Dan in St. Louis

Does anyone have experience with leaving the tailgate open to a position set by manually closing it to a certain height?

In a few days I will need to carry a thin box about 87" long (new storm door). My plan would be to push the load as far forward as possible with the back seats folded. That leaves about 15" overhang. I would then wish to close the tailgate manually against the box and drive (gently!) about 4 miles to home.

Any advice? Any need to tie the tailgate down so it it does not bounce open?

Thank you!

Virginia Bill

I'd tie (or bungee) it down. No particular reason -- just general respect for the potential energy of a large, mostly metal object moving at 35 mph. I wouldn't want the tailgate forced up by that energy.

Dan in St. Louis

Sounds good.

archrenov8

Make sure to bungee or otherwise tie your load in, using the tie-down points inside the cargo area. You would be surprised how easy it is to lose something out the back from you accelerate. Been there, done that. Inertia is unrelenting.

BlurredLines

^^ This. I regularly end up with a box of goods hanging a few inches out the back end and having it strapped to the floor is a life saver. I've also found that putting something in the primary trunk area to elevate and level of the cargo to match the natural lean of the folded seats is massively beneficial. I keep a cut off pallet at work now just for these sorts of items. In addition to levelling things off, it provides a bit of protection for the trunk plate and bumper should anything start bouncing

archrenov8

Another option is to just ride with the tailgate open. It is only four miles That is what I generally do when bringing lumber home.

In my previous Avant, then just a week old, this was my first lumber run, about four slow miles.

vadar007

Do you have the auto close/open tailgate feature? If so, how did you override it so it would remain partially closed?

SMac770

Just press the close button again when it gets to the height you want to make it stop closing, no?

vadar007

Maybe, I'll have to see if the car has to be on or not when you attempt to do that. Setting the auto max height doesn't seem to work. There is a height constraint below which the setting won't take.

SMac770

You can just shove the tailgate up and down as well. I know the button stops the closing as that's how it works on my B8 avant.