Adjustng tailgate

[cookan]

Guys, have a mare !
To cut a long story short, I fitted a bike rack and box to the tailgate and put about 35kg on it to try to calibrate some new gas struts from SGS. Unfortunately they sent back fully charged adjustable struts and the tailgate would close so wife and I repeatedly let 1-2 second bursts of gas out of them until it would close (which is a real pain because the vent isn't accessible with the strut bolted on!).

Anyway, after 2hrs of fiddling, the tailgate could be pulled down but I found that the whole tailgate is dropped about 5mm so won't latch...removing all the weight it was still out of whack....it wasnt until I removed the struts that it closed properly again but there's still a lot of pressure in the struts (to the point they were flung me back as I opened the tailgate with no weight on the rack!)

Looking at the line of the roof, it appears the tailgate is slightly lower than the line of the body panels.

Now, the previous owner did have an accident with a garage door which dented the tailgate and it's never been perfect, sometimes not latching when on a camber, I can't say for sure that it hasn't always been a little lower but I'm worried the weight I put on , and force of the new struts (whilst in closed position all the force is pushing the tailgate down) has deformed the hinge points.

Guess my questions are....
1) should the top of the tailgate be perfectly level to the body line..or is it a design quirk that they're slightly lower
2) is there any way to adjust the latch...doesn't appear to be..
3) what's people's thoughts on packing the hinge points with a couple of washers if it looks like the tailgate has dropped ?

Will have another go tonight to see if it'll close with less pressure in the struts...also a tiny bit wondering if the struts are slightly too long so hitting a stopping point which may just result in me deforming the hinge points more after packing with washers v(if there's no travel left in them it would be like a solid rod forcing the tailgate down as it approaches the closed position)

Thanks
Ant.

[g8dhe]

I assume from what you say its out of line when in the closed position, i.e. its dropped ?
In which case surely the two pairs of bolts on to the tailgate hinges themselves need adjusting to get the height correct when closed ? see below;

[cookan]

Cheers Geoff....when it was loaded up, the latch on the tailgate fouled the rubber weather seal and plastic trim of the footplate before it touched the striker..so yes...like the door had dropped downwards..

Are those bolts adjusting bolts then ? If so, how do they adjust?

Thanks
Ant.

[g8dhe]

There isn't an adjustment as such, more a case of loosen very sightly one pair at a time and then tap the door "up "a little and then see how it fits ? If they have moved I would suspect that the paint will be cracked between the plate and door, on ours the door has been adjusted in the past and then resprayed I believe as the paint covers the join!

[cookan]

Ahhh....I see what you mean...my brain hadn't made the 90 degree transformation! Will take a look tonight if my wife is still up to propping the tailgate up without the struts in !

Ant.

[Northern Bongolow]

check the area around where the rear uprights meet the roof, ive seen a few bongos rot out round this junction. also check the spare wheel carrier is loose enough as a tight cable can distort the floor upwards.
as i remember there is no hinge adjustment on the rear door, just the catch.

[cookan]

i stand defeated and have had to order a pair of replacement second hand/original struts just to see if the door shuts properly with originals on or whether somethings bent somewhere.

The reflector strip lines up with the rear light cluster fine and the line of the top of the tailgate looks similar to other bongos so can't see what the problem is. No sign of the hinges moving and similar to the photo from Geoff mine is over sprayed (looks like a weld around the plate but could just be a sealant...but either way, no cracking around it).

I've let more and more air out of the struts and the tailgate now closes...just...with a slam...but is still scuffing the striker...it was clearly getting better with every bit of air I released from the struts...but now there's not really much difference in pressure between the new struts and what it felt like with the old ones on....so have to wait and see what the replacements do and at least I'll have something to be able to compare against to see if there's a geometry problem with the new ones so I can at least get some money back...either that or something is indeed out of whack and will need rejigging...

complete nightmare this fiamma carry bike and backbox affair from start to finish..now got the prospect of going on holiday having to prop the tailgate up anyway, potentially having damaged the tailgate somehow, 130 quid out of pocket....a larger backbox than I wanted because the ultrabox 320 doesn't actually fit on the carry bike (and I'm still waiting on the company to swap the 320 for a 360 !)....grrrrrr

Ant.

[Bongolia]

Does it still foul with the struts removed?

[rita]

Would it be possible to measure both sets of struts and compare the overall length. Your problem might be anchor point on the roof flexing.


Good Luck

[Bongolia]

I am leaving for a camp and not sure of comms there so thought I would post this before I leave.
It may be of some help.
You may well have strained the hinges when trying to close the Tgate with the over gassed struts..
How is it with the struts removed?
If ok then it must be the struts pushing the Tgate out of kilter.
Balanced standard struts should sort it
If not
You need to readjust then refit good struts.
Two man job.
Remove the lock staple from the landing panel. Remove struts.
With the Tgate closed , loosen the hinges inside, you may have to drop down the headlining to do this or you may have adjustment on the tailgate, looking at the images I would think its under the headlining but there will be a means of adjustment, and roughly re-position the Tgate, re tighten but not fully locked off just a firm clamping, then with an old screw driver or cold chisel and cosh of your choice, knock the hinge bases into a position to achieve an even clearance around the top and sides of the tailgate then lock them off fully.
Check it opens without fouling, if OK refit the staple and adjust it to allow proper closure,then refit the new struts.
P.S.Just a thought, is the panel the staple fits to OK. Has it separated from the spot welds under the rubber seal due to rust or the like?
Good luck.

[cookan]

Sort for the delayed response....and thanks for the advice ! wasn't getting notifications from the forum....


Tailgate seems to close OK with struts off but not with them on, even though I've now dropped all the pressure out of them (it got better with each blast of air). So now they're normal strength bit still not closing.

I've ordered a set of second hand originals to compare and decide whether it's hinge problem or strut problem so hopefully will get them tomorrow...

I've checked staple and latch and cleaned out around them plus loosened spare wheel..so only thing left now is whether as has been said , over powered struts have deformed it or whether they're just not quite right length (looks like theres still travel left in them tho). I can't think how the struts could have sprained the door tbh...been thinking over and over again since the weekend but keep coming back to fact that I had to degass them before shutting the tailgate so shouldn't have been that much pressure when I finally got the door shut (plus it shuts without them)

Will report back soon !
Ant

[cookan]

Well..here we have it...having ordered a set of originals the difference is obvious...don't reckon those sgs ones Compress down as much....
Even fitting the originals the latch was catching a little but luckily there was a fair amount of play at the hing bolts as you can see...all good now..door shutting fine, 150 quid out of pocket and I'm routing a block of wood tomorrow to chock the struts when the box is on instead of any more faffing...leaving on Tuesday and no time left..

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1-Cw4 ... p=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1-Cw4 ... p=drivesdk

[Bob]

Thanks for the update.

Expensive way to find out but glad you're sorted.

[cookan]

Tell me about it...sgs actually misplaced my struts for a week and had to get the video imagery from parcelforce to see who the driver handed them to....add to that the new Fiamma carry bike I had to redrill because the frame wouldn't fit together with all the bolts in simultaneously...then the fiamma ultrabox 320 which I had to prove to the supplier doesn't fit on the carry bike despite fiamma saying they're designed for each other...waiting a week for the supplier to get approval to collect it for free and exchange for a 360 that would fit (having already paid the additional for the 360)....then them failing to be able to do that at all....so tomorrow I'm also fashioning a bespoke bit of alu as a bracket for the 320...what a nightmare !