Ford Tailgate Popping Sound and Torsion Rod Replacement

[@anthonygalipo9875]

Awesome job wondering how that came out do your self a favor put a screw type hose clamp on the passenger side around the whole socket screw it from the bottom side so no one can open it and steal it i learned the hard way if it takes to long they just go for the next one

[@ra5308]

Where can I buy this replacement part and what does it cost?

[@kudasindustries]

I had to call the Ford dealership to order the parts. For my 2012 F350, the rod is part number BC3Z-99402A68-B and the plastic hinge cups are E7TZ-99430B22-A. you'd have to check with your dealership on costs, but it should be around $100

[@thereddstormproject1954]

Mines just slams down almost killing people...shit id take the pop over gettinh Popped any day

[@kudasindustries]

I installed a Dee Zee Tailgate Assist on my truck to control the lowering of the tailgate. It's cheap, easy to install and does a great job of slowly lowering the tailgate. www.deezee.com/product/truck-tailgate-assist/

[@edgar4531]

My tailgate was stolen and the shop that replaced it didn't install it right and it slams down too. I hate it.

[@thewayidoit8895]

@@kudasindustries I think my king ranch came with an assist built in behind the taillight.

[@tomhoerner869]

Thanks for the video! I did this on a 2012 F-150. There is only one bolt to loosen on mine. Also, I could not get the old rod out using heat, or WD-40. I ended up using my 1/2" drive electric impact wrench on it - the drive slid into the oval on the end of the bar. I turned it about 1/8 turn clockwise, then 1/8 turn counter-clockwise. I "rocked" it back and forth like this until I was able to pry it out. Once out, there was a metal "collar" inside the hole on the tailgate. I tapped a screwdriver in between the left-over metal collar piece and the tailgate and as able to easily pry it out. Hope that helps anyone else having a similar issue.

[@kudasindustries]

Thanks Tom! Glad that you got it fixed up. Sounds like it was really corroded.

[@FixItNick]

You should have mentioned that you have Dee Zee tailgate assist

[@mursalot]

Really good observation. That little detail changes everything about this video. He shouldn't even have the DeeZee assist if the torsion bar is working correctly

[@christopherwright8802]

this is great! exactly the same as 2008 silverado and sierra....but there are no video metions of them so thanks! Good Job

[@jefffarschon4270]

Thank you for the video. My tailgate on a 2010 F-150 started making a loud POP opening and closing recently. Mine was fixed with a spray of liquid wrench and silicon into the cup on the drivers side. I guess I will add spraying the cup to when I change the oil :).

[@jasontumble3362]

Great video! Straight to the point, no fluff!!

[@jake2008mu]

Thanks for vid! For anyone that it helps, I simply greased up the ends where the tension rod connects and that fixed it for me. Very annoying problem. The pop would wake the neighbors!

[@jimbarnes4455]

Great video. I've got the same situation and now I know the issue. Thanks.

[@Nambilus]

Awesome, just what I was looking for, thanks for making this video.

[@joachimhessberger873]

Thanks for this video. I will do that as well. Joe

[@NorthernChev]

This looks like the exact same design, maybe even same part number, as the Escalade EXT and Chevy trucks…. I wonder?

[@rickmossop3733]

Thanks for this video. Just curious, why did you replace it? What was wrong with the old one? Would it have possibly worked it you just cleaned it? I'm just working on mine now.

[@kudasindustries]

Hi Rick. Looking back, I probably could have just cleaned the end of the rod and the socket in the tailgate and put it back together. It was really rust and dirt jamming the hinge which made it pop. However, the urethane on the outside of the rod melted a bit when I heated the hinge socket to disassemble it and I had the new part in hand so I decided to replace it.

[@rickmossop3733]

@@kudasindustries Thanks for the reply. I couldn't get it to budge even heating it. I think I'm going to let my mechanic take a crack at it. There was only one bolt in mine and it looked like the other one was a rivet. Mine is an 2011 F150.

