It has been around -30F for the last week at night and my cables are getting stiff. On a few occasions, the right hand side pops off the tab when I close the tailgate. Very annoying when your hands are full. Anyway, never had that problem before so hopefully it stops happening when it finally warms up. The truck was always garaged until recently so it's probably just upset with me LOL. Now if the city finally clear the snow off the street that fell before Christmas I can finally shovel out the car and enjoy the heated seats.

 

hemi4109,

I'm sorry to hear about your tailgate issues. The cold weather can certainly affect many aspects of your truck. Have you had a chance to take a closer look at the tab? Is it worn down more than the left side? It is possible that over the years some wear and tear has occurred, or perhaps even ice build-up, resulting in the cable not functioning properly.

Keep us posted,

 

There is a spring clip that normally you have to pull back to remove the cable. If that spring clip is broken then I could see the cable coming off. They are cheap if you need to replace it.

 

There could be moisture inside the cable....meaning they are rusting out.
The rubber/plastic sleeve is likely getting old /dry and stiff and the cold is not doing them any favors.

I would replace them. It's cheap insurance. People never replace them and wait until it's too late and their tailgate is dented from slamming down onto their bumper after they break! They do rot on the inside which cannot be seen. They appear sealed, but they still rust!

 

Yes the spring clip is missing on that side and has been for as long as I can remember. Normally it doesn't matter but I guess the extreme cold just made them stiff enough to pop out. It's warmed up some now (-10 to -15f) and they're back to normal. I guess I should just pick up a clip next time I'm by the dealership since the truck now stays outside. I don't know if anyone else would have those in stock around here.

 

I won't worry about it since it's an old beater even though it only barely has 55K miles on it. I do remember a recall on my old 03' chevy about these cables. I guess a few broke over the years so they replaced them all with stainless steel cables. I imagine you'd need a lot more miles on the rig or salty roads to have a problem, especially with a tonneau cover.

 

Any auto parts store should be able to get them. The dealership would have OEM cables but they will be higher at the dealership.

 

Cheap internal metal vs higher quality. You get what you pay for with them. When I put on aftermarkets when I broke mine, I had the dealer swap them out for originals. The OEM's were a bit beefier than aftermarket plus the metal ends had a better zinc coating/electroplating to them. I was loading/unloading a 450lb snowblower which is a lot of leverage on the far end of the tailgate.

Also, I only had one that broke, but the aftermarket cables were longer so I had to replace them in pairs. They also allowed stretch and my tailgate would touch my bumper with heavier loads. they sucked.

I had a 2000 silverado that was only 5yrs old. It had just 60kmi on it when one broke. It was horrednous looking inside. A tonneau cover has nothing to do with it because water can still drip from the top down. Coming from front which would be protected by a cover, the water would have to go around a bend so there's not much extra protection there. I would suspect dew/moisture is more of the culprit than water is anyway. Dew forms on the inside of the jacked from fast temp changes even on a dry day. it would be more about where you are located than the weather itself.

Change them or not. your choice. was merely a suggestion. I dont think you can buy just a spring clip. Maybe check the HELP section of Advance Auto if you have one nearby. They have odddball stuff like that.

 

Don't get me wrong I appreciate the comments which is why I threw this up here in the first place. Sounds like replacing the cable is probably the only option to replace that clip. Never bothered me for years until this week so I'm sure I'll forget all about it again now that it's warmer LOL. But I'll try and have a look at cables when I'm out and about next time to see how much they are. I'm sure us Canadians have to pay $50-100 for that kind of thing.

 

Make sure you check length too. They may not be the same length which will put more stress to one side.