I've never seen this before, and was wondering if anyone else had or could shed some light on it that I may have missed.

So I can't remove my tailgate. I know how they usually come off, but mine seems to be built differently. Take a look and I'll try and explain.





So it looks like the notched "cup" on the tailgate is there, like normal, however the pivot point on the body is completely round. There doesn't appear to be any flat spot for the notch in the cup to slide past. I've asked at least 5 different people if they could figure it out, and they all reacted the same way. At first they looked at me like I was an idiot who had never seen a tailgate before, then after about a minute of fiddling with it, scratched their heads and gave up. I've done a few google searches and haven't seen anything like this anywhere.

Am I missing something, or was this a "feature" from the factory to prevent tailgate theft?

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2009 4Cyl Auto
4" Spindle Lift with 31s

i bet that tail gate was never off before and it seized in place

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2021 F150 5.0 Screw

Past:18 F150 2.7, 16 F150 5.0, 14 F150 5.0, 07 F150 5.4, 03 Ranger 4.0

Master Certified Ford Parts / Warranty Admin

Havd you tried kicking it?

The only reason I can think of is possibly the truck's rear was damaged in a crash. They got it on there so it should come off.

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This makes sense. The rear bumper was slightly bent when I bought the truck. No accidents in vehicle history, though it was an old fleet vehicle, so it's entirely likely some pud backed into something making a delivery with it at some point. Maybe I'll just do like Dirtman suggested, kick it until it comes off, then replace the hinges.

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2009 4Cyl Auto
4" Spindle Lift with 31s