Theres that metal rod below the tail gate that runs east to west and its ends are turned upright and lead into the rear of the truck, in the middle the bar makes a sort of loop and travels over this hump sqaure middle of the truck. Anyways mines all sorts of screwed up, never wanting to travel over the hump and such. Does this rod/bar serve any purpose or is it completely useless? thanks

 

I believe that causes some resistance so the tailgate doesn't slam down. If you are talking about what I think you are. I sprayed some lubricant everywere that our's touches.

 

Yes, it is a sort of torsion spring that carries some of the weight of the tail gate so it is not so heavy to raise and lower. I brush a little graphite loaded wheel bearing grease on the metal hump (every year or two) that the rod slides over and it moves nice and smoothly and is also quiet.

 

it's strong enough that when I removed the window motor and mechanism and window out of it , it would keep the tailgate angle up about 30 degrees.

 

that's a torsion bar which takes on some of the tailgate weight. read here:
https://www.yotatech.com/50980171-post15.html

ha! in the time it took me to find that thread you got a reply from the guy i'm referencing!

yes, you kinda want that thing. see if you can fix it up some.

 

I have greased this up but it jams at the beginning of the hump, never wanting to travel over it, and bulging against the tail gate. It causes more problems than anything, the PO had put in a metal wire to help the bar from getting stuck but it isn't working well and me adding some zipties hasn't helped. This rod provides no interlock to anything like lets say the rear window if i were to remove it? i only ask because each end of the rod goes into the truck. Im pretty strong and not worried about the weight of the tail gate. Thanks for the quick replies

 

I removed mine a few years ago. It makes the gate a bit heavier but nothing bad. Mine rattled so bad it was unbearable.

 

that depends on which way the truck is facing

 

Mine's been gone for 3 years, no issues.

 

its funny you mention that cause now that you say that, mine actually runs west to east, not east to west like i previously stated.

 

haha, im just messin with ya

 

i no, i tried to mess back. Anywho that crappy bar is off the 4runner. It did still do it job even though it jammed most the time as i could easily notice how much heavier the tail gate is. No bigggie cause when i order my soft topper im going to remove the glass and motor.