I do not know exactly what caused the problem but I opened up my tailgate one morning and the tailgate came off of the hinge and pieces were missing. I read on a forum that this is a common problem for the type of vehicle I'm driving and it seems that the tail gate could have fell on the highway if I hadn't tried it that morning.
2005 Nissan Frontier body complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 17 of 17, newest first, as owners wrote them.
We have a 2005 nissan frontier with 40,000 miles on it - well maintained and in excellent condition. Both hinges on the tailgate broke. It is a known problem. Fortunately, it came off when it was parked in my driveway. If it broke and fell off on the highway while the vehicle was in motion, it could have been disastrous. Nissan refuses to acknowledge the problem or make the necessary repairs. The dealership service manager lied and claimed the failure was due to overload - we don't use the truck to haul anything.
2005 nissan frontier with engineering defects customer states that the universal joint is subject to fail due to rust. **cc the consumer stated the manufacturer must have recognized the problem, because they have since added grease fittings. The consumer also stated the metal part that protrudes from the tailgate to the body of the truck was not designed for the weight of the tailgate. Due to insufficient welding, the original inner half of the tailgate hinge can possibly break. The consumer was able to stop the tailgate from falling.
Poorly designed u-joint to front in 4 wheel drive. ,u-joint has no grease fitting will rust and disinterested. Manufacturer has added fitting to replace part. However, original could fail and bring vehicle to complete stop in traffic or front drive could fail in adverse weather, leading to loss of traction ,both of which could lead to accident. Tailgate prone to failure due to poor weld on inner half tailgate hinge.tailgate was heavy and could lead to injury to a child or small person if failure occured while opening.once again manufacturer has added additional welds in replacement part.
Dt*: the contact stated while pulling into a driveway at low speeds, the tail gate which was locked in the upright position, fell to the ground with the right side still attached without warning. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer, who determined the left tailgate hinge and attachment fractured and needed to be replaced. After the initial replacement, while driving various speeds on the street, the tailgate separated from the rear of the vehicle again. The dealer determined that both tailgate hinges and attachments needed to be replaced. Additionally, while having a general maintenance inspection performed at the dealer, the contact noted a substantial gap between the truck bed and cab with a distance of 12 inches. The dealer determined the structural body separation was due to driving on rough road conditions. The manufacturer was alerted.
Purchased materials at home depot and loaded them in my 2005 nissan frontier. Closed the tailgate and as I got on to the interstate (approx. 1 mile), I heard a loud slamming noise-looked back and my tailgate was being dragged, disattached and all my supplies scattered through out. What caused the incident was nissan has secured there tailgate cables to the bottom bolt of the latching/lock mechanism. I assume each time you open and close the tailgate-friction between the parts had continually loosened the bolt. The bolt was missing-but looking at the other side of the tailgate you can clearly see it is just a poor design. Nissan could secure the cable to its own bolt. The result was the passenger side latch pushed forward rather than latched on to the tailgate, and because the other side latch was secure it gave a false impression of it being secure. The passenger side of the tailgate has a cutout on the bottom so when needed you can remove it by pulling it out, as the driver side has a pin the sticks into a cylinder. The result was the passenger side of tailgate came undone, and because it was the open end- dropped and pulled out of the driver side sending it onto the road, and thankfully not injuring anyone. It is visibly a poor design. I have e-mailed this to them, but to no response as of yet.
Noise that is heard around the dashboard area, when the car is driven at 40 MPH to 45 MPH. Dealership cannot find the cause. They greased the vehicle, and tighten the bolts. No success.
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