changed the oil in my 87 W100 4x4 and flushed radiator this afternoon and a few minutes into warming up- something in the coolant system let go behind the engine in a huge WHOOSH and fluid everywhere between rear of block and (newly rebuilt) trans- so I'm off to the other forum to see if it's a freeze plug and if I can salvage this great truck!

Go Ram!

Thanks for all the help and replies and to FCA for another save on my Cummings!

you sir, may be the unluckiest man i've met

Hi White618. I'm a new member to the forum, and I just read your post form January 2019 about your tail gate falling while your truck is off and not running. I have seen a lot of posts about the recall on Rams that are 2015 - 2017, but not on new 2019's I just bought a new 2019 Ram 2500 about 3 months ago, and I had this happen to me about 36 hours ago, but everything that I have read states that this issue has been fixed on the 2019's. My problem is, my tail gate came open while my garage door was closed. When I went to open my garage door yesterday morning it left a couple of good scratches on my tailgate, because my tailgate was leaning against it when the door opened. I know this sounds like user error, but i'm confident that it wasn't. I've been parking a truck in this garage for 11 years. I'm also very aware that I have a tail gate release button on my key fob, but I'm certain I didn't hit it twice to release my tailgate. Just curious have you heard about anyone else having this issue while their truck is not running? Thank you in advance if you happen to know of any other Ram owners that this has happened to. Reading some of the posts that I have this evening, have made feel a little better on what I have gone through over the past 36 hours.