When you say "tail gate check strap", are you referring to the metal piece that is designed to hold the tail gate open? What is breaking on it?

 

it's the semi circular part that comes out from the interior wall and keeps the tailgate from swinging too far and is actually made of plastic. when it breaks that plastic part just comes out of its hole and the tailgate swings open until the hinge covers stops it or pop off. the dealer actually had to order a new set of hinge covers for me.

 

The strap isn't designed to keep the gate from swinging too far. The hinges have stops in them to prevent that, to some degree.

The strap pulling out will happen when the hinge stops have been bent or broken, from the operator allowing the gate to swing too far and too hard. The part you say is plastic, on mine is actually steel with a plastic coat on it. (Verified with a magnet)
It can be reinserted, but it's somewhat difficult to do. Once the hinge stops are destroyed, the strap will continue to pull out.

 

I've pointed out the hinges to the service manager and he said the strap was the only thing that was designed to retain the tailgate, which surprised me.

 

I don't think weight has anything to do with it. I have a 35" tire mounted on the back along with a high jack. It appears to me that whomever opens that the most is just 'swinging' it open and relying the "strap" to stop the door. If I were to swing the gate open each time, I could see that breaking really quick.

As to a solution, you could mount a rear gate gas strut which should eliminate your issue.

 

I'm pretty sure the gas strut wouldn't be much better as a stop. When the gate is close to fully open, it has a tremendous leverage over anything mounted from the gate to the body.

The solution is to not let the the gate swing open by itself.

 

Man that is really good advice for ANY TAILGATE SYSTEM



I have a gas tailgate "opener/stop" and even though it use a 3 bolt "thru body" fenderwall bracket, If I don't ease the gate open, it'll start to loosen up-

There's a lotta "force", as rj says, in a swinging 110lb+++gate-

Remember, it's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop !

:rofl::rofl: JIMBO

 

I stop by the dealership to pick up my new set of hinge covers and I had a technician take a second look at the hinges built-in stopper. They said they were up to par, but I decided to build in another fail safe.

So I went to the local hardware store and bought some 190-pound test Rope that has a bit of elasticity. I simply tied it to the roll cage and to the check strap attachment point on the tailgate.

With the proper length of Rope, its starts to stretch just before the hold open position
and becomes taunt, in sync with the check strap. The tailgate does not even reach the built-in hinge stops now.

It's a cheap fix that is well worth the extra piece of mind.

 

I have a 90 YJ and a 2012 Rubicon. The YJ has a knob on the door and a doubled over hinged steel rod that tracks along until it bottoms out at full open. Simple perfect design. I guess it wasn't pretty enough for the new Jeeps so they put that cheap plastic self destructing rod on there. I disagree with the " just open it slowly comments and feel this is truly a design flaw. Bail out $ did not these machines any better. Using cheap plastic parts on something that is so heavy is pointless. It's not like it will improve the gas mileage or anything like that. My wife broke ours getting something out of the back on a slight incline. It got away from her and pow it broke. Dealer keeps it for 3 days because they are busy fixing other cheap things and a week later I'm snatching the tow strap out to rescue a car and it snaps on me. I'm going to put rope on mine too. Being gentle is unacceptable. Shame on you.

 

It's your hinges. Had same issue with stock tire on my gate. Blew check rid out. Warranty replaced one blew out a month later. Searching on here found that hinge was damaged.

I had to show service manager difference between my hinge and one on the show room floor.
You have to open the gate to see where the stop is on the hinge.

I posted pictures of mine on another thread here. I'm on my phone, so linking it now is just a pain. Search for 'check rod' in thread titles here. You'll find it.

Once got new hinges installed... No problems.

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Rear check strap retaining arm

My new 2014 Wrangler with only 2,870 miles broke the check strap retaining hinge arm. I always treat my rear door with care, because I don't want it to hit anything, and have never abused it and it just broke...looks like a defect in making the device and a bad invention. I was hoping to add another leather or web strap to help this from happening In The future. The dealer says it is the weight of the tire....well, let's build something that will stand the weight if the tire....a wrangler is supposed to be tough as nails, but I am scared to death to open my rear tail gate because it will cost me more $$$ . Hoping some factory warranty covers my first repair, since it is only 2 months old.

 

I posted a thread with my same problem. It's the hinges that are bad. The rod isn't a check rod. It only holds the door open.

Fight the service guy. Show them what a correct hinge looks like then yours. They'll need to get the regional Jeep manager to ok your fix as warrantied work.

Mine was finally done right. No issues since.

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I posted a thread with my same problem. It's the hinges that are bad. The rod isn't a check rod. It only holds the door open.

Fight the service guy. Show them what a correct hinge looks like then yours. They'll need to get the regional Jeep manager to ok your fix as warrantied work.

Mine was finally done right. No issues since.

Sent from my rotary phone using JeepForum

As stated in the quote, it only holds the tailgate open, it was never meant to stop the tailgate. that is the job of the hinges.

I had this happen to my Jeep. I had to argue a few times till they had the Body Shop guys come out, take pictures and submit them to Chrysler. They finally agreed that it was indeed a Warranty Issue, New hinges were ordered, painted and installed at my purchasing dealer.

Ya just have to stick to your guns with them. And don't lose your temper.

 

They replaced my check strap twice under warrenty. They would not even consider the hinges, even after I pointed it out. I beleive they don't know their own product.

The rope solution that I explained previously is still working great BTW. I'll try to post a pic in the morning.

 

They replaced my check strap twice under warrenty. They would not even consider the hinges, even after I pointed it out. I beleive they don't know their own product.

It's very typical. You have to call Chrysler to have it straightened out.

 

Another update. My rope solution worked for two years, but a friend opened my tailgate in a trail and gravity (I was parked on an angle) took care of the rest. Sigh, I've been needing to upgrade to a tire carrier anyway because of some rattles. I'm thinking the Teraflex hinges and mount should remedy the situation.

I have to figure out how to put the check strap back in place as my warranty is well past now.