Warped tailgate issue after hauling load

[xhawk101]

Warning to everyone about hauling items. I was hauling a load of 12 foot composite decking boards today. I made sure that the weight limit was not exceeded, however, since the load shifted, it obviously put too much weight on the tailgate and now the tailgate is warped. Fortunately still shuts but it clearly bent the stainless steel and it now has a gap.


So caution about this possibility. Perhaps I should have known, but alas I was unaware of the potential.

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[lowtek]

Warning to everyone about hauling items. I was hauling a load of 12 foot composite decking boards today. I made sure that the weight limit was not exceeded approximately 2200 lb. However, since the load shifted, it obviously put too much weight on the tailgate and now the tailgate is warped. Fortunately still shuts but it clearly bent the stainless steel and it now has a gap.


So caution about this possibility. Perhaps I should have known, but alas I was unaware of the potential.

That sucks.

Was it on top of the tailgate or something? The bed has the weight rating, I don't think it applies to the tailgate.

At least it's a part that can just be replaced. Going to be $$$.

 

[xhawk101]

Boards were as far in bed as possible until the truck accelerated faster than should (using traffic aware cruise). I should have been driving manually very carefully which I did the rest of the way. However, I'm pretty sure when it lurched forward it shifted the load. Note to use chill mode IF using TACC probably would be ok. And yes I'm sure a new tailgate is not cheap...

 

[getsometom]

Wow, sorry to see this. I don’t recall the load limit for the tailgate but I think it is significantly lower than the bed.

Are you going to reach out to your service center to fix?

 

[Tecyber1]

Man, do you plan to take it to an SC? I cannot imagine trying to fight that battle cause it would be hard to prove the weight of the load etc.

 

[mstatkus]

I hauled like 16 2x6x8 for home w/ 4 4x4x8’s pressure treated then snugged up the vault cover to keep things from moving around but I could not find an actual weight limit on the tail gate. Seeing the plastic and the light I figured I’d keep things from getting too heavy on it so cut it off there.

That sucks.

 

[hridge2020]

Possible should of, shored up the edge of the bed by tailgate to allow the bed of truck to take the weight instead of the tailgate.


or use a device similar to this.

 

[xhawk101]

Man, do you plan to take it to an SC? I cannot imagine trying to fight that battle cause it would be hard to prove the weight of the load etc.

Not sure yet if I'm going to just live with it or fix. Just had my cyber tent installed so will be a while before I have to go in for service. Won't be any fighting about it. There's no way I would expect Tesla to cover this.

 

[Ward L]

Hmm, I can't imagine an ICE truck tail gate bending like that. Maybe Tesla Tough isn't as strong as Ford Tough? Maybe they should have skipped the stainless-steel body and put a little more strength into the tail gate.

 

[mongo]

Warning to everyone about hauling items. I was hauling a load of 12 foot composite decking boards today. I made sure that the weight limit was not exceeded approximately 2200 lb. However, since the load shifted, it obviously put too much weight on the tailgate and now the tailgate is warped. Fortunately still shuts but it clearly bent the stainless steel and it now has a gap.


So caution about this possibility. Perhaps I should have known, but alas I was unaware of the potential.

Bed + tailgate is about 8 foot at the bottom.
Composite decking tends to be more bendy which, combined with 4 feet of overhang, ends up putting a lot of load at the trailing edge of the tailgate.
I've hauled lighter loads on the Sierra by using a 12' bendy ladder as support and ratchet scraping it to the bed. You can ratchet strap the ends of the boards upward to get the same effect.

Also, if 2,200 was all in the bed (without driver or passengers) it was over the rear GAWR of 5,247 (all terrain tires)
Curb weight AWD: 3,364 rear capacity: 1,883
Curb weight Beast: 3,545 rear capacity: 1,702
https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/cybertruck/en_us/GUID-12A976DD-EB60-431B-AFF1-5A37E95006DB.html

 

[Unemployed]

So was the tail gate down or were the boards resting on top of the closed tail gate?

Boards were as far in bed as possible until the truck accelerated faster than should (using traffic aware cruise). I should have been driving manually very carefully which I did the rest of the way. However, I'm pretty sure when it lurched forward it shifted the load. Note to use chill mode IF using TACC probably would be ok. And yes I'm sure a new tailgate is not cheap...

 

[xhawk101]

Tailgate was down and agree the bendy composite boards sliding further out was definitely contributory.

 

[Spacenoddle]

potential.

You mean this?

 

[xhawk101]

Yes hoping it will be possible to adjust the closure mechanism. There is also some bend in the stainless steel

 

[Deleted member 17810]

Tailgate was down and agree the bendy composite boards sliding further out was definitely contributory.

The tailgate has two positions. Partially open would probably have prevented this.

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