The swing gate just knocked me over lol

[Nibroc99]

I figured you were a buck 20 twig boy

You'd think I was with how foolish this whole ordeal was. I had to step on the scale again just to be sure I didn't lose half my bodyweight in the Bronco Wars of '25 (me negotiating with the dealer).

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[JustWideman]

Bronco's buck, they say to never walk behind a horse!

 

[Nibroc99]

Bronco's buck, they say to never walk behind a horse!

Dude, that's, like, rule #1. I'm a fool!!!

 

[SierraBronco]

I mean, that's my go-to solution for about anything.
Paper cut? Moar burgers.
Flat tire? Eat a burger and see if that helps.
Slow internet? Well a burger sure isn't gonna make it any worse.

My new life motto

 

[JT58Bronc]

I actually tried taking mine off (rather easy to do luckily) and it just definitely does need the control of something. Even a stepped hinge like what the doors have would be fine.
This feels like a blasphemous question... But how does Jeep have their swing gates?
Well, to answer my own question, they use a check "cable" (actually a curved bar of metal) just like most doors use. So... I wonder if anyone's retrofitted one of those onto a bronco swing gate. With my luck, I'd do it myself and I'd start getting Mopar style electrical problems. LOL

My TJ's tailgates did not have a damper of any kind. The gates swung open freely and a stop was built in the hinge. I never had any problems and ran 31 X 10.50 15 larger than stock tires on them, including the spare. I had to put spacers under the hard rubber stops that support the spare tire to accommodate for the different wheel offset. I think just an extra plate for more support where the ball stud mounts in the tail gate will maybe solve the problem on the Bronco. I don't know if the increased height of say a 1/8" plate will interfere with anything once the stud is not in the same position as factory.

 

[Sparkie]

To OP, Mine has always been like that. I learned to just push it open to where I want and wait for the strut to catch up and stop. I assume that's normal.

Yup, that's what I learned during my Bronco test driving days.
Now that I have my own, I'm thankful it does stay at the detente position -- even on windy New England days.

 

[Nibroc99]

Little update about the swing gate being hard to open - I cleaned and regreased the ball joints that the piston sits on, and that actually helped quite a bit. The grease was dry and dirty prior to cleaning so maybe that was adding resistance or something. Just figured it was worth mentioning!

 

[Sparkie]

Little update about the swing gate being hard to open - I cleaned and regreased the ball joints that the piston sits on, and that actually helped quite a bit. The grease was dry and dirty prior to cleaning so maybe that was adding resistance or something. Just figured it was worth mentioning!

Thanks for the update.
I will keep that in mind for when my swing gate gets too heavy for me.
If your solution doesn't work for me, then I need to rethink my gym resistance training.

 

[Nibroc99]

Thanks for the update.
I will keep that in mind for when my swing gate gets too heavy for me.
If your solution doesn't work for me, then I need to rethink my gym resistance training.

Either that or our Broncos need to quit the gym and start doing yoga to loosen up.

 

[cynicalrider]

I've had issues with my strut popping off the mount, so I replaced it, and a couple of months later the strut itself broke off at the mount. Each time the tailgate flies open and it's a monster.

I have a third strut in a box ready to install, but I had put the original back on after the second broke and so far it's holding, so I'm just not gonna bother it until it starts giving me issues again.

My spare tire mount has a safety catch to keep it from slamming into the tail light, but damn is that thing heavy if it pops loose and you are on an uphill slope.

But to your particular question - no, it should not be hard to open at all. It shouldn't spring open, but it should "assist" you opening it, it has a couple of stops in travel where it will hold the door (can't recall exactly, something like 60°, 90°, 120°), and it should take some pressure to close, but not be overly difficult.

If you are under warranty, it's a good thing to just ask the dealer and see if they won't just replace it for free. The actual part from Ford is only about $70. Part number is M2DZ-78406A10-A

For aftermarket support - I really haven't seen anything better, but I'm all ears if something does pop up. There are some third party struts on Amazon, but I've never had good luck with those so I didn't try any of them. Of course, I'm not exactly having great luck with the OEM strut either, so ...

I added a tailgate limiter and now the clip doesn't seem to hold the strut onto the balljoint. Any advice or should I just replace the strut?

 

[Brian_B]

I added a tailgate limiter and now the clip doesn't seem to hold the strut onto the balljoint. Any advice or should I just replace the strut?

Yup. I never had great luck trying to fix them once they started doing that.

My current one has been on for about a year and a half though.

 

[23OBX2.7]

Had my tailgate tire off last week and the tailgate seems very light. Tire location though is great ro balance out F&R overall weigh dist balance.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

That damn thing is a fight to get open every time, despite the claims that the tailgate itself is very light.
So it's all a function of the strut.

I just usually muscle through it and ,as you stated, wait for the strut to catch up.
I've also had to learn to just go full 90* every time if you intend to open the glass.

 

[adcam]

I added a tailgate limiter and now the clip doesn't seem to hold the strut onto the balljoint. Any advice or should I just replace the strut?

Which limiter did you use? Is the Turn Off-road limiter a good one?

 

[Area51BS]

I've had issues with my strut popping off the mount, so I replaced it, and a couple of months later the strut itself broke off at the mount. Each time the tailgate flies open and it's a monster.

I have a third strut in a box ready to install, but I had put the original back on after the second broke and so far it's holding, so I'm just not gonna bother it until it starts giving me issues again.

My spare tire mount has a safety catch to keep it from slamming into the tail light, but damn is that thing heavy if it pops loose and you are on an uphill slope.

But to your particular question - no, it should not be hard to open at all. It shouldn't spring open, but it should "assist" you opening it, it has a couple of stops in travel where it will hold the door (can't recall exactly, something like 60°, 90°, 120°), and it should take some pressure to close, but not be overly difficult.

If you are under warranty, it's a good thing to just ask the dealer and see if they won't just replace it for free. The actual part from Ford is only about $70. Part number is M2DZ-78406A10-A

For aftermarket support - I really haven't seen anything better, but I'm all ears if something does pop up. There are some third party struts on Amazon, but I've never had good luck with those so I didn't try any of them. Of course, I'm not exactly having great luck with the OEM strut either, so ...

I bought metal ends for the struts years ago. Thanks for reminding me to install them.

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