Manual Tailgate Latch After Total Loss

[Novalax]

Hey all,

Is there any way to open the tailgate manually if there's a manual tonneau cover installed when you can't get power to the tailgate? I know there's emergency latches/buttons for the frunk and gear tunnel, but I couldn't figure out the tailgate.

Unfortunately, someone ran a stop sign and totaled my R1T. When I tried to retrieve the items by powering the 12V with a battery pack, everything was able to be opened on the left side and frunk, but my right gear tunnel and tailgate had a red error for unlocking. I tried pushing the tailgate in hard based on previous threads, but had no luck.

I assume this is because the majority of the impact was on the right fender. The tailgate button sounded like it tried to open, but I assume it won't open because only the left side of the vehicle has power.

I mostly just want to retrieve my tonneau cover rather than deal with the pain of insurance reimbursement, but don't want to damage the vehicle further as it's a total loss.

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[Killer95Stang]

It's mechanically locked due to the damage. Something shifted or bent out of place, which is keeping the latch from unlatching. This happens in any truck and isn't specific to any vehicle with an electronic latching mechanism. If t we're mine and it was a total loss, I would take a pry bar and pry that side of the tailgate open.... I would also take the spare while I was in there.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Gen1 latches have manual pull releases, but it's a really long reach from under the truck after pulling underbody panels. Not sure about Gen2 at all.

 

[impulsoren]

Also if you had to use the rear jumper leads to open the vehicle, those only go to the primary (left side) battery if you have an early Gen 1 with two batteries. You would need to connect the jumper pack to both batteries in order to get the right side latch to also activate.

 

[Novalax]

Thanks for all the help! It is a gen 1. I initially tried from the hitch, but then was able to get the frunk open where I jumped from there. The screen was able to boot up with the pack from the front trunk. Did I miss something when connecting to the 12v to not get the right side open?

 

[impulsoren]

Did you connect the jumper pack to both the driver and passenger side battery positive terminals under the frunk? My understanding is that the batteries are not linked and jumping the primary only powers the drivers side. You could connect the jumper pack pack to the primary then one jumper cable from primary to secondary positive as they share a ground. Or use two jumper packs.

edit: I do not know potential repercussions of powering up both sides at the same time using one power source. Obviously they are designed to be completely separate but in the event of it being a total loss, either it works and opens the tailgate or it doesn’t and the tailgate remains closed and the vehicle is a total loss with something somewhere fried.

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