How to make adjustments to tailgate?

[sebythellama]

I've heard that its possible to make adjustments to the tailgate in order to fix the alignment with the body, but I'm not really sure how to do it, what bolts to adjust, etc.

I recently got a new rear bumper, and when I installed it I discovered that with my Rubicon take-offs and factory sport tire carrier, the trunk would no longer close since the bottom of the tire was coming into contact with the bumper. I got an RC tire relocation bracket but got rid of it pretty quick when I noticed the trunk started to sag slightly and started making a knocking noise over some rough roads. I ended up getting a used rubicon tire carrier, and that almost fixed the problem. The tire still made contact with the rear bumper, but it wasn't really getting in the way of the trunk closing. I was going to make some time at some point to try and move the bumper closer into the body a bit, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. In the last few days, I've noticed that something's just been kind of "off" about the tailgate (sorry if that's vague). Like sometimes I had to slam it to make it close or sometimes it sounded like it was hitting something that was interfering with it closing. Not sure if I described that right, but that's kid of what I thought. I wonder if somehow the pressure from the tire touching the bumper screwed with the tailgate alignment (or maybe the latch), so I was wondering how to adjust the tailgate to try and fix it. Thanks.

This was my initial forum post about it: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ag-with-rubicon-take-offs.84147/#post-1770006

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[Jmos4]

Hi,

Have you tried shiming the rubber stops, maybe even put a few washers between the carrier and tire to move it away from the tailgate?

I saw someone post something about using table leg rubber feet to space out the rubber stops.

Regards,
Jim

 

[afterdarq]

I am also trying to understand how to adjust the tailgate without damaging the hinges. Mine is sagging a little bit and would ideally like to adjust that before it starts rubbing somewhere. Not sure what the best approach is - whether to try adjusting the outside painted 4 bolts (which ideally I would like to avoid) or the bolts on the inside where the hinges actually connect to the body of the car? Or there is some other way to adjust the hinges?

 

[Philly_]

Was rear ended today and my tailgate twisted slightly. Sheet metal is all straight but the top or the tailgate now leans out about 1/8” and the bottom leans in about 1/8”. Not a big deal, but the Jeep is 5 weeks old and I would hate to make an insurance claim if I just have to pull the interior trim back and adjust some bolts.

Maybe time to upgrade hinges/tire carriers already…

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