I just picked up my truck this week. The next day I had a spray in liner put in at the dealership. I went out to wash it today and discovered an unfilled hole in the tailgate. It looks like it was put there by the factory as part of the design, but it seems odd they would have a hole in the tailgate allowing water and other undesirables to enter, especially with electronics in there. It is in line with the top row of screws. Counting from the driver's side it is about three inches toward the center of the truck from the second screw. The only thing on/in the tailgate is the back-up camera. Does anybody else have this hole? Does anybody know why is it there?

 

pics please? better for us to tell you what it is for

 

That hole is supposed to be there. No, I don't know why.

 

As for the why, I cannot be sure only because I am not out looking at it right now, but I do know that the stowable black plastic bed extender, when fully extended and thus sitting on the tailgate (vs in on the bed), has the rod that we push down to secure it a little better (it has the yellow plastic thing on it).

It might go in the hole you mention.

The hole will not hurt anything in the tailgate, but cover it up if you wish I suppose. Thanks

 

Drainage / venting? Without knowing where it is I can only guess that. I know in prior trucks - especially when I had tonneau covers on the beds - it used to get quite warm in the enclosed bed during the summer. Also, water that did get in when I didn't have the cover closed tended not to fully drain.

 

Other than actually posting words, I'm an internet idiot.:o Here is a picture of Molinoman's tailgate. https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...58865-029.html

If you look above the yellow latch on the man-step handle there is a screw. Just to the left of that screw looks like there is a plug for the plastic liner. That is where the hole is in my truck. Since it is also in his truck and several other people have posted they have it in theirs, I'm going to assume it belongs there. It looked like it was supposed to be there anyway. It just seemed a bit odd that Ford would leave a hole in the tailgate where water, snow, and ice would be able to get inside and start to cause problems.

 

I think I might have figured it out.


If this works this is the hole.

 

Bed extender hole.

 

Thanks. It looks like there are all kinds of holes at the bottom of the tailgate, so water should not build up in there.