I don't know how many of you suffer from tire rack misalignment. I have had this issue since owning the truck, and it has gotten worse of the years. I have finally addressed the problem with phenomenon results. No more banging on the striker. No more manual lifting of rack to allow proper latching, No more fear of rack swinging open after driving away!!! No more stiff latch release lever.


I had this alignment issue since I got the truck, Early on I attempted to losses the adjustable mechanism and maxed out the allowed adjustment. This didn't work. I still had all the issue stated above. The rack would not close without lift assist. This would mean more often than not the rack would swing open after driving away. As a temporary fix I tied bungee to the rack and gate. This way if the rack ever swung open while driving, the bungee would pull it back in. This would result in a dramatic clash and bang when swinging back close. Ouch..

My second attempt to fix it was to make a chamfer on the latch to allow it to ramp into the striker. It helps to a certain extent. However, the latch was always under tension. This made it very difficult to release the rack and vice versa. A heavy, deliberate shove was required to secure the rack latch every time, and the banging noise was very annoying.

I was content with living with the gate as is. I mean after all it is a heavy rack with a full size tire on it. Who knew this was not normal, it was for me. But the aha! moment came when I was replacing my burn-out tail lights with LED ones.

OMG the contact points of the rack had worn and fractured at the two mounting points. Seeing this made me realize I was chasing my tail as the problem with the alignment was not at the latch but the hinge! I figured I would have to make new mounting holes for the latch to compensate for the loss on the hinge side. Voila The gate closes with only my pinky now!!


Notice I had to grind down the upper part of the latch to allow enough adjustment for the huge misalignment. I also left the bungee as it helps the gate from straying open when loading stuff in the back. The bungee has enough slack to allow the gate to swing down but doesn't go past there much future. Also as a bonus, you can see where I mounted my spare key safe.



maxed out latch mech

bungee hole I made

Bungee strapped

Upper Fracture

Lower Fracture

latch

grinding

safe key

 

Congrats on the fix.

I'm a little disturbed that the body panel joints separated near the hinge mounting points. Did you buy the truck new or used? Do you have any idea what caused those cracks?

 

It was one owner before me. The previous owner was an older gentleman, and he only used it for doctor appt and groceries. I don't know if they were there always, or they are a result of the rack swinging too harshly when not properly locked in place. But I can tell you the rack never closed like this before. Easy like pie