Tailgate / Liftgate Alignment

[Andy011X]

Has anyone else noticed that their lift gate is not well fitted to the rear quarter panels when closed? Mine has a large gap on one side, and virtually no gap on the other. And the gate seems to pushed in further than the metal on the on the quarter panels. I have a buddy who has the same model as me, but his lift gate aligns perfectly and is fitted nicely.

I saw some describing this issue on the Facebook page some time ago, but I can not find it here. I promise I did a search on this and came up empty.

It is a small issue as the lift gate still works, but it bugs me at this price point.

Have any of you had this issue, if so what if anything did the dealer do to resolve it?

Thanks in advance...

 

[jrmexplorer]

Has anyone else noticed that their lift gate is not well fitted to the rear quarter panels when closed? Mine has a large gap on one side, and virtually no gap on the other. And the gate seems to pushed in further than the metal on the on the quarter panels. I have a buddy who has the same model as me, but his lift gate aligns perfectly and is fitted nicely.

I saw some describing this issue on the Facebook page some time ago, but I can not find it here. I promise I did a search on this and came up empty.

It is a small issue as the lift gate still works, but it bugs me at this price point.

Have any of you had this issue, if so what if anything did the dealer do to resolve it?

Thanks in advance...

Hey Andy.

Others had reported this problem some time ago on these forums. I don't know what the dealers did, but if I recall correctly, all seemed to have been fixed by their respective dealers. At the very worst, they would just farm it out to a body shop to do it if they couldnt.

I dont have your issue, but my passenger side door trim on the inside is about a quarter inch lower than the dash trim. I'm going to have the dealer fix it at my first oil change.

-J

 

[Lucille]

Has anyone else noticed that their lift gate is not well fitted to the rear quarter panels when closed? Mine has a large gap on one side, and virtually no gap on the other.

Yes, I have this exact same thing. I haven't had a chance to talk to the dealer about it yet though.

 

[Tampa01]

Same problem. Left hand side is not perfect but okay, right hand side in not properly aligned.

I went to my dealership about this three weeks ago. They told me that there was nothing that they could do to improve the fit except to do body work on the right rear panel to make it match up with the hatch... I said no thanks.. No telling how that would end up looking.

Sent a PM to cory who had a Ford customer care rep get in contact with me. Receieve word yesterday from Customer Care that Ford Engineering is not aware of any issues with fit or rear hatch and that any fit and finish issues that I have are considerd ... "Normal Characteristics of the vehicle".... her exact words.

Not Happy with that answer.

 

[Joe Dirt]

How far off? Pics?

 

[Andy011X]

lift gate

all, Thanks for the replys.

Update. I have taken my X into the dealer for MFT (a long story you've heard before), and the A-pillar issue, and asked them to look at the lift gate while its there.

My service guy is waiting for Ford to approve any work on the tail gate, after taking some measurements. It will probably also need body work to fix, but I am worried the cure may be worse than the issue. No telling what they may screw up at the body shop. If anyone has had to do the bodywork to fix and is happy with the result I'd like to hear from you. I will keep you posted on what happens.

Sorry no pics. I'd take them but I haven't seen my X in a week.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Oh yeah- that's worthy of adjustment. I wonder how much adjustment the new style hinges and strikers have...

 

[Andy011X]

Yep, that's what mine looks like too. Also the quarter panel on the right side is not flush with the lift gate.

 

[VinceL]

I wonder if them new fangled laser-fied robots will prevent this type of problem?

 

[FordService]

Has anyone else noticed that their lift gate is not well fitted to the rear quarter panels when closed? Mine has a large gap on one side, and virtually no gap on the other. And the gate seems to pushed in further than the metal on the on the quarter panels. I have a buddy who has the same model as me, but his lift gate aligns perfectly and is fitted nicely.

I saw some describing this issue on the Facebook page some time ago, but I can not find it here. I promise I did a search on this and came up empty.

It is a small issue as the lift gate still works, but it bugs me at this price point.

Have any of you had this issue, if so what if anything did the dealer do to resolve it?

Thanks in advance...

Yes, I have this exact same thing. I haven't had a chance to talk to the dealer about it yet though.

I can see why this would bug me as well Andy011X & Lucille. Like Tampa01 said, I can help by escalating your concern. If you’d like me to assist, please send me a PM with your VIN, approximate mileage, dealer name, and contact info.

I’d also like to continue working with you Tampa01. I sent you a response via private message with more information.

I know you’ve already PM’d me jrmexplorer, but feel free to let me know if you’d like my help when you take your Explorer in for the first oil change.

Cory

 

[Andy011X]

Cory,

Thank you very much for the offer. But so far no need to escalate in my case. Today I got word from my dealer that Ford approved the dealer to fix the fit issue. The dealer is going send it to their body shop Monday. I will keep this thread updated on the results. Crossing my fingers....

