Huge gap between tailgate and bed of the Cybertruck

[wtibbit]

The gap between the bottom of the tailgate (closed) and the trailing edge of the bed is common to every pickup. The truck aftermarket industry offers dozens of products to cover or close the gap.

Users who load bulk materials, sand, crushed rock, mulch and so on, have a real problem with the gap, with the materials falling through it to the bumper or road or getting caught at the bottom of the open tailgate and causing damage when the tailgate is closed (think coarsely crushed granite!).

Most of the products I looked at simply cover the gap with a flexible flap that's attached with double-sided tape to both the bed and tailgate. The lid of the underbed compartment would require that flap to cut into three parts, but that might still work.

I think I'l try the fix @Cybergirl describes in this thread first, then, if needed, try one of the commercial products.

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[tmeyer3]

The gap between the bottom of the tailgate (closed) and the trailing edge of the bed is common to every pickup. The truck aftermarket industry offers dozens of products to cover or close the gap.

Users who load bulk materials, sand, crushed rock, mulch and so on, have a real problem with the gap, with the materials falling through it to the bumper or road or getting caught at the bottom of the open tailgate and causing damage when the tailgate is closed (think coarsely crushed granite!).

Most of the products I looked at simply cover the gap with a flexible flap that's attached with double-sided tape to both the bed and tailgate. The lid of the underbed compartment would require that flap to cut into three parts, but that might still work.

I think I'l try the fix @Cybergirl describes in this thread first, then, if needed, try one of the commercial products.

I'm my GMC when I needed to pick up mulch or gravel, which has a larger gap, I just laid down a tarp over the tailgate that overlaps on the bed. This is a common practice and the yard I get materials from sells them to unprepared trucks. ?
It also prevents your fancy tailgates like with steps and stuff from getting jammed up

 

[Brandon708]

That gap is pretty huge in my opinion. I have a 2017 GMC Sierra and I don't see any huge gaps where you can see through. I am sure it has some sort of gap but its not that big where small items like bolts or nuts can fall out of the back of the truck bed.

 

[wtibbit]

Today I found a five foot length of cast-off ½" D-shaped weather seal in my garage. It must have been peeled off an ancient project and the adhesive on it was dried out and mostly missing. I used it test a way to seal the tailgate gap along the bottom of the gate, starting with @Cybergirl's advice to "...stuff it in the gap by hand..." That D-shaped weather seal looked like it would work to prevent most dust from getting into the vault. It won't won't keep bulk materials out out the gap, but I'll use a tarp for that.

It would be better, though, if that seal stayed in place and I didn't have to stuff in place every time, or even think about it much, so...

With no adhesive on the old seal I used gaff tape to attach the seal to the trailing face of the vault bed floor, flush with the top of the floor. This photo shows the position of the seal how the tape was applied. I cut the seal at the outer edges of the under-bed compartment door and at the edges of the door release tab, so I could open the compartment without disturbing the seal.

The tailgate squeezes past the seal as the gate is opened and closed. That does put a load on the seal and will cause some wear over time. When closed the inner face of the gate compresses the seal enough to close the gap.

I'll test this for a while to see if the seal stays in place after undergoing a reasonably large number of open/close cycles.

The view below is looking down at the now-sealed gap, with the tailgate closed. No daylight except at the edge of the bed on driver's side and a minor one at one of the cuts in the seam to allow the bed compartment door to open. Note that I have an aftermarket bed liner. The weather seal is taped to the actual bed, underneath that liner.

Same view as above, but with the tailgate down.

In this view below the tailgate is down and the compartment door is partially raised (raising the bed liner with it. The weather seal can be seen beneath the rather sloppy tape at each of the cuts I made in the seal to allow the compartment door release to operate.

In this view below the bed liner is lifted to show how the seal is taped to the trailing edge of the bed, to the right of the compartment release. Another line of tape runs along the seal and is wrapped down under the seal, pressed onto the face of the bed end and wrapped under the lip of the bed, at the bottom. The seal is attached in a similar way to the release handle.

This view below shows the seal attached to the short edges of the bed, between the compartment cover and the side of the bed. The seal is taped to the bed in the same way (sloppily...) as it is to the compartment door. Remember, this is just a test! If it works I'll re-do it more neatly.

