2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Tailgate hinge excessive wear!!

[SRath]

I finished my conversion to factory power windows and door locks this weekend. I took the opportunity to also wire my Boss electric tailgate lock to the door locks and mount the mechanism in my tailgate.



It is the first time in 8 years that I have had my tailgate off.



I was shocked to see how badly worn the the half-round bed pivots and the round tailgate sockets are! They are really bad! Practically worn through on the tops! I always cussed that rattlin' tailgate; now I know why. I wasted all of my grease on the latch mechanism instead of the pivot... After all, the tailgate doesn't really see a whole lot of action compared to the doors. Why should the hinges wear out?



It isn't opening and closing the tailgate that wears these items; they obviously do their wearing while the tailgate is closed and just shaking/vibrating while going down the road.



I'm going to have to do some tedious welding, sanding, and shaping to the bed posts and maybe the same or just replace the tailgate sockets. I would like to cure this problem permanently and I don't think just occassional grease is sufficient.



It really needs some type of bushing in there (replaceable, preferably). Has anyone else "been there; cured that" already, and, if so, how?

 

[Thomas]

How different does the hinge on your tailgate look than this drawing from the model year 2000 Parts Catalog? Part 16 is described as BUSHING, Tailgate Pivot.

#ad

 

[georgej]

Just had mine off today for the first time@105000 mi. There was no wear at the hinge points. Maybe a lot of sand or abrasive material got in ther and did a number?

 

[SRath]

The round tailgate brackets/sockets look the same. My '96 has pivot posts that are more round on the top and bottom (same curvature as the sockets) , with flat sides. The ones in the drawing look flat on 4 sides with just rounded or beveled corners. The top curved portion of mine, on both the pivot posts and the sockets, are worn to almost razor thinness where they constantly ride on each other.



In your drawing, it appears like #1 should be the bushing (slides on over the pivot posts and cushions between the post #16 and the sockets #5/#15). That is exactly what I feel mine should have had. Maybe it was supposed to? Or maybe Dodge realized it was a problem in the early 2nd gens and came up with the obvious solution?



As for sand or anything that may have accelerated the wear, they were very clean; in fact, shiny clean from wear. My tailgate has always rattled. Adjusting the latch does nothing for it.



I think the top portion of the jamb area meeds some type of rubber cushion for the tailgate to compress a little when latched. The only rubber cushions in the jamb are two square blocks midway down which do not even touch the tailgate and look as though they are intended to limit side-to-side movement only rather than fore and aft. I'm going to try to find some type of fairly soft rubber blocks to end the in-out shaking and rattling. That is what clearly wore my hinge posts and sockets out. 150K miles of constant rattling, not to mention even at idle.



If I can come up with some type of bushing like that drawing has, as well as some cushions, I think all of the rattling and wear problems would be fixed.



The tricky part will be finding some sort of plastic sleeve bushing that will fit the round-with-flat-sides '96 posts. It will need to be flexible enough to assume the same shape as the posts.



My brothers have later model Dodges with gas motors, but I will compare their posts and sockets to mine. It looks like they will be a little different.

 

[Thomas]

All of the parts numbered in the drawing were used 1995-2002. The drawing may be an illustrator's best effort & not completely accurate.

Your initial post suggests that there were no bushings on your truck. Are you the original truck owner? Is it possible that the tailgate was removed and replaced - minus the bushings?

 

[wcjp]

When I bought my 96' I never did open the tailgate at purchase. When I did try to open the tailgate it nearly fell off the truck. The previous owner never bothered with the bushings. The metal was very worn. I bought new bushings from the dealer and shimmed the tailgate with large grade 8 zinc coated washers. I added either 3 or 4 washers per side. This perfectly centered the tailgate and removed all slop. Since I rarely removed the tailgate my temporary solution became permanent.

 

[SRath]

That's good information, guys. Maybe mine is supposed to have bushings. I like the idea of shimming the tailgate side to side, too. What is supposed to prevent the forward-and-back rattling? If I slide my latch any tighter, the tailgate becomes "inset" and the body lines don't line up.



It is always very painful in the billfold to visit my local Dodge dealer, but if I can't find those bushings online, I'll go downtown and check there. I am the second owner, and it is very possible that the first owner lost the bushings if it came with them.

 

[kscheffler]

I installed strips of tail gate seal from Cabelas and it not only keeps out dust it also provides a seat area for the gate to close tightly on. Works great it stops gate vibration and keeps out all the dust.

 

[Thomas]

Here are a few Mopar part numbers to go with the drawing:

• 1 P/N 55275016 PIVOT, Tailgate
• 5 P/N 55274916 PIVOT, Tailgate, Right​
• 15 P/N 55274917 PIVOT, Tailgate, Left​
• 16 P/N 55274936AC BUSHING, Tailgate Pivot

And some prices to go with the part numbers.

