Slammed tailgate on '05 Dodge P/U and now can't get it open.

[kf4uda]

I just took a razor knife and trimmed around the bolt heads then removed the pieces covering the heads. Takes a little work but minimizes damage to the liner.

 

[otlski]

A Dodge tailgate you say? Just wait a bit and it will rust up and fall off. Okay, sorry, how about if you jack up the frame from one corner near the rear bumper. The point would be to twist the frame a bit. Then give it a pull. Failing that, let it down and jack the other corner and try again.

 

[sixdogs]

That really sucks when it happens. Same thing happened with my 03 GMC. Yours is the same design. The metal handle connects to the two metal rods that connect to the latches on each side with plastic clips. When they break the rod falls out of the handle. The only way to replace them is remove the cover on the inside of the tailgate. Only one broke on mine but I replaced both. Here is a YouTube video that shows them on the Dodge Ram.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWQVqJSZTeA

Great video. I feel better knowing how things go together.

I just took a razor knife and trimmed around the bolt heads then removed the pieces covering the heads. Takes a little work but minimizes damage to the liner.

After the video I went out and tried this. Good grief that bedliner is stuck on. A razor knife was too little so I used a screwdriver and managed to get the liner off around each screw. Then I got a smaller screwdriver and worked the material out of the torx hole. I got the screw heads loose but it is so humid here I was soaked it sweat after all that.

Tomorrow is a new day and I tackle it then after I watch the video again. I'm making progress.

 

[kf4uda]

That stuff is put on there to stay for sure,which is usually a good thing. Glad your making progress.

 

[sixdogs]

An observation here is that anyone spraying bedliner on should think of putting a small piece of tape or something over the screw heads so you can peel the liner off them afterwards. That is, of course if you're ever planning to get at the tailgate mechanicals for a repair.

 

[Diamondpilot]

An observation here is that anyone spraying bedliner on should think of putting a small piece of tape or something over the screw heads so you can peel the liner off them afterwards. That is, of course if you're ever planning to get at the tailgate mechanicals for a repair.

When we do them we remove all hardware and reinstall after completing the job.

Chris

 

[5030]

A Dodge tailgate you say? Just wait a bit and it will rust up and fall off. Okay, sorry, how about if you jack up the frame from one corner near the rear bumper. The point would be to twist the frame a bit. Then give it a pull. Failing that, let it down and jack the other corner and try again.

+1. Chrysler stuff is basically junk. I'm suprised when you slammed it, it didn't fall off...lol:laughing:

 

[Capricious]

I have never understood the logic behind spray-on bed liners.

The purpose of a liner is to protect what is underneath so that when the liner is removed, whatever is underneath looks "new" But, in order to do that, the liner needs to be removable.

That is why there are no spray-on trash can liners, paint pot liners or panty liners.

I have a rubber mat in the bed of my truck.

 

[WM75Guy]

I have the spray-on bed lining or coating, which is the proper description, in the bed of my wife's 08. She likes that the bed is not scratched up or rusted. I have a bed mat in my 03. After 11 years it's got some scratches on the sides and looks a little used. Our next will get both as I don't like stuff sliding around. We don't haul a lot of metal in the beds, mostly feed or hay bales. That's why I have 5 trailers, for everything else. Why trash a $50,000 truck when I can put it on a $700 trailer.

 

[sixdogs]

OK..it took me over 90 minutes to get the tailgate open. The side of one of the locking catches appeared to be 'pinched" by the body being slightly twisted on it's new truck frame. otlski mentioned bed alignment in his post #12 above and he is correct. The very slight mis-alignment of the body caused the problem which was made worse by a little rust.

I lubed things up and will correct the body twist when I take the bed off to be painted. I can open and close it now.

Diamondpilot does the right thing when he removes the hardware before spraying the liner on. That solves the problem in advance. Don't let them spray the screw heads.

So if the tailgate ever sticks on your truck in the future you really could jack up one side or the other to see if that helps. If not, off comes the inspection cover and fix it that way.