Teraflex HD tailgate Issue

[Anybodyhome]

I have a spare 35 mounted to a Teraflex HD and sometime in the last couple months it's become bound to the point where I really have to lean into it to open and close. For some perspective, I'm 6'6" @ 285lbs. The HD carrier is only about 4 years old. With the tire mount, this is a $700 item I don't think I want to replace.

I've reached out to Teraflex for some tech support, but gotten nothing from them. The tailgate has no movement or play and it doesn't drop at all when opened. I'm thinking there may be some galvanic corrosion with the stainless steel hinge pins and the bronze bushings, but cannot get the pins to budge.

The tire carrier comes with the hinge pins pre-installed and they do have an e-clip on the bottom. Short of removing the entire carrier and tailgate to get all the weight off the hinge pins, I'm out of ideas.

I've applied copious amounts of commercial grade penetrating lube and it seems to move just a touch easier. It's not that big a deal for me, but I do let the wife take Desperado out once in a while and I'm sure she struggles with the tailgate.

Any thoughts or suggestions or experiences?

 

[Oscar-Mike]

This is what I did on my TJs (I temporarily removed the spare).

Sprayed the dowel pins with WD40 and stroke it left to right for 20 times, spray it some more, then stroke it again for 20 times, spray it again, stroke it again, spray, stroke, spray, stroke... until I got tired.

I did that step maybe for 5 days.

 

[Anybodyhome]

This is what I did on my TJs (I temporarily removed the spare).

Sprayed the dowel pins with WD40 and stroke it left to right for a 20 times, spray it some more, then stroke it again for 20 times, spray it again, stroke it again, spray, stroke, spray, stroke... until I got tired.

I did that step maybe for 5 days.

The gym I belong to has been closed for a couple months now and swinging that tailgate is like handling a 100lbs of weight with the spare mounted... you might be on to something...

 

[Chris]

They don't have grease fittings on the hinge pins at all like the MORryde setup does?

 

[Anybodyhome]

They don't have grease fittings on the hinge pins at all like the MORryde setup does?

No, they don't.
I did unbolt the tailgate check strap because I know these go bad all the time, but it made no difference. I really think I'll have to remove the spare, the tire rack and then unbolt the Teraflax from the tailgate. Then unbolt the hinges and get the thing on a bench where I can work on it.
We tried tapping the bottom of the hinge pins and couldn't get any movement out of them. The hinge pins don't rotate when I open the tailgate.

 

[Anybodyhome]

No, they don't.
I did unbolt the tailgate check strap because I know these go bad all the time, but it made no difference. I really think I'll have to remove the spare, the tire rack and then unbolt the Teraflax from the tailgate. Then unbolt the hinges and get the thing on a bench where I can work on it.
We tried tapping the bottom of the hinge pins and couldn't get any movement out of them. The hinge pins don't rotate when I open the tailgate.

No kidding, Chris. The Teraflex HD Alpha with the tire mount is a $700 item and I really don't want to replace it.

And, by the way, I would not recommend Teraflex as a vendor to anyone right now. They have not replied to either of the emails I've sent requesting tech support and I'm getting the infamous, "All circuits are busy right now" phone message.
They should probably consider themselves lucky I don't use or belong to any social media platforms such as FB, Instagram, Twitter or otherwise, because I'd probably lambaste them. I could use my wife's FB account- who knows, they might call me back then (?).