Loose Tailgate Hinge
 

The hinge on my tailgate on the passenger side is making the worse noise when I hit a bump. I can pull the tailgate down and wiggle it around so it's deffinatly loose. Any ideas on fixing this? It's shaking back and forth when the gate it closed and it's super loud.

I have an 88 4runner that had the same deal going on. super loud clanking against the tailgate and everything else for that matter. I dont know how long my "fix" will last but it cost me nothing and took only a few minutes to do. So if it wears out in a month or two I'll just do it again.

What I did to quiet the ruckus those hinges caused was I padded the hinges themselves. I used a layer or two of 1/8" thick foam tape (weather strip) in strategically planed areas where the hinges hit against other things. The tape itself seemed a little weak so I wrapped it all up with a layer of electric tape to make it last a little longer. Worked Great! No more annoying noise and no money spent. :banger:

Check how it comes apart then hit Home Depot or somewhere and see if they have nylon washers that'll fit on the pivot points to tighten things up.

Make sure the main pivot/mount bolts are tight. The PO of my truck shoved the wrong bolt in there, and it obviously didnt tighten down all the way. That thing rattled like nobodys buisness after I removed the cheap drop in bed liner that was holding tension on it.

I got one from a member on here and it fixed my problem..