Need Help Stopping Rain Incursion @ Tailgate

[Tahoe97NC]

I have a 97 Tahoe with tailgate. Can anyone provide tips on how to resolve a water incursion problem I am having at the junction of the corner edge of the top of the tailgate where it joins the bottom of the rear window? The problem area is where the tailgate & window meet the seal on the side of the rear opening.

My local Chevy dealer has replaced all the seals and is continuing to struggle to resolve this for me. Water appears to be able to flow over the top of the tailgate seal at the edge and down the inside of the tailgate into the rear of the truck.

I have a great truck in outstanding shape, looks great but this leak is creating all sorts of problems. I have had to toss the original carpet pad and a replacement pad due to water.

Help!

 

[MarkD51]

I've never had a drop of intrusion on my 97 Tahoe, but that of course isn't helping you with your problem, is it?

I assume you have what's referred to as the Tailgate, and Lift Glass, correct, not the Ambulance style doors.

If it's coming in at the sides of the Tailgate, there is also a rubber gasket-pad underneath, and at the bottom of the Black Corner Trim Pieces.

The Trim Pieces are easily removed with a Nut Driver, and removed.

There you will see these two rubber gasket pads I mention.

I took these pieces off my own Tahoe about 5 months ago, when I was doing a full blown detail, paint correction, and not leaving any stones unturned.

I found quite a bit of dirt intrusion at this area, and perhaps this was evidence from washing, and rainstorms over the years, that water-dirt will enter at this area.

These pads sit pretty much right above the rear tail light housings.
Hope this helps, and might be worth checking?
Mark

 

[Tahoe97NC]

Thanks Mark. I will check this out first thing in the am. Yes I do have the lift glass, no barn doors. If you look at each end of the top of the tailgate there are the large rubber end caps that form the 3 way seal between the liftglass, tailgate, and side seal. My theory is that the water is sneaking in over the top of these endcaps since it is not real tight with the liftglass. If I could just get it down to a trickle I could live with it. I put down a bead of silicone caulk tonight on the top of that endcap to see if that tightens things up a bit. Will also check your spot as well as this could be helping the water back up into these endcap seals.

Jeff

 

[MarkD51]

Hello again,
I'm going by memory here, sitting in the bedroom right now, clicking away at the Laptop.

But my "memory" should be a good one, since I've owned my '97 Tahoe a good 16 years now. I am the original owner, and ordered my Tahoe, and received it in the fall of '96.

The long rubber seal that runs across the top of the Tailgate should also be sealing, even though the Lift Glass somewhat overlaps this Gasket.
There should be a positive seal at this area also.

As far as I can recall, and know, there is basically no door Jamb adjustments on the Tahoe, unless one starts to monkey with Hinge Bolts, and even then, I'm unsure of how much adjustability they have? (My Door Hinges are all also RTV Caulked from the factory)

And as for any latch, or latch striker pin adjustments on the rear tailgate, or the lift glass, of this I am totally unsure? I never felt a need to investigate, because as I've said, this is something I've never personally experienced.

Does the Tailgate, and Lift Glass appear to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, like all lines up correctly? Can you possibly examine someone else's Tahoe-Suburban locally, to compare?

Over the years, I've been pretty meticulous of maintaining all rubber weatherstripping-gasketing on the truck, and the only rubber pieces I ever replaced, were the Rubber hood stops, and rubber side hood stops, about a year ago as they were getting a bit cruddy looking.

As for any possible need for parts, LMC Truck does carry virtually all parts for the Tahoe, and will send a free catalog in the event you may think you need some additional parts-weatherstripping.

I honestly don't recall there being any weatherstripping seal between the sides of the Lift Glass, and the Black Corner Trim Pieