My 90 4runner has a drop down tailgate. It has recently come to my attetion that the tailgate is a bit loose. It doesnt shut as tightly as the regular doors do. When the tailgate is closed I can grab the top of it and move it front to back and it moves.

Is it supposed to be loose to allow for the window to shut propperly or should it lock down as tight as regular doors? Can I tighten this in anyway? It makes an annoying sound when I drive over regular street cracks and bumps.

Thanks
D

 

I am not familiar with tightening the gate, but I feel as if you may play around with Nader Bolt. That is the bolt that the door latches onto on the frame of the vehicle. Check that out and see if you can loosen it and then move it. That is the only guess that I have. I don't want you to mess around with the gate itself, because that may be pretty complicated. I would try the bolt first. Goodluck! :fireman:

 

Thanks Btown. I actually took another look at the gate and thought about attempting to move the "nader" bolt. (is the nader bolt the steel U shaped piece that the latch hooks to?) I was going to see if I could unscrew the bolt and move it further from the latch to make it close tighter. I couldnt budge the screw with a screwdriver though. I thought best to try not to do that until I heard from whatpeople in here might suggest. I tried to wrap duct tape around the nader bolt to add to its diameter. This made the tailgate fit tighter but i dont think this would last long.

Any other suggestions?

D

 

I have a similar prob. with my '93 and I've discovered that my
passenger side latch is defective. Because of the weather I haven't been able to investigate and further. I found out by similating the Nader bolt with a screwdriver. The driver side latch snapped closed but the pass. side one did not.
Has anyone else had this prob?? and was it repairable or will I need a whole new latch?? Hope this helps.

 

Yeah, that is the Nader bolt. The U shaped piece has a different name, but we'll just call it the Nader bolt. The thing you should try is to spray some WD-40 on the bolts and let them sit for about 15 minutes. Spray the WD-40 liberally (ALOT) and let it sit. That should loosen the bolt and then give it a try with the screwdriver. :fireman: