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Uneven tailgate cable fix

jons

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1989 Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer
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Sad but true. I bet they make them overseas. Folks in Africa Middle east need a dependable truck. I would love to see them import landcruiser trucks to USA
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1stE

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There have been many posts about uneven slack on the tailgate cables, with the assumption being that the cables are being made unevenly.

I found the problem, at least with my Maverick. The left cable appeared (key word here) to be too long, it was slack even if I put my 235lb weight on the tailgate. I figured this will eventually cause the tailgate to twist, once it sees repeated heavy loads. This can lead to other issues...

The fix is not straightforward, though:

You can't swap left and right cables, as they have different fittings at the tailgate ends. So I removed the cables to measure, putting a bit of tension on them. To my surprise, they were spot-on, both made to the same length.

Okay, so I'll have to adjust the mounting posts. These have typically been made with a captive nut on a plate on the backside (door striker posts are like this); just loosen the post and you can move it around a bit to adjust, then re-tighten. The ones on the liftgate themselves have no adjustment, so that leaves the ones on the body to adjust for unevenness.

I loosened them, but no dice in moving them. Once loosened, you can see that the body holes the posts pass through are large enough for movement, but the nut just wouldn't move. Maybe the plate was stuck?

Next step was to remove the left taillight. Here is where Ford has done a poor job in explaining the procedure: In the owner's manual it explains how to remove the taillight in order to change the lamps. Remove two screws and pull the taillight rearwards (drawing even shows this) "to release the tabs"....or so it seems. No dice, it would not slide back. As it turns out, there are two mounting pins at the front of the taillights that are on an angle to the body; you have to pull the taillights back and the same time outwards at about a 40-degree angle, not straight back! I can see people breaking taillights in the future!

Anyways, I got the taillight off without breaking it. There in front of me was the nut for the cable post, but no plate, just the nut sitting there. Stuck, perhaps, I thought, from the e-coat dip process? NOPE! The nuts are held in place with three spot welds!! WTF? They are set in place when the box is built, long before the tailgate and cables are installed. No adjustment possible!

Only one way to fix it: I got out a metal chisel and chiseled through the three spot welds. Next I had to grind off the remains of the three welds from the nut to make it smooth again. I was then able to reposition the nut so that both cables have the same tension when the tailgate is down.

I think Ford really needs to redesign this and make the mounts adjustable on both sides; making these points fixed was very obviously a cost-savings move!
And from the amount of people complaining about uneven cables, it seems the the positioning of the nuts is off location.
 

1stE

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There have been many posts about uneven slack on the tailgate cables, with the assumption being that the cables are being made unevenly.

I found the problem, at least with my Maverick. The left cable appeared (key word here) to be too long, it was slack even if I put my 235lb weight on the tailgate. I figured this will eventually cause the tailgate to twist, once it sees repeated heavy loads. This can lead to other issues...

The fix is not straightforward, though:

You can't swap left and right cables, as they have different fittings at the tailgate ends. So I removed the cables to measure, putting a bit of tension on them. To my surprise, they were spot-on, both made to the same length.

Okay, so I'll have to adjust the mounting posts. These have typically been made with a captive nut on a plate on the backside (door striker posts are like this); just loosen the post and you can move it around a bit to adjust, then re-tighten. The ones on the liftgate themselves have no adjustment, so that leaves the ones on the body to adjust for unevenness.

I loosened them, but no dice in moving them. Once loosened, you can see that the body holes the posts pass through are large enough for movement, but the nut just wouldn't move. Maybe the plate was stuck?

Next step was to remove the left taillight. Here is where Ford has done a poor job in explaining the procedure: In the owner's manual it explains how to remove the taillight in order to change the lamps. Remove two screws and pull the taillight rearwards (drawing even shows this) "to release the tabs"....or so it seems. No dice, it would not slide back. As it turns out, there are two mounting pins at the front of the taillights that are on an angle to the body; you have to pull the taillights back and the same time outwards at about a 40-degree angle, not straight back! I can see people breaking taillights in the future!

Anyways, I got the taillight off without breaking it. There in front of me was the nut for the cable post, but no plate, just the nut sitting there. Stuck, perhaps, I thought, from the e-coat dip process? NOPE! The nuts are held in place with three spot welds!! WTF? They are set in place when the box is built, long before the tailgate and cables are installed. No adjustment possible!

Only one way to fix it: I got out a metal chisel and chiseled through the three spot welds. Next I had to grind off the remains of the three welds from the nut to make it smooth again. I was then able to reposition the nut so that both cables have the same tension when the tailgate is down.

I think Ford really needs to redesign this and make the mounts adjustable on both sides; making these points fixed was very obviously a cost-savings move!
And from the amount of people complaining about uneven cables, it seems the the positioning of the nuts is off location.
I installed a DeeZee damper and now the cable on that left side is loose putting all the weight on the damper the right side is is not loose. Not going to put anything heavy on the tailgate till I figure this out. Almost everything aftermarket always creates a problem but they never disclose this at the time of the sale.Live and learn
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