Andy

 

[FordService]

Cory,

Thank you very much for the offer. But so far no need to escalate in my case. Today I got word from my dealer that Ford approved the dealer to fix the fit issue. The dealer is going send it to their body shop Monday. I will keep this thread updated on the results. Crossing my fingers....

Andy

That’s good to hear. Thanks for keeping us in the loop and feel free to drop me a line if you’d like any help.

Cory

 

[Andy011X]

Update:

We finally got our X back yesterday after 2 weeks at the dealer. Now we have a new APIM (still version sync 2.8) to fix MFT, new A-Pillar moldings to fix the vibration at highway speeds, and some adjustment to the lift gate after a trip to 2 body shops.

I'm not very happy with the results of the lift gate adjustment. The gate is now better centered from left to right, but after further inspection it now sticks outs noticeably on the whole of the left side against the quarter panel, and the top to bottom fit now looks bad. Worse thing is that there is now a wrinkle in the sheet metal where they attempted to align the panels on the right side. I didn't really notice the wrinkle until I got home.

We needed the car so we took it anyway, but I suspect I'll be back when MFT fails again. When that happens maybe we will take another shot at fixing the lift gate.

Never had so much trouble with a new car before. Good news is that the dealer is trying to make it right. Still frustrating however.

 

[FordService]

Update:

We finally got our X back yesterday after 2 weeks at the dealer. Now we have a new APIM (still version sync 2.8) to fix MFT, new A-Pillar moldings to fix the vibration at highway speeds, and some adjustment to the lift gate after a trip to 2 body shops.

I'm not very happy with the results of the lift gate adjustment. The gate is now better centered from left to right, but after further inspection it now sticks outs noticeably on the whole of the left side against the quarter panel, and the top to bottom fit now looks bad. Worse thing is that there is now a wrinkle in the sheet metal where they attempted to align the panels on the right side. I didn't really notice the wrinkle until I got home.

We needed the car so we took it anyway, but I suspect I'll be back when MFT fails again. When that happens maybe we will take another shot at fixing the lift gate.

Never had so much trouble with a new car before. Good news is that the dealer is trying to make it right. Still frustrating however.

I’m glad the dealer will be continuing to work to make it right, but it’s unfortunate that your lift gate still isn’t fitting right. Please don’t hesitate to PM me if you’d like me to escalate this for you.

Cory

 

[Andy011X]

Update: X back at the dealer this morning after we discovered the lift gate now will not shut properly every time. Dealer sent it back to the body shop and provided me a loan car, also an explorer, but with a perfectly good liftgate. Hopefully the 2nd time is a charm...

 

[dmikulin]

We nearly bought a 2011 Ford Explorer in the lot that was exhibiting this. When I questioned them about it, they initially said it was the hydraulic on one side that simply needed to be adjusted.

The next day over the phone they explained that the wrong size rubber stopper was installed on one side at the factory. They were going to install the correct size rubber stopper to fix it. It sounded plausible. In the end, we decided to place a 2012 factory order so I don't know if that ended up fixing it or not.

 

[Andy011X]

Final update:

We got our X back yesterday. After the 2nd trip to a body shop they got the adjustment right. It looks now like it should have looked from the factory. Gaps are uniform all around and the liftgate is flush with the side panels. The body shop couldn't completely get the small dimple out that they created on the first attempt without paint and bondo work. I'm not happy about that but I don't want to go have them do any paint work.

So the bottom line is that this problem can be fixed by adjustment at the hinges by a competent body shop. But you run the risk of them making it worse or causing more damage, that should not have happened.

 

[Lucille]

Final update:

We got our X back yesterday. After the 2nd trip to a body shop they got the adjustment right. It looks now like it should have looked from the factory. Gaps are uniform all around and the liftgate is flush with the side panels. The body shop couldn't completely get the small dimple out that they created on the first attempt without paint and bondo work. I'm not happy about that but I don't want to go have them do any paint work.

So the bottom line is that this problem can be fixed by adjustment at the hinges by a competent body shop. But you run the risk of them making it worse or causing more damage, that should not have happened.

Ugh....not sure what I'll do now.

 

[VinceL]

2012 Tailgate / Liftgate Alignment

Hey all,

I spent some time at the dealership the other day, and noticed something quite disconcerting.

All of the 7 or so Ex's had tailgates that were misaligned. They were properly centered in the opening, but were not equally flush (or not so flush, as the case would be) on either side compared to the fender.

On the driver's side, the tailgate was about 2-3mm below the level of the fender. On the passenger's side, the tailgate was about 4-5mm below the level of the fender.

What I found interesting is that each car appeared to have the exact same problem, to the same degree. They were all the same.

So I guess I can say this about Ford's new fangled robots, they are successful at consistency, but unfortunately, they were consistently off on this one.

This problem was plainly obvious to the naked eye, and while I realize these are mass produced items, I am disappointed by the lack of attention to fit and finish in this case.

 

[calb]

Mine is in production soon, so I'm hoping the 2012 on the lot were the early 2012 production when they were still working out bugs!