Open Tailgate - Power Drain?

[wlarsen76]

First-time modern truck owner here — last one I owned was a 2002. Learning the hard way with my 2024 Ranger Raptor.
I was packing up from a camping trip when I tried to start the truck — and got hit with a bunch of error messages. The one that kept repeating was that the emergency brake couldn’t disengage.

I asked ChatGPT, and sure enough, it pointed to a dead battery. My brother gave me a jump, and the truck started right up. Within 10 minutes, the charge was showing 8/18.
I couldn’t figure out what drained it. The only possibilities I came up with:

• A WolfBox digital mirror plugged into the 12V outlet in the console (I confirmed it turns off when the truck is off).
• The tailgate was open all weekend.

I had no idea leaving the tailgate open could drain the battery, but I’ve seen multiple threads saying it can — not directly, but because the truck stays in an AUX or semi-awake state and doesn’t fully sleep.

Can anyone confirm if that’s true?
And is there any way to prevent it or trick the truck into thinking the tailgate is closed?

I like leaving it down while camping, so I’d love a workaround.

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[stuartmunto]

No, leaving the tailgate down should not drain the battery. Even leaving a door open, the system will eventually turn off the interior lights and shutdown all screens etc. The truck even has a low power mode self protection where if the battery is getting low it’ll make sure to turn off all electrical lights and computers so the battery will have enough charge to start again - this means even unlocking or opening the door the lights stay off and the screens don’t even turn on.

You could have a faulty battery, so maybe get the battery checked out?

 

[wlarsen76]

No, leaving the tailgate down should not drain the battery. Even leaving a door open, the system will eventually turn off the interior lights and shutdown all screens etc. The truck even has a low power mode self protection where if the battery is getting low it’ll make sure to turn off all electrical lights and computers so the battery will have enough charge to start again - this means even unlocking or opening the door the lights stay off and the screens don’t even turn on.

You could have a faulty battery, so maybe get the battery checked out?

Okay, thanks for confirming. I will.

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