Tailgate gap on passenger side - within reason?

[alrashid2]

Hey yall. Long story short, got my new 2026 Ranger XLT last week and have been loving it. One thing that bothered me though and that I eventually realized was an issue was that the tailgate did not open and close correctly. If I softly shut it with both hands, it would not sit flush on the passenger side only, and I found that the latch on the passenger side was just barely engaging. Made me nervous. If I slammed it hard, it would shut closer to flush, but opening it was difficult. You'd really have to pull the handle, and then it would make a very loud POP and clunk open.

Someone else had a very similar issue and posted about it here. His mechanic fixed it but he didn't get an explanation on what exactly was fixed:
https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/threads/how-does-your-tailgate-open-is-this-common.23561/

Anyway, I got to tinkering and adjusted the "tailgate latch bolt/stud" (not sure of terminology here) and the rubber stopper, and got it so that it is finally opening and closing perfectly with no clunk or pop! The latch also completely engages and fully covers the stud. The only con is that now, the tailgate is not flush on the passenger side... My tonneau cover is perfectly centered, and if you look from above it covers about 3/16" less on the passenger side than the drivers side, due to the passenger side sticking out a hair.

At this point I think I can live with it. I much rather it open, close, and latch properly. I rather not go to my dealer again as it's a trip honestly not sure what they'd do other than just re-adjusting the latch post back again to tighten up the gap, thus creating the latching/opening issue again.

What do you think?

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[Patriot1]

That does not look right and appears to need an adjustment if that is even possible. My RR tailgate does not have that gap. I would not have accepted that and picked another truck.

 

[alrashid2]

That's what I'm a bit worried about. I don't see a simple way to adjust this without potentially some major bodywork. If the gap is otherwise just a cosmetic thing, it doesn't bother me much. I've got other body panels that aren't flush all over the truck

Updated with a side by side comparison. Definitely more gap on passenger side but it opens up like a dream now, and I think I'm able to adjust the tonneau enough to ensure it seals the entire tailgate edge

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