So who else has broken the plastic piece off the top of their tailgate?
#13
Well Chrysler closed the seven closest Dodge dealerships to me, so it is now a 250 mile drive to get to a dealership. With a 500 mile round trip that will mean a full day away from work to have the dealership replace this little piece of plastic. I figure that with the cost of fuel and lost income from my time away from work it would cost me at least $650 to have the Dodge dealership replace it for "free". I'm thinking this thing can't cost more than $30 to $60, so I'll try and find a place to buy it from on-line. Warranty is pretty much useless for the small stuff when its 500 miles to the Dodge dealer and back.
The design of the part is so poor though, that it will not last any longer the next time. You can't even drag a piece of 3/4" pressboard out of the back of your truck without tearing that plastic cap off the tailgate. I'll just buy the part and put it down in my basement. Then when I trade this truck in in a few years I'll have the new part to put on. Too bad my truck is going to look like crap with that part missing for the next two years.
MOPWR2U
The design of the part is so poor though, that it will not last any longer the next time. You can't even drag a piece of 3/4" pressboard out of the back of your truck without tearing that plastic cap off the tailgate. I'll just buy the part and put it down in my basement. Then when I trade this truck in in a few years I'll have the new part to put on. Too bad my truck is going to look like crap with that part missing for the next two years.
MOPWR2U
Last edited by MOPWR2U; 07-15-2009 at 09:48 AM.
#15
They didn't replace mine, the rapid response was just some double sided tape. My spray-in liner is thicker than the edge so sliding stuff out of the tailgate is not a problem. I wanted Rino to remove the plastic on the rails and tailgate and spray them. When I picked it up I seen he didn't do it. He said he couldn't??? I've had to file off some burs on the top of the tailgate since then to get my bakflip to seal correctly. It looks nice, but it isn't functional at all.
#16
I brought my truck in for a different issue a few weeks ago. The dealer mentioned my truck had a notice on the tailgate cap as well, but I asked them not to replace it. I have an A.R.E. topper on my truck, and there's a fiberglass "lip" on the topper door which covers that piece nicely, so I'm not worried about it flying off going down the highway. I can always bring it in later if it falls off and have them fix it then.
Last edited by budlyte; 07-16-2009 at 07:31 PM.
#17
#19
I caught it the other day removing something from my bed. Today I took a spare tire off of one of my F250 work trucks to my dealer today (Ford / Chrysler) and as the service man was sliding the tire out of the back of my truck he basically ripped the cap off. There are two tabs holding it on until a new on comes in. He said "that is a bad design" which I said " that is the other reason I am here and even more important now!" What I am gathering from the thread is that they will put on a new cap with double sided tape? That isn't going to fly with me! Double sided tape will break down pretty fast there. My idea would be to take a file or de-burring tool to the edge of the new one and almost 45 degree it. Then use some epoxy cement under the lip that will bond with plastic and steel. Finish it off with some HD clear caulking.