[@thewayidoit8895]

@@kudasindustries I was wondering that myself. Paid $70k for a king ranch f150 about 5 years ago (probably could have bought a F350 lariat diesel) and its been popping at least a couple years. Kept telling the wife (her driver) to ask the dealer about it but she always "forgot". I might just start with some white lithium!

[@AlistairBalister]

not sure why but the torsion rod on my 2015 f150 was bolted directly to the side of the truck. it was a nightmare getting the gate off and even worse trying to get it back on :(

[@donweathersbee3199]

Ford has turned a lot of men into mechanics. In the old days the shade tree mechanics working on their best selling truck had an advantage of having the ignition key on the left side of the steering column. After climbing out from being in he engine bay, you could reach the switch key from outside the truck, without opening the door. Of course most had a greasy hand from all the oil leaks on the engine but, that didn’t hurt anything on a white truck. It blended in with the brown tobacco juice running all down the side. Ford has fooled people for years and they keep going back for more. Ask how many guys have had a short wheel based foxbody mustang swap ends with them or more recently the late model trucks have the back half of the engine under the cowl so that no one can get to. Removing spark plugs a whole story by itself.

[@2wheeltango]

This doesn’t work for 17 up superduty

[@mstang61]

I'm wondering if mine snapped, my tailgate has got really heavy lately.

[@2wheeltango]

I think this is the only video on this subject

[@eduardoledesma4226]

Great video, you made it look very easy to replace. By the way, what were the part numbers for your truck, I have the same Ford?

[@kudasindustries]

For my 2012 F350, the rod is part number BC3Z-99402A68-B and the plastic hinge cups are E7TZ-99430B22-A

[@sarahq9372]

Did you say you got your torsion rod from Ford? How? Recognizing the part shortages right now, no one in Canada seems have access to this part. I've looked on half a dozen websites and no one even has this listed.

[@kudasindustries]

Yes, I got the part from my local Ford dealership in February 2020 which was before all of the lockdowns went into effect and didn't have supply chain issues yet. Obviously getting parts after March 2020 got a lot harder.

[@TripGibson]

Great video I think the only one that address is the real problem of the tailgate being heavy and raising and lowering it. There's a bunch of videos on here installing a little tailgate assist that is not needed if the tailgate is working correctly and the torsion rod is not broke. One question though why did you replace the torsion bar instead of cleaning the end up ?

[@kudasindustries]

Hi Steve. Since I already purchased the new torsion rod I decided to change it out. I could have probably gotten away with just cleaning up the end of the old rod and put it back in, but I figured why not replace it since I had a new one. Plus it wasn't that expensive. Thanks for the comment

[@kevins5268]

Dealer replaced my torsion rod because it was under warranty well now the tailgate springs up like 6 imches when its full open. Did they install the rod backwards or is there an adjustment on the rod?

[@kudasindustries]

There's no adjustment on the rod. I feel like there's two potential causes of the tailgate lifting: 1) they installed the wrong rod. not likely but you never know. 2) the rod has been superceded to a new design or material which gives it more torsion. I bet Ford updated the part and gave it more power to account for heavier tailgates with the step in them.

[@kevins5268]

@@kudasindustries gotcha. Yea its annoying especially loading stuff. I suppose I could add some weight to the gate maybe

[@m.7n6]

Mine needs to be realigned it's tweaked to the passenger side where there's a 3/4" gap on driver's side

[@kudasindustries]

I don't see a way to realign the tailgate other than shimming the hinge plate. I know that my tailgate had a fair amount of play side to side ~1/8" but left as-is as it wasn't rubbing anywhere and by eyeball looked fairly even.

[@TheR4m1r3z]

Hi 👋 thanks for the video i got the same issue but I didn’t find that part. Please let me know where u find it or how it’s called....

