Tailgate wont come off left hinge?

[Capncark]

Went to take my tailgate off my 2009 for the first time the other day and for some reason it will not come off the left side hinge. I'm pretty sure I'm doing it correctly as I watched several videos on the process. The right side comes off no problem (the side with the notch) but I have seemingly tried everything to get the other side off. It just will not slide out! I tried a pry bar, wedging a 2x4 and have hit it for several days with pb blaster to no avail. Anybody else experience this? The tailgate operates fine its just rotting out so I wanted to replace it.

 

[firebuff17]

It will only pull out/lift off at a certain angle. It does take a certain finesse.

 

[gofishn]

spray some penetrating oil in there. then jiggle it aroudn, to get teh right angle.

had mine get clogged up with dirt and stuff, felt like the darn thing was welded on, until I shot it with a bit of oil.
Tailgate would go up and down, smoothly, but when i tredi to get it off. it would not budge. little oil did the trtick.

 

[Capncark]

Thanks for the replies. I have tried it at different angles and have hit it with penetrating oil for several days. From what I understand it has to be at roughly 10 degrees or so. The plastic grommet basically just fell out and is brittle and desinegrated. I suspect there are still pieces stuck inside maybe causing it to bind. I may just cut it off once I get the replacement. The torsion bar at the bottom is pretty rotten too. Don't know if that may be causing the problem. I'm going to try some 5lb. persuasion today and see if that helps.