 

[jerhenderson]

There is a very large gap when the tailgate is up, between the bed and the tailgate. You can see the ground below. The problem is, on a dusty road with the Tonneau cover closed, the dust comes up and onto the cargo in the truck. Also, it would be a great way for water to get in if fording a stream. Shouldn't there be a rubber seal running across that?

Not if you want drainage

 

[jerhenderson]

Those that don't know seem to have plenty of smartass comments. I had a 4 mile gravel road detour and there was so much dust that 1 washing wasn't enough (at 35 mph). Nobody is asking for hermetically sealed but of the several pickups I've owned, none let that much dust in.

You should have seen the fine dust that got into my former jeep wrangler ! It took months to remove it !

 

[tmeyer3]

Today I found a five foot length of cast-off ½" D-shaped weather seal in my garage. It must have been peeled off an ancient project and the adhesive on it was dried out and mostly missing. I used it test a way to seal the tailgate gap along the bottom of the gate, starting with @Cybergirl's advice to "...stuff it in the gap by hand..." That D-shaped weather seal looked like it would work to prevent most dust from getting into the vault. It won't won't keep bulk materials out out the gap, but I'll use a tarp for that.

It would be better, though, if that seal stayed in place and I didn't have to stuff in place every time, or even think about it much, so...

With no adhesive on the old seal I used gaff tape to attach the seal to the trailing face of the vault bed floor, flush with the top of the floor. This photo shows the position of the seal how the tape was applied. I cut the seal at the outer edges of the under-bed compartment door and at the edges of the door release tab, so I could open the compartment without disturbing the seal.

The tailgate squeezes past the seal as the gate is opened and closed. That does put a load on the seal and will cause some wear over time. When closed the inner face of the gate compresses the seal enough to close the gap.

I'll test this for a while to see if the seal stays in place after undergoing a reasonably large number of open/close cycles.

The view below is looking down at the now-sealed gap, with the tailgate closed. No daylight except at the edge of the bed on driver's side and a minor one at one of the cuts in the seam to allow the bed compartment door to open. Note that I have an aftermarket bed liner. The weather seal is taped to the actual bed, underneath that liner.

Same view as above, but with the tailgate down.

In this view below the tailgate is down and the compartment door is partially raised (raising the bed liner with it. The weather seal can be seen beneath the rather sloppy tape at each of the cuts I made in the seal to allow the compartment door release to operate.

In this view below the bed liner is lifted to show how the seal is taped to the trailing edge of the bed, to the right of the compartment release. Another line of tape runs along the seal and is wrapped down under the seal, pressed onto the face of the bed end and wrapped under the lip of the bed, at the bottom. The seal is attached in a similar way to the release handle.

This view below shows the seal attached to the short edges of the bed, between the compartment cover and the side of the bed. The seal is taped to the bed in the same way (sloppily...) as it is to the compartment door. Remember, this is just a test! If it works I'll re-do it more neatly.

Looks good! Well done. What size d seal is this, if you happen to remember?

 

[maccore2]

IMaybe consider this option, works well on my Ram 2500 with a cover. I tried the gaskets before (with adhesive), but the opening/closing of the bed destroyed them. https://a.co/d/0b0oT5Ox

 

[wtibbit]

Looks good! Well done. What size d seal is this, if you happen to remember?

¼" inch.

If this approach holds down dust enough I'll leave the small gaps at the edges for drainage. I'm not planning to ford any water that's deeper than the bed and unless I leave the tonneau open during a rain there won't be much water to drain.

 

[wtibbit]

IMaybe consider this option, works well on my Ram 2500 with a cover. I tried the gaskets before (with adhesive), but the opening/closing of the bed destroyed them. https://a.co/d/0b0oT5Ox

I looked at that. It would work best under a bed liner, I think. I'd tape it down with good single-sided tape, in addition to the supplied double-sided tape.

To make it work with the bed compartment door you would have to cut it the same way I did my taped-on seal.