[@kudasindustries]

Hi Rafa. I had to call the Ford dealership to order the parts. For my 2012 F350, the rod is part number BC3Z-99402A68-B and the plastic hinge cups are E7TZ-99430B22-A

[@brucerubley8815]

Mine did not come out like this I had to somewhat weld to the end part with a rod to yank it out

[@kudasindustries]

Wow, it must have been really rusted!

[@LaBelle3153]

Part Numbers?

[@scottjohnson676]

I couldn't tell what was broken on the old rod.

[@kudasindustries]

The rod itself wasn't broken, but the end that fits into the hinge cup was rusted and caused binding between the rod and the cup.

[@NITROo1998]

Do you have a part number?

[@kudasindustries]

Torsion Rod - BC3Z-99402A68-B

[@coltinkerstin5774]

Any idea what to do if the one of the 2 bolts holding the clamp sheared off?

[@kudasindustries]

If the second bolt is still tight you can try and drill the broken bolt in place and then use a screw extractor (EZ OUT) to remove it. If you remove the second bolt, the clamp will fall off and you'll have to fish it out from the inside of the tailgate. Fishing it out isn't too hard, but getting it back into place takes some finesse. If you can't drill out the broken bolt in place, you'll need to unthread the second bolt and remove the clamp. Then you can drill out the bolt in a vise. To get the clamp back into place, I ran a piece of twine through the bolt hole in the tailgate from the outside of the gate and passed it through the corresponding hole in the clamp. Then I tied a small washer onto the end of the twine on the clamp end so that the clamp couldn't fall off of the twine. I pulled the twine back through the tailgate which pulled the clamp back into place. I have a Milwaukee 12v inspection camera that I stuck inside of the tailgate to see what I was doing. Several companies make this type of remote inspection camera aka borescope. I believe Harbor Freight even sells one. Once you get the clamp back into position you can start the bolt in the second hole that doesn't have the twine through it. Once that bolt is tight, cut the twine and install the second bolt. It's tedious and took me about 20 minutes to fish the clamp back into place, but it worked. Good luck!

[@gpsakry]

I just had this happen. The plate that it mounts to is removable with 4 10mm bolts and 2 T80s, then I just removed the broken bolts with a vise grip and got a couple new stainless ones from the hardware store. Hopefully they last a bit better than the last ones. Also had to fish the clamp part out with a magnet because I broke both, then started the screws for the clamp outside of the tailgate. Put the plate back on and reinstalled with the torsion rod before tightening the clamp again.

[@dm7097]

First thank you for this video! Very helpful. Second, (question) my drivers side tailgate hinge "cup" spins/turns in the bracket mounted to the tailgate. Normal? Also I am having a hard time pulling out that side of the tailgate, any ideas? 2010 F-150 Thank you

[@kudasindustries]

Hi! Thanks for the comment. There is no issue with the cup on the driver's side of the tailgate spinning. The plastic cup is designed to rotate inside of the bracket on the tailgate. As for pulling the tailgate off, only the passenger side has the slot in the cup for tailgate removal. Lower the tailgate to about a 45 degree angle then lift outwards on the passenger side of the gate. It should come off of the post on the truck bed, then pull the tailgate towards the right slightly to disengage the driver's side cup. It's easier with two people, but you can certainly do it by yourself if you can support the tailgate weight.

[@dm7097]

@@kudasindustries thanks for the reply. I'm going to try to remove mine again when I get time and maybe another set of hands. I think mine might be frozen from corrosion between the plastic cup and bed mounted hinge. As my plastic cup seems to turn with the metal cup part of the hinge. (As one unit instead of two). So I may have to weld the metal cup to the tailgate hinge bracket.

[@kudasindustries]

@@dm7097 sounds like the cup is frozen to the hinge.....I'd try soaking with penetrating oil first before welding the hinge. Welding would be my last resort

[@dm7097]

@@kudasindustries Roger thank you for the advice, I was under the impression that mine was broke.

[@MrRfries]

Very helpful, thanks!