2019 Raptor Tailgate / Taillight Alignment

Just picked up a leftover 2019 Raptor about a week ago and noticed the paint on the lower left side of the tailgate was missing. I investigated further, and the driver side of the tailgate hinge has no gap and the hinge screw is gouging the sheet metal on the tailgate. The driver side taillight lens has a nearly 3/8” gap on the right side tapering down to nothing on the left side of the light.

I also own a 2019 F250, and the tailgate has even 1/4” gap on either side at the hinges, so I know something definitely isn’t right on the Raptor.

I was hoping some other forum member could give some insight or maybe take some pictures of their driver side taillight. You wouldn’t think the taillight gaps would vary this much from driver to passenger side, but I could be wrong. I’m bringing it to the dealer tomorrow, so I just want to get an idea what’s normal and what’s not.

Thanks

Is this brand new or used? I'm guessing it was crashed. When taking photos, take them from a distance and than get closer, it's hard to get a perspective with just close ups.

Oof, something is off. Take it back to the dealer, tomorrow. At least to let them see what's up.

Don S said:

Is this brand new or used? I'm guessing it was crashed. When taking photos, take them from a distance and than get closer, it's hard to get a perspective with just close ups.

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Brand new leftover. It definitely was never crashed. There are no signs of repair, overspray, wrinkled metal, etc. There’s actually a thread in this forum with pics of the exact same tailgate rubbing issue I have, and the taillight looks misaligned in a similar way too. I’m just curious if a lot of Raptors are the same way. I’d really rather not have them cutting up the sheet metal around the tail lights, so if it’s just crappy Ford quality unrelated to tailgate issue, I’ll just live with it and have them fix tailgate. I would probably be the only one who ever noticed anyway. Lord knows I’ve seen the crappy quality control before on my f250 and Mustang.

You can see the very beginning of the paint coming off here. This is after first waxing after picking up truck the night before. The truck had just come home from the dealer and I hadn’t had a chance to open it more than once or twice. Paint was gone in a week from that spot .

Check this thread out. It's happened to a few of us.

https://www.fordraptorforum.com/threads/tailgate-alignment.61014/