I would try it without attaching it to the tailgate - just letting it ride up against the tailgate as it is raised. I'd also try it with that loose edge folded down into the gap; if that works to keep out dust it may also solve the drainage problem by being forced out of the way by water pressure.

 

[SeattleTom]

Gap varies by truck produced for all manufacturers. There are commercial covers available.

https://caliraisedled.com/products/gapshield-tailgate-gap-cover

Great post. Actual solution included. Well done!

 

[wtibbit]

Today I found a five foot length of cast-off ½" D-shaped weather seal in my garage. It must have been peeled off an ancient project and the adhesive on it was dried out and mostly missing. I used it test a way to seal the tailgate gap along the bottom of the gate, starting with @Cybergirl's advice to "...stuff it in the gap by hand..." That D-shaped weather seal looked like it would work to prevent most dust from getting into the vault. It won't won't keep bulk materials out out the gap, but I'll use a tarp for that.

It would be better, though, if that seal stayed in place and I didn't have to stuff in place every time, or even think about it much, so...

With no adhesive on the old seal I used gaff tape to attach the seal to the trailing face of the vault bed floor, flush with the top of the floor. This photo shows the position of the seal how the tape was applied. I cut the seal at the outer edges of the under-bed compartment door and at the edges of the door release tab, so I could open the compartment without disturbing the seal.

The tailgate squeezes past the seal as the gate is opened and closed. That does put a load on the seal and will cause some wear over time. When closed the inner face of the gate compresses the seal enough to close the gap.

I'll test this for a while to see if the seal stays in place after undergoing a reasonably large number of open/close cycles.

The view below is looking down at the now-sealed gap, with the tailgate closed. No daylight except at the edge of the bed on driver's side and a minor one at one of the cuts in the seam to allow the bed compartment door to open. Note that I have an aftermarket bed liner. The weather seal is taped to the actual bed, underneath that liner.

Same view as above, but with the tailgate down.

In this view below the tailgate is down and the compartment door is partially raised (raising the bed liner with it. The weather seal can be seen beneath the rather sloppy tape at each of the cuts I made in the seal to allow the compartment door release to operate.

In this view below the bed liner is lifted to show how the seal is taped to the trailing edge of the bed, to the right of the compartment release. Another line of tape runs along the seal and is wrapped down under the seal, pressed onto the face of the bed end and wrapped under the lip of the bed, at the bottom. The seal is attached in a similar way to the release handle.

This view below shows the seal attached to the short edges of the bed, between the compartment cover and the side of the bed. The seal is taped to the bed in the same way (sloppily...) as it is to the compartment door. Remember, this is just a test! If it works I'll re-do it more neatly.

Here is my follow up report on this hack.

It works....

After two weeks of typical use, multiple trips to the lake, to the grocery store, hauling some musical equipment and moving some furniture, the taped on seal under the added bed liner looks about the same as it did when I put it on. I cycled the tailgate at least three or four times a day during those two weeks, so call that 50 open/close operations.

As you can see from these photos with the bed compartment door lifted up some so you can see the seal taped to it, nothing has torn, slipped or peeled off. The gaff tape it still sticking tight (I pulled on it to tell), there is no significant wear on the tape and the underlying D-shaped foam weather seal is not deformed.

As you can see from this photo, the seal is still filling the gap, except where I left a small opening for water to drain, visible on the left side of the image.

It's not beautiful, but it works and was done with materials that I already had on hand.

I'll leave it in place until it wears out and then I'll replace it with another hack using a 4 inch roll of ⅛" inch neoprene sheet material attached with double-sided 3M molding tape to the same areas as my current seal. That will look better and may drain water faster.

Cheers....

 

[Jager]

Roger that on the tailgate/bed gap!

Saturday, on the way home from a Benchrest match (that's a rifle competition), a fellow in an F-150 pulled up alongside me and urgently motioned me to roll down my window. When I did, he rather breathlessly exclaimed that I had targets falling out of my bed. My first awful thought was that I must have left the tailgate open and some very expensive gear could have fallen out - it all being held there at the very rear by the vault divider I had installed.

All was good, though. When I pulled over I found my targets were still there, lodged halfway out of that tailgate/bed gap.

They'll ride up front with me next time.

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