Tailgate Falling Out While Opening

Transient · March 31, 2021

This morning I walked up to my truck, pressed the tailgate open button on the tailgate to open it, and it came down hard like the dampner wasn't working. My hands were full with 2 laundry bags in one hand and my dog and his leash on the other. I was not able to catch it. Fortunately, the limiting cable caught it and prevented damage. Upon inspection the tailgate came off the post on the lower right corner. The post didn't rotate, therfore preventing me from being able reattach it. I'm on vacation, and this happened in the hotel parking lot. There is a Chevy dealer near the hotel and I was able to go there and have them put a wrench on the post and rotate it so the tailgate would remount. Upon further testing the tailgate still wants to come out on its own when opening. The dealer thinks the tailgate gap cover may be causing an issue. I find it to be an interesting theory since that gm accessory has been on since late December and I've had zero issues until now. It's not even damaging the painted surfaces near it.

Is anybody else having this issue?

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Transient · April 1, 2021

Update:

Every time I open the tailgate it keeps trying to dismount from the lower right corner. I cannot find an obstruction that is trying to push the tailgate up as it is opening. I have a tonneau cover on my truck, but that's not the issue either.

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Transient · April 1, 2021

I've been doing a bit of research, and it appears this has been a known issue for Silverados for a few generations. Oldest incident I found went back 15 years. There's even a thread on this forum about it for the K2s. It looks like it may be a bushing issue. Here's a video I found on YouTube with an older Chevy that explains the bushing issue. I'll look into it when I get a chance to determine if this is what happened on my truck. I don't see why GM wouldn't warranty this, but if they don't it's good to know it's cheap to replace and easy to repair. I'll keep everybody updated.

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Rocz3cqg · April 1, 2021

Thanks for the update.

2016 Sierra Owner · April 4, 2021

On 4/1/2021 at 2:24 AM, Transient said:

I've been doing a bit of research, and it appears this has been a known issue for Silverados for a few generations. Oldest incident I found went back 15 years. There's even a thread on this forum about it for the K2s. It looks like it may be a bushing issue. Here's a video I found on YouTube with an older Chevy that explains the bushing issue. I'll look into it when I get a chance to determine if this is what happened on my truck. I don't see why GM wouldn't warranty this, but if they don't it's good to know it's cheap to replace and easy to repair. I'll keep everybody updated.

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The info in red on the right is for the previous gen trucks. This was an issue on them. I have not looked. Are they using the same bushing on the new trucks? This should be covered under your warranty if so.

Transient · April 5, 2021

The info in red on the right is for the previous gen trucks. This was an issue on them. I have not looked. Are they using the same bushing on the new trucks? This should be covered under your warranty if so.

I was on vacation all last week. I haven't dug any further into this than what I posted above. Just got home about 2 hours ago. Cars are unpacked, and heading to bed soon. I'll update one I get a chance. Will definitely be playing catchup all day this week. The bushing on there now does appear to be the black horse shoe that was used on previous generations. I do believe this should be covered under warranty. It's not a big hassle at the moment, so I'll wait for my next oil change. The good news is that'll be soon. I'm at about 10% after today.

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Transient · April 12, 2021

I haven't been to the dealership yet with this issue. I'm waiting until the next oil change. In the meantime, I was at the beach today. When leaving I was loading up the truck and found the bushing on the right side of the tailgate was broken. Apparently GM still hasn't figured out how to make a good bushing for this spot. It's GM part number 84331136 for those who are curious. Looking into the problem, it's the same part that's on the 2014+ trucks.

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Anacortes Army Guy · April 18, 2021

This bushing on my truck, as I assume on most owners's trucks, is not proving to be an issue, in spite of being exercised numerous times every day. It sounds like their is a unique set of stresses on some trucks' bushings, yours included, that is causing this failure. Hopefully someone else can share some insight as to what might be the cause. I noticed in the video the gentlemen who was having numerous incidents of this bushing's failure was relying on this bushing to slow his tailgate's release to the full-open position without using his hand to control its drop, which for his truck I don't belief was GM's intent, unlike our model trucks with the controlled-opening feature that I don't believe was a feature on his truck. I wonder if his reliance on the bushing to slow the tailgate's opening as he demonstrated toward the end of the video (without controlling the drop by hand) didn't contribute to the numerous failures he experienced.

Transient · April 18, 2021

This bushing on my truck, as I assume on most owners's trucks, is not proving to be an issue, in spite of being exercised numerous times every day. It sounds like their is a unique set of stresses on some trucks' bushings, yours included, that is causing this failure. Hopefully someone else can share some insight as to what might be the cause. I noticed in the video the gentlemen who was having numerous incidents of this bushing's failure was relying on this bushing to slow his tailgate's release to the full-open position without using his hand to control its drop, which for his truck I don't belief was GM's intent, unlike our model trucks with the controlled-opening feature that I don't believe was a feature on his truck. I wonder if his reliance on the bushing to slow the tailgate's opening as he demonstrated toward the end of the video (without controlling the drop by hand) didn't contribute to the numerous failures he experienced.

I use the button on the dash to open my tailgate and let it fall open slowly using the dampening system that bushing is part of. If GM didn't want it used that way they shouldn't have designed it that way. With baseball in full swing right now I do have the tailgate open at least twice per day everyday (2 kids and baseball has me running to baseball practices and games 7 days a week most days. Sometimes I'll watch while sitting on my tailgate. However, I usually sit in a chair in my truck bed. This is due to COVID social distancing requirements (and inability to eat sunflower seeds if I sit in the stands). I don't jump up and plop my arse onto the tailgate. I always climb in using the step in the bumper.

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Anacortes Army Guy · April 18, 2021

I tried jumping up into the bed when I first got the truck, and it didn't end well. Like you I now use the embedded steps on the corners of the bumper.