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Select items to add to your cart





</TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE borderColor=#ff9933 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR><TD class=titleText colSpan=2>Part Number: 55275016</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>List Price</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>Core Price</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>Your Price</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tabletext width=7><INPUT class=tabletext type=checkbox CHECKED value=7230897 name=partid_1> <INPUT type=hidden CHECKED value=2 name=catalogid_1> <INPUT type=hidden value=Pick%20up%20box%20%2D%20Tail%20gate%20%2D%20Pivot%20%2D%20Body%20half%20Support%20cable%201995%20%2D%202002 name=partname_1> <INPUT type=hidden value=55275016 name=partnumber_1> <INPUT type=hidden value=8 name=makeid_1> <INPUT type=hidden value=4. 1400000000 name=yourprice_1> </TD><TD class=tabletext width="80%"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tabletext width="100%">Pick up box - Tail gate - Pivot - Body half Support cable 1995 - 2002 </TD><TD class=tabletext></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$6. 00</TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$0. 00</TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$4. 14 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE borderColor=#ff9933 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR><TD class=titleText colSpan=2>Part Number: 55274916</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>List Price</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>Core Price</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>Your Price</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tabletext width=7><INPUT class=tabletext type=checkbox CHECKED value=7230900 name=partid_2> <INPUT type=hidden CHECKED value=2 name=catalogid_2> <INPUT type=hidden value=Pick%20up%20box%20%2D%20Tail%20gate%20%2D%20Pivot%20%2D%20Tailgate%20half%20Support%20cable%20Right%201995%20%2D%202002 name=partname_2> <INPUT type=hidden value=55274916 name=partnumber_2> <INPUT type=hidden value=8 name=makeid_2> <INPUT type=hidden value=74. 5200000000 name=yourprice_2> </TD><TD class=tabletext width="80%"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tabletext width="100%">Pick up box - Tail gate - Pivot - Tailgate half Support cable Right 1995 - 2002 </TD><TD class=tabletext></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$108. 00</TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$0. 00</TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$74. 52 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE borderColor=#ff9933 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR><TD class=titleText colSpan=2>Part Number: 55274917</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>List Price</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>Core Price</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>Your Price</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tabletext width=7><INPUT class=tabletext type=checkbox CHECKED value=7230901 name=partid_3> <INPUT type=hidden CHECKED value=2 name=catalogid_3> <INPUT type=hidden value=Pick%20up%20box%20%2D%20Tail%20gate%20%2D%20Pivot%20%2D%20Tailgate%20half%20Support%20cable%20Left%201995%20%2D%202002 name=partname_3> <INPUT type=hidden value=55274917 name=partnumber_3> <INPUT type=hidden value=8 name=makeid_3> <INPUT type=hidden value=74. 5200000000 name=yourprice_3> </TD><TD class=tabletext width="80%"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tabletext width="100%">Pick up box - Tail gate - Pivot - Tailgate half Support cable Left 1995 - 2002 </TD><TD class=tabletext></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$108. 00</TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$0. 00</TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$74. 52 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE borderColor=#ff9933 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR><TD class=titleText colSpan=2>Part Number: 55274936AC</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>List Price</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>Core Price</TD><TD class=titleText noWrap align=right width=75>Your Price</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tabletext width=7><INPUT class=tabletext type=checkbox CHECKED value=7230904 name=partid_4> <INPUT type=hidden CHECKED value=2 name=catalogid_4> <INPUT type=hidden value=Pick%20up%20box%20%2D%20Tail%20gate%20%2D%20Pivot%20%2D%20Bushing%20From%203%2F95%20us%20from%204%2F95%20mex%20To%2012%2D93%201995%20%2D%202002 name=partname_4> <INPUT type=hidden value=55274936AC name=partnumber_4> <INPUT type=hidden value=8 name=makeid_4> <INPUT type=hidden value=2. 9325000000 name=yourprice_4> </TD><TD class=tabletext width="80%"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tabletext width="100%">Pick up box - Tail gate - Pivot - Bushing From 3/95 us from 4/95 mex To 12-93 1995 - 2002 </TD><TD class=tabletext></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$4. 25</TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$0. 00</TD><TD class=tabletext align=right width=75>$2. 93 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>




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Go To Jack Miller Jeep!​

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[SRath]

Wow! The pivot and bushing are certainly reasonably priced. Looks like saving the socket parts on the tailgate would be a really good idea, though. How did you get that price/part listing Thomas? I clicked on the Jack Miller site and got only as far as an email parts request. I like their pricing, though.



The cabelas tailgate seals sound like an excellent idea! I sometimes put a topper on my truck depending upon my needs. I plan to try removing the front window of the topper if I can find a big, soft seal to seal the front of the topper to the rear of the cab. That would enable easy pass-through (for the dog anyway) and better visibility once I have the power sliding rear window installed in my truck.



I want to thank all of you guys for the input and parts numbers. It will be nice to eliminate that rattle and wear.

 

[Thomas]

How did you get that price/part listing Thomas?

Start on this page: http://allchryslerparts.com/ then select OEM PARTS.

I had the part numbers so it was an easy search.

 

[Bart]

I'm replacing the bed on my 98 (don't ask:{) After buying the replacement bed I found that the bed side of the right hinge is almost worn off on the top. Is there a replacement piece that can be purchased and welded in or must I cut my original bed hinge out and weld it in? Buying a new one would save me half the work.

As I have a slide in camper I'm always taking the tailgate off. One time, one of the plastic pieces that's stuck on the tailgate hinge broke off. I replaced it, I wonder if this isn't the cause of ours having worn out steel pieces. My replacement bed didn't have that plastic piece in it.

 

[kscheffler]

SRATH: THe cabelas seal will not work between the cab and the canopy. Too thin to work only for tail gate area. .