At first I thought someone was playing a joke on me but realized that the tailgate on my 2002 supercrew locks by itsself. Am i the only one that that happens to? Is there a fix for it?

Thanks
Bob

 

Yes Ford has a service bullitin on it It is very simple to do, but the instructions although seem stupid must be followed exactly. I did mine some time ago and it has never relocked on it's owne before you could slam it shut 4 times and it would be locked. First remove the inner pannel to gain access, there are two clips on the threaded latch rods using a small screwdriver release the clips and remove the rods remove the nuts securing the handle (remove the handle assembly, next (very critical) lock and unlock with key several times stopping in the unlocked position. reinstall lock assembly into tail gate make shure it stays in the unlock position as this step is very critical to inshure the same sympton does not re-occur. now reinstall lock release rods making shure that the rods are not pre-tensioned (pulling on the latches) they should be cliped in a released state with no slack. while I was in there Isprayed the latches and handles with some white lithium spray grease and the tail gate works great this is not part of the Ford fix but mine were dry and seemed tight. Don't ask what this does but it definatly worked. only takes about 10 minutes to do and saves all that agravation when you want to open the tailgate..

 

Thanks for that tip. I'm anxious to try that.

Bob