Can you open a damaged tailgate?

[gwarrior4u]

So this painful. A 5th wheel hitch that appeared latched failed open and our hitch banged into the tailgate. It will not open electrically. (And we can’t raise the trailer high enough to clear it).

If you remove the tailgate cover, can you manually open the latches? The only other idea I have is to cut the latch pins. Any body shop people with ideas?

Thanks

 

[flan]

So this painful. A 5th wheel hitch that appeared latched failed open and our hitch banged into the tailgate. It will not open electrically. (And we can’t raise the trailer high enough to clear it).

If you remove the tailgate cover, can you manually open the latches? The only other idea I have is to cut the latch pins. Any body shop people with ideas?

Thanks

That sucks.

I’d take the panel off held on by the torx screws and see about mechanically releasing them. I’ve had that panel off mine a couple times but never thought to look. If you can’t, I imagine the handle switch has broken which is just a momentary switch. Find the wires going to the latches on each side and hit them with 12 volts. That ought to release them. This is speculation on my part but worth looking into.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

If you can hear the latches when you press the handle try pushing on the tailgate as hard as you can then hit the release. The latches wont release with pressure on them. It may not work if the gate is too bent but its worth a try

 

[CaptainMike]

In the mean time, if you can reseat the 5th wheel in the hitch then (almost) fully retract the legs and build some cribbing/blocks high enough for you to raise the trailer over the tailgate. Just make sure you're well chocked and build a wide, solid footprint for each of your cribbing pads.

 

[gwarrior4u]

In the mean time, if you can reseat the 5th wheel in the hitch then (almost) fully retract the legs and build some cribbing/blocks high enough for you to raise the trailer over the tailgate. Just make sure you're well chocked and build a wide, solid footprint for each of your cribbing pads

That’s the plan. It can only go so high without the pads on the back of the trailer touching the ground. We’ll see. Thanks!

 

[CdnHO]

What make is the hitch? Reese hitches used to be famous for unlatching many years ago. Sorry you are having issues. What year is the truck? At some point they went from mechanical latches to electric.

 

[CaptainMike]

That’s the plan. It can only go so high without the pads on the back of the trailer touching the ground. We’ll see. Thanks!

It will still go up, you're just changing the pivot point. But make sure you're not bending stuff and everything is stable.

 

[gwarrior4u]

It’s a 2019 Limited. The latches are electric. Both sides click when you pull the handle but won’t unlatch. I tried pushing in as hard as I can but that doesn’t seem to help.

What make is the hitch? Reese hitches used to be famous for unlatching many years ago. Sorry you are having issues. What year is the truck? At some point they went from mechanical latches to electric.

2019

 

[gwarrior4u]

What make is the hitch? Reese hitches used to be famous for unlatching many years ago. Sorry you are having issues. What year is the truck? At some point they went from mechanical latches to electric.

It’s a Pullrite. It slammed latched and I tugged on it and it still came open. I used to drive big trucks and have hooked thousands of trailers, this doesn’t happen on big trucks. SMH.

 

[Jay P]

Had this happen once (was reese hitch). I wound up removing the pin box from the trailer to get the truck out from under the trailer.

 

[gwarrior4u]

That’s the last ditch plan. Pin box is held together by a bunch of mondo bolts so not trivial.

Had this happen once (was reese hitch). I wound up removing the pin box from the trailer to get the truck out from under the trailer.

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