Rear Liftgate Alignment

[uberdog]

Anybody notice alignment issues with their rear liftgate? I have a 2017 Expd and the rear liftgate is misaligned at the roofline. It sits lower on the passenger side. I can have it adjusted by dealer, but wondering if it's worth having something else screwed up in the process. Seems common, as the pic below is not my truck, but one at the dealer with same issue. Oddly white or light color trucks are perfectly aligned, but almost all black versions are off. See pic:

 

[Frank Wilson]

I see two options.

Have the brand new expy adjusted at the dealership. I'm pretty sure that a dealership with cover any damages the inflict on the process

Or,

Live with it.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Anybody notice alignment issues with their rear liftgate? I have a 2017 Expd and the rear liftgate is misaligned at the roofline. It sits lower on the passenger side. I can have it adjusted by dealer, but wondering if it's worth having something else screwed up in the process. Seems common, as the pic below is not my truck, but one at the dealer with same issue. Oddly white or light color trucks are perfectly aligned, but almost all black versions are off. See pic:

View attachment 20911

View attachment 20911

My driver's door was misaligned as the top where it meets the roof line. All of the other lines looked good, I was getting some wind noise from it. I took it to the dealer's body shop in in about 15 minutes they had it perfect. I have no idea how they did it but I think they just hit it with a rubber hammer. Whatever they did, they closed the gap and the noise went away. I'll have to look at my hatch in the daylight.

 

[powerboatr]

my liftgate glass was off by 1/2 on one side. We loosened the glass and slide it into even alignment.
yours is new....go back and have them fix it. alignment and all that is also under the 12 mth 12k mile adjustment

i think the assembly line is getting lazy.
i sure hope next gen 18's are not this mis aligned.

 

[uberdog]

Thanks for the replies. I have an appointment to have the dealer's body shop fix it. May have to pull headliner to get access to the hinge bolts, so we'll see how that goes.

I looked at a few 2017 Lincoln Navigators on the lot and about half have this same issue in one form or another. I wondered if there was extra attention to fit at that price point, but it appears not.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

my liftgate glass was off by 1/2 on one side. We loosened the glass and slide it into even alignment.
yours is new....go back and have them fix it. alignment and all that is also under the 12 mth 12k mile adjustment

i think the assembly line is getting lazy.
i sure hope next gen 18's are not this mis aligned.

I ordered and bought a new 2015 Expediton Limited 4x4 - my first Ford.

I took delivery two days after it arrived, and it had two miles on it.

At delivery, the left front wheel opening molding trim was misallighned and not attached correctly. Plastic fasteners inside the wheel opening were not fully seated and some were crooked. The painted trim panel behind the left front fender (near the bottom) were also attached crooked. When walking up to the vehicle and looking at it, the defects were very obvious.

I had to have the items repaired on a return trip. In retrospect, I should have refused delivery of the vehicle.

The parts were installed wrong at the factory, missed by the quality control inspector, overlooked by the dealer service employee that was PAID to do the pre-delivery inspection, and missed (or overlooked) by the salesman.

The sad part is the empoloyee(s) that did not do their job right were paid and nothing is done to correct the defective assembly or work.

My two cents.

 

[powerboatr]

truthfuly our version is ten years old. which means its fully paid for and ford sat down on their laurels
the 18's may be putting them back into ..make it right mode? I hope
no excuse for alignment and fitment leaving the plant

but hows this..my 1992 f250 4x4 supercab...brand new 2 miles on it.
doing a walk through with the diesel techs to show this greenie about the 7.3...we found a 9/16 combo wrench down in the valley stuck on two injector steel lines.
stamped right on it, Kentucky truck plant QC .......i kid you not.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

I just checked the alignment of my liftgate and all of the seams are even and everything looks good. So I guess they got at least one right but they didn't get my driver's door right the first time, but not it is so I'm good.

 

[bobmbx]

Andy,

I just took my '17 to the dealer to have them look at my driver door alignment. Its a trim piece on the rear edge of the window that mates to the gap with the rear door. It has rubbed the paint off both pieces. They're going to replace the trim piece, and then take a look at the wind noise (it sounds like the door isn't sealing tight, either). I'll post a photo of the defect tomorrow.

 

[bobmbx]

...we found a 9/16 combo wrench down in the valley stuck on two injector steel lines.
stamped right on it, Kentucky truck plant QC .......i kid you not.

I wonder what Equip Group thats a part of.........

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Andy,

I just took my '17 to the dealer to have them look at my driver door alignment. Its a trim piece on the rear edge of the window that mates to the gap with the rear door. It has rubbed the paint off both pieces. They're going to replace the trim piece, and then take a look at the wind noise (it sounds like the door isn't sealing tight, either). I'll post a photo of the defect tomorrow.

This isn't a great picture but you can see that the top of the driver's side door is out away from the roof line and the seal between the two doors.



After

 

[bobmbx]

Here's the drivers side detail. Notice you can't see the rubber seal between the two vertical trim pieces. And they are touching each other; paint is gone, down to bare metal.



Here is the passenger side for comparison.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

I hope they are going to replace those pieces rather than repaint the. Here's the after picture of mine.

 

[uberdog]

Andy, they did a very good job getting yours aligned.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Andy, they did a very good job getting yours aligned.

Thanks. I have no idea what the did but it was quick no more than 15 minutes from the time that I dropped it off until they told me it was ready. I dropped it off walked into the showroom looked at a few cars on the floor talked to a salesman walked back over to the body shop and the service writer said it was ready to go.

 

[bobmbx]

I hope they are going to replace those pieces rather than repaint the. Here's the after picture of mine.

They're going to replace the piece. I still say the door is misaligned, but we'll see when the trim is replaced. If they want to easter egg with their money instead of mine, so be it. To be clear, the dealership is being very helpful with this.

 

[Rigpig]

Thanks. I have no idea what the did but it was quick no more than 15 minutes from the time that I dropped it off until they told me it was ready. I dropped it off walked into the showroom looked at a few cars on the floor talked to a salesman walked back over to the body shop and the service writer said it was ready to go.

The tech likely just used his bare hands to tweak that corner of the door in.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

They tech likely just used his bare hands to tweak that corner of the door in.

Whatever they did it worked perfectly. I'm happy with the out come and it's quieter now than when I first got it.

Andy

 

[bobmbx]

Update:

Just got back from the dealership: bad news. The body shop guy says the front door, and possibly the rear door, is misaligned. Really bad news: In order to get to the front door bolts, they have to remove the front fender.

Fabulous.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Update:

Just got back from the dealership: bad news. The body shop guy says the front door, and possibly the rear door, is misaligned. Really bad news: In order to get to the front door bolts, they have to remove the front fender.

Fabulous.

Well Bob, I'm sorry to hear that. I guess you just have to let them do what they need to do. It's under warranty so other than "knowing" what they had to do do there won't be any damage to worry about. When are they going to do it?