I just carried 1600 lbs of wood flooring in my truck with the tailgate down and did not have an issue. The load was placed with a Fork lift and it did not put the full weight on the tail gate. I drove 30 miles on the highway with it like this. I think as long as the load is inside the point where the steel strap is your OK. This does not work with loading ATVs from the end of the tailgate. Maybe the ramps can be placed where the end of the ramp is further in than the steel support cable is? Just a thought.
The lock on my tailgate has stopped working. It will not turn with the key. Anyone else have this problem? I've had it loaded with some wood overhanging but I don't think it had much weight on it. Maybe they'll beef it up and replace the chincy one if it breaks.
Have you switched keys? I just found out only one opens the tailgate. It has a gold tinge vs the other which is chrome.
I guess was lucky when I loaded my Guzzi (600 lbs). The rear wheels were in a culvert and the bank supported the tailgate. I took the tailgate off when I unloaded it.
It will be interesting to see what Toyota does about this.
Man this sucks! I load a lot of music equipment into my truck and it's not as much as the weight of a 400 four-wheeler but I do put about 250 lbs. of directly on the gate. I hope Toyota fixes this problem and I hope you guys get your trucks fixed free of charge.
Went out and looked at my tailgate. Havn't loaded anything heavy yet, but did notice that at the end of the tailgate on the passenger side had a slightly wider gap. I have been in and out the back and stepped at the edge of the tailgate. No prob, I was able to push it and bend it back by hand, pretty sad, can't believe they did not complete the weld around the end of the tailgate.
I too just got off the phone with customer service and was told that Toyota considers the tailgate a door and warns customers about overloading it in the user manual. Bottom line, it doesn't sound like they plan to do much of anything about it at this time. Best you can hope for is for your dealer to say that the problem wasn't causes by overloading and I guess they will repair or replace it with something equally weak. By the way, it might be tough to get the dealer to tell Toyota that it wasn't overloaded since it was loaded with more that it could handle - the fact that is was poorly designed doesn't enter into the equation at this time.
I pointed out that unless they have an airlift kit for getting 4-wheelers and other things that people have been putting in their trucks for the past 30 years, they might want to reconsider that position. I suggest that if you think a tailgate should hold up to loading a 4-wheeler, a motorcycle, or having a few guys sit on it you should call the customer service center below. The only way I see to change their position is through pressure from customers and dealers.
Customer Experience Center
If you would like to discuss your experience or share your comments, please call us. Toyota's Customer Experience Center representatives are happy to assist you.
Phone: 800-331-4331
Mon - Fri, 5:00 am - 6:00 pm PT
Sat, 7:00 am - 4:00 pm PT
Fax: 310-468-7814
Or send correspondence to:
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
19001 South Western Ave.
Dept. WC11
Torrance, CA 90501
Still would never give up my CM, love the room and everything else about it. Why is Mountaineero2V8 a registered member on this website? Tundra Envy I presume, sorry if you are upset you own a ford.
Guys lets not let this thread turn into the usual Troll defense/attack thread. Let the trolls throw their 2 cents and ignore them. Lets be the better man. Trust me its all I can do not to get into the Big 3 bashing topics, I do it enjoy it like the rest of you.
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07 Tundra DC TRD 4WD 5.7L Desert Mica
It doesn't look like mine is damaged. Maybe they make it so easy to remove so you don't have to overload it. I will be careful now. Fortunately w/ a shell I'm not loading snowmo's or bikes/atv's exc. w/trailers. Are there any aftermarket alternatives for heaver use/loading? It does seem strange that toyota would do this considering the ad campaign of a work truck. It does leave room for them to add another option that they can gain high profits on- the heavy duty tailgate. I think that they designed these trucks so that everything is heavy duty except the body and some int. aspects. I think to a degree they have to make them wear out in order to profit. They can't have trucks lasting 300k with no problems (like my '95 taco)! They don't make em like they used to. Sad but true.
I don't get the whole Toyota considers the tailgate a door. Most issues have come from people with ATVs or other heavy items being rolled across the tailgate into the bed. Show me a Toyota engineer who can lift a 600lb ATV up and over a tailgate into the bed and I'll personally pay him $100.00 everytime I need my quad loaded or unloaded. Now I'm afraid to load my Honda Foreman 450 into the bed and I'm going riding next weekend. I had a piece of 1/8" aluminum mounted over the inside of the tailgate on my 94 Toyota PU, I wonder if something like this would help the Tundra, it would definately make it more rigid.
If they recommend taking the tailgait off when loading heavy objects they should have designed it to open like the Honda Ridgeline. My tailgate appears to have a gap and I have never loaded anything heavier than myself (200#) onto the tailgait. I'm wonder if this a manufacturing problem and a design flaw combined.
The more I was looking at AKCub's pics, it appears that the inside of sheetmetallip at the top of the tailgate is where the problem lies, aside from thin sheetmetal of course. I think when the ramp top rests on the raised portion of the lip under the plastic rail it causes the weight of the ramp and thus the ATV to rest solely on the lip and not be distributed across the entire tailgate. I'm no engineer, but I'm thinking that if we could put something such as plywood in front of this lip for the ramp to sit on the weight from the ramp would not push down on the edge of the sheetmetal and bend the outer skin of the tailgate down, not sure though.
Re: Tundra Tailate Failures!!! I am in the Club.
pretty sad, can't believe they did not complete the weld around the end of the tailgate.
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