Self opening tailgate!

Greetings all I had a small problem with my tailgate popping open last week on Castleburn creek track South West of Dargo. The pressure of the tailgate was enough to destroy my Nissan club sticker on the canopy window (no window no sticker) There is also a good chance that I will be charged with stealing dust from the National park as well. Does anyone know any thing about this tailgate problem and a fix for it?
Any hints received with thanks
Andrew


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Quote Selected Add Username Reply Quote Edit Split

Strange that you should mention that, I went to open the rear of my canopy earlier today and as I lifted the panel, the tailgate fell back onto me. It was not latched in place.

I put it down to some wipe in the parking station testing it out to see if they can get in, but in light of another similar incident, I'm not so sure.

My car goes in for a service on Tuesday, I'll mention it to the guys. But I think I might now invest in a central locking mechanism for it, and see about hooking that into the car's current system (eg piggy-backing it on the rear right door).

I'd be interested to hear what they have to say old tony,mine dropped open last week.I'm sure i had it shut tight.I have a tonneau(sp) but i didn't have the back part pulled over at the time.

I have had the same thing happen a few times when I've opened the canopy, never before the canopy went on though. I have however noticed that the tailgate doesn't always shut properly with light pressure similar to that like you need to shut the doors, sometimes it does but other times it doesn't fully shut.

My canopy window actually comes down over the tailgate further than most and even if someone tries to unlatch the rear tailgate it doesn't budge enough to come loose on the latch and automatically open when the window does. When I put the canopy on I tested all these options to see how secure the canopy was and if getting the locking mechanism or disabling the outside latch was necessary but by hand alone the window of the canopy stops the tailgate latch from releasing so the only thing I can put mine down to is that I hadn't shut the tailgate properly and somehow it had stayed in the shut position long enough for me to shut the window.

I did look into the auto lock and the manual key lock as options before I got this canopy but for the cost and the effort involved if this canopy didn't work like it does I was just going to un-hook the external latch and run some wire out of the internal panel and have an internal latch, same principle Holden and many others have used for years. The window for the canopy has to be opened to lower the tailgate so an internal latch not only stops potential thieves it makes for a 5 minute mod that works a treat and costs next to nothing.

Have had this trouble with mine for some time. I asked here and it seemed at the time I was the only one with the problem. A few suggestions were to check the mounts for cracks etc.

I've worked it out to be too much flex sideways in the tray, and overcame the tailgate issue with a couple of those bolt type slides on the inside. But on really rough terrain the canopy lid will vibrate itself open even if locked! I reckon a tradesman type bar (the type of bar they use for mounting roof racks) along the inside of the canopy with a couple of braces will fix the problem fully.

Cheers.

My tailgate opened up on me when something was leaning on it from inside the tray. I think the latches are too old and are loose, if i dont have my tarp on the ute the tailgate vibrates like crazy, i also need to change the rubber stops where the tailgate hits to stop the vibration.

I was out mucking around with mine today,it seems if i close it gently like a car door it has around 5mm play back and forth.
If i give it a bit of a heave,not real hard,it has no play.
I think when mine dropped last week i hadn't closed it properly.

Had my tailgate checked, they said it was fine and both sides fully engaged the latches properly. Neither latch showed any tendency to want to open, so in my case, it looks like some opportunistic thief probably tried the handle on the way past and disengaged the latches.

Now I *really* want a remote lock for it.

Mine latches tightly and doesn't open by itself as long as it's shut properly. I can however deliberately shut it with minimal pressure and the tailgate stays closed but not properly latched and falls open when I shake the tub, providing the canopy door is open, and a lock wont fix a door that isnt correctly latched.

I was going to central lock my canopy windows so they all locked together but in the end figured the effort didn't justify the result. The job is easily done but I like the idea of being able to access the tub from any side and not needing to unlock the rest of the car or disable the alarm.

Since my canopy locks the tailgate I wasn't going to need to central lock the tailgate and after seeing the prices Nissan wanted for the locking mechanism I was quite happy with not needing it. When I was originally looking at this the general consensus on most websites was that you pretty much needed the factory tumbler as the space behind the panel was too short for most keylocks. Since the genuine price put me off the idea I never looked into any other options but I guess anything is possible given the right tools and the willingness to spend money.

Krafty, a bit of enginuity and a $40 central locking kit from autobarn will do the job. I had a hard cover on my D40, had I not of sold it I was going to rig up a couple of central locking motors and a locking mechanism and wire it up to the car's central locking. It was a bit of a pain in the backside having to unlock two key locks every time I wanted to get into the tray. When I get a canopy for my D22 i'll be looking to link it to the alarm & remote central locking in a similar fashion

I was originally looking at just the keylock for mine without the central locking because I like to be able to get into the tub without unlocking the ute, but from what I read the tumbler is the issue because of the space behind the panel. Getting the tumbler from Nissan meant you could always get the lock keyed to your door key whereas not all after market tumblers allowed this apparently. Either way I gave up on that idea.

After that I briefly considered a cheap central locking kits from autobahn as I've installed them before and there isn't much to them but that all changed when I got the canopy and realised I don't need to bother. My canopy rear door comes further down the tailgate than most and holds the tailgate firmly.

While others here are saying their latches can be opened and the tailgate falls when they open the canopy on mine this doesn't happen because the canopy door holds the tailgate in tightly and opening the latches doesn't let the tailgate move at all therefore when the latch is let go the pins return to the same shut state. I can deliberately not shut the tailgate onto it's latches and the canopy will still hold the tailgate until it's opened but the canopy stops anyone using the latch and leaving the tailgate slightly open so it falls when I least expect it. It's not completely fail safe but it does mean no unexpected tailgate hitting me when I open the canopy unless I stuff up.