Tailgate doesn,t stay closed

[CDNgoat]

anyone know how these new tailgate latches operate 2021 3500 Bighorn, the tailgate wont stay shut , no sound coming from latch when operating the key fob, are there rods to the latchs still like older models or are they all electronic , the latches flip locked and unlocked by hand , pretty cold up here I guess its off to the dealer ,travelling with it down for now, thanks for any comments

 

[yorken99]

I have the same issue in cold weather - tailgate will not latch. Has happened twice - both times the weather warmed up and it started working again. Would have been an issue if I had to haul something.

I tried to heat up the latch area on the tailgate with a heat gun, but that didn't help.

Anyone else had this experience? Anyone know what exactly freezes that needs to be unfrozen and where it is?

 

[CdnHO]

Each latch is operated by an integral solenoid. No linkages. I had a similar situation but the tailgate wouldn't open when it was really hot. One latch would release and the other wouldn't until I applied a bit of pressure to the tailgate in the latch area. Hasn't happened since.

 

[Great White North Eh]

It’s been covered and should be back in the archives. If I remember right the fix is to slam it shut hard several times like a sixteen year old girl taking it out on her bed room door.

 

[CdnHO]

It’s been covered and should be back in the archives. If I remember right the fix is to slam it shut hard several times like a sixteen year old girl taking it out on her bed room door.

I suspected that it was pressure on the latch caused by the rubber snubbers on the tailgate frame. Figured they would eventually get thinner and the problem would resolve itself. I will see if I can find the thread.

 

[Great White North Eh]

When the rubeer bumpers get cold it’s probably not helping. These trcks are not designed to be cold weather friendly. I think I have had more trouble with this problem on my 3rd and 4th gen. I had to heat the tailgate bumpers multiple times with a heat gun over the years. If I remember correctly I even removed bumpers on my 05.

 

[CDNgoat]

It’s been covered and should be back in the archives. If I remember right the fix is to slam it shut hard several times like a sixteen year old girl taking it out on her bed room door.

Hey thanks all for the input. I read that thread somewhere on the rubber stops and the fix was to adjust the the strikers, but I don,t think that is the case here, I took the inspection panel off and years ago there use to be metal latch arms to the strikers, but these are nowhere to be found, the handle would just click trying to activate the latches but they would only move manually by hand and when i closed the tailgate they wouldn,t latch over to lock the tailgate, few hours later when i got home on the inside of the tailgate there is a solenoid like CdnHO pointed out which has a little lever about an inch long that swings a bit like 3 o,clock to 6, imove this back and forth and now it works fine, go figure, i can only assume it may have been frozen, Oh well the electrical games begin, Thanks again

 

[CDNgoat]

So just a heads up for any of you guys watching this thread, The latch solenoids for the tailgate froze again. The latch triggered but the tailgate wouldn,t open so so I locked it in the cab with the switch but this didn,t help ,So with my cargo trailer being attatched to the pull hitch the gate must have thawed and opened on its own, no door adjar indicator or any type of alarm that it was open the top of my tailgate got crushed about 1/2 in by the crank handle on my trailer #$%%$# . so truck is going into service next month to see if the dealer can figure out whats going on, and I,m going to relocate my trailer crank further back . Welcome to the great white north

 

[Great White North Eh]

That sucks. Hope they get it figured out. Report back please with hopefully better news next time.

 

[CDNgoat]

So If anyone is watching here,s a conclusion. Sent an email to FCA Canada to make them aware . My Dealer couldn,t replicate the problem ( don,t have a big enough freezer), so speaking with FCA Canada who sent me a letter apologizing for the delay will replace the solenoids in the latches and are also going to replace the whole tailgate which was damaged all under warranty. WOW! My hats off to my Dealer and FCA Canada for stepping up and taking care of this problem. I guess I will find out next winter if the new latches freeze. might keep a hair dryer under the seat.