Tailgate Issue 2nd Gen Tacoma

I have a tailgate that seems to be out of alignment and/or needs adjusted or possible the retaining cables replaced? The left side of tailgate does not align properly to the bed, and also the tailgate actually makes contact with my bumper causing the paint to wear away in a straight line showed in the picture. Just seeing if anyone else has had this or similar issues and suggestions to fix, Thanks in advance!

 

Is the issue caused by your aftermarket bumper? The gap between tailgate and bumper appears to be less than it would be on stock set up. Might just be picture tho.

 

is the bed cracked in the typical areas that bed stiffeners are made to support ?

 

That rear bumper is way too tight against the tail light. It will be cracked in short order if not remedied.

 

Never noticed that before, I have done some mild off roading with no issues yet

 

I dont know what the typical areas are

 

Thats a possibility for sure

 

Need to lower the bumper for clearance as others have said.

 

Maybe the rear bumper is too heavy and when off roading somehow tweaking the bed?

 

Ill have to see if its adjustable up and down, thanks for the suggestion, I need to figure out how to align the tailgate properly as well

 

Bumper is attached to the frame not the bed. But if it's too close it could be tweaking something.

 

All I've seen are, even if only a little. Tailgate might be getting pushed up on one side.

 

You have two separate issues going on.

First problem, your aftermarket bumper is installed too high, which COULD BE why the tailgate is is setting on the edge of the bumper when it is open causing the rubbing that is removing the paint. It's likely a combo of the bumper being installed too high and/or a poor bumper design where they failed to account for the curve in the tailgate changing the effective thickness of it across the height of it.

The second issue is that your bed sides have tweaked. You can re-align them to the tailgate by using a ratchet strap from the opposite side, but this isn't a long term solution. How you are using your truck is causing the bed & bedsides to warp, so a long term solution are bed stiffeners, like these from Total Chaos. https://www.chaosfab.com/product/2005-2015-Toyota-Tacoma-Rear-Channel-Bed-Stiffeners-48675

 

Are you sure both of the tailgate latches are working? They do fail... When closed pull on that left side and see if it moves. It should not.
From the pics it is hard to tell if the bed is splaying - but from the second picture it looks like your seems are pretty even, i.e. good. Put a carpenter square between the bed floor and side. It should be pretty darn close to 90 degrees. If not, bed stiffeners can probably pull it back in. There is a TW member who sells great stiffeners at a good price.
And get that bumper lowered a 1/2 inch....

 

It seems like the latches are barely working, sometimes have to reclose the tailgate after 1 try

 

I like those bed stiffeners, I have a bed stiffener rod that goes across entire width of bed I really dont care for because it blocks alot of access to bed, I also like the integrated tie down connections on this unit

 

Here is pictures of inside of bed for those who mentioned possible splaying issue

 

Added pictures of the bed if interested

 

Shoot Tttacodan a note about stiffeners. Not sure if he is still making them. If he is they are top quality and less than half the cost of the others you looked at.

 

My girlfriends truck doesn’t have bed side stiffeners and has small cracks from shell & bedrack