KevyWevy

so i was geasing my window tracks in my 4runner today and noticed that with the panel off the back tailgate/door and the door closed i can see light through a gap between the door and the floorboards! not good!!!! how can i fix this?

KevyWevy

bump. does it just need a new seel for the back door or something? anybody??

Dozer

Maybe the light you see is the drain holes

KevyWevy

ok heres a picture sorry about the quality i used my video camera....

KevyWevy

so anybody???

oldsub86

It shouldn't have a gap like that. You will suck in exhaust, dust, & maybe even rain or snow. Either something is out of whack or something is missing. Try to get a look at another similar truck to see if there is something different about yours.

KevyWevy

yeah the door seems to close perfectly fine and fits fin everywhere else, but there is that gap there. can anybody help me out or am i just gonna have to go to the dealer and see what bs they feed me?

KevyWevy

come on, somebody here has to have seen something at least a little bit similar to this!!!!

Flygtenstein

Yeah, mine is like that.

The hinges are rusting and I notice extra dust in there after I spend the day on dirt roads.

My recollection is that it didn't use to be like that, but I had to have the tail gate replaced some time ago and that is when I noticed it.

UKMyers

Kevin mine doesn't appear to have the gap. I'd look for a new rubber seal maybe. It just uses some plastic yellow plugs to hold it to the gate.

KevyWevy

cool. thanks guys. i need to go in for a 90/100k check up. im at 98 right now, i'll have them look at it and see what they say i guess.

KevyWevy

well, i went and bought the weather striping for the back door, it was only $26, but that didn't fix the problem. once again i would be very grateful if anybody could tell me what the problem with my door/whatever is. thanks.

PAhydrohead

Kevin,

Mine was fine until I had a body shop repair my tailgate. Some idot (me) backed into a telephone pole at work and it put a vertical dent in the tailgate. The misshap with the telephone pole DID NOT create a gap. It wasn't until I had the tailgate REPAIRED that I noticed the gap between the body and the tailgate!

Sorry, but I have no idea how a gap could develop unless your vehicle was in an accident. No wait..I guess the bolts could loosen up over time. In fact I just realized that the body shop may have reinstalled my tailgate slightly out of line and all I have to do is adjust it.

The shop manual for my truck shows that you can adjust the tailgate in the forward/rear direction by loosening the bolts on the hinges located on the BODY. Move the tailgate towards the front of the truck and retorque the bolts to 22 ft/lbs.

Bill

Flygtenstein

Interesting to hear that commentary on when things went south with the gap. I have a similar tale. If it were more of an issue, I would persue that avenue farther, but I too did not have it, or did not notice it until a trip to repair some damage on the gate that my father did before the truck was mine.

KevyWevy

i've had the truck for 7 months. from the carfax report, it has not been in any accidents. i'll try and play witht he bolts a little bit tomorrow, or at least some time this week. thanks

KevyWevy

well i adjusted the hinges today like you said, but loosening them and pushing the tail gate closer to the body. it helped, but there is still a gap, mind you its not nearly as bad, i think im just going to put a little bit of weather stripping to put where the last two little gaps are. it was sure hard to brake the paint off the bolts.

PAhydrohead

Glad we could help out. Now it would just warm up a bit here maybe I could adjust mine.

Flygtenstein

I have pretty big mitts and I can fit my index finger up to the second joint in the gap with the door closed. Mind you this is by pushing away the weather stripping, but that is still a darn big hole.