First let me say hello to all. I recently joined and have been getting some good info as well as some entertaining reading. About a year ago I purchased an 01 1500 4x4 with the 5.2 and love the truck. This is not my first by the way I have owned 8 so far from a 1965 D 200 with a 354 hemi to my newest an 05 1500 QC with the 5.7 hemi. The current problem is with the 01's tailgate. It seems like the cables are too long. The tailgate hits my bumper before the cables get tight. I have looked under the bumper area and see nothing obviously wrong. I also went to the parts store to be sure the cables are the right ones, they are. Any ideas ?

 

If the tailgate is attached properly, and the cables aren't getting tight, then they are obviously too long. There is only two spots on each side where you can hook the cable to. One is correct- The lower one.
The other is the latch for the lock that I've seen some people rolling around with attached there. The tailgate wont close if they are there.

Get shorter cables.

 

I can't believe they could have stretched that much, but I don't see any other cause. Has it always done this since you've owned the truck? If so, looks like someone put the wrong cables on it, but I can't think of what vehicle would have cables that much longer. I see new tailgate cables on sale pretty cheap on eBay all the time.

 

^Hell, they are only like 5 bucks for a pair at the parts store.

Oh, Miami, nice chit on DT BTW.

 

New ones at the parts store are the exact same length I already checked. They also said that they only have one part number for the cable so no chance of them giving me the wrong cable to compare. I currently have them them hooked on the upper (latch) pins to protect then tailgate. Any other ideas short of taking it to the dealer or body shop ?

 

I would be willing to bet that the parts store you are going to have the wrong PN with that set of cables. Try a different one. IIRC ours are 14"

 

welcome to df. common problem, i had that too.
2 things.
check/replace the tailgate cables. you can get them at autozone for only $5-10 each. one of mine was the wrong length from the prev. owner.

the second thing is your bumper may be pushed up too high. mine had that problem from prev owner's bumper towing habits. loosen all the 18mm bolts and nuts to where you can slide the bumper around. position it a tad below the lowered tailgate and retighten everything. this works for the front bumper also.

 

Thanks for the info. I will try them and let you know how I make out.