Sagging Tailgate - Loose Body Seam?

mynamesrickgrimes

TJ Enthusiast
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Nov 27, 2019
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Location
Maryland
Previous owner had 35" tires on an aftermarket tire carrier... eventually wearing out the hinges resulting in a tired tailgate. Closing the tailgate required upward pressure on the tire and a hard slam.

First things first... I swapped the 35's for 31's, and installed an OEM tire carrier. Problem still persisted.

Next step... replaced the hinges. Closes now without the spare... with the spare, does not close properly.

Question for you guys: in the first photo, that body seam shifts left and right like it's loose. Should that be spot welded from the inside or something? In the second photo, you'll notice the tailgate gap favoring a slight hang.


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I had/have the same thing with my Wrangler. I believe the same thing was going on that you described as far as previous carnage with the former owner. I also believe you are correct about the spot welds from the inside. The "body man" and I decided to just use a couple of heavy sheet metal screws in place of the welds. I also switched to a bumper mounted swing out tire carrier.
 
The side panel is attached to the torque box with several spot welds which have failed. If you look under the carpet at the rear corners and have someone move the tail gate up and down, you'll see the movement at the seam sealer they covered the gap with.
 
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The side panel is attached to the torque box with several spot welds which have failed. If you look under the carpet at the rear corners and have someone move the tail gate up and down, you'll see the movement at the seam sealer they covered the gap with.

Thoughts on best course of action to repair? Ideally keeping the stock tire carrier with my 31” tire.

Should note also that carpets are removed and interior is rhinolined
 
Understood...would you tackle from outside the tailgate? Or from the inside behind the tailgate?
It doesn't matter. The rear corner panel is spot welded to the outer face of the torque box that the ends sit on the body mounts. All the solutions require some manner of bullshit because they all mess up the paint or stick out. Correctly it should be plug welded but that is an insane amount of work to do correctly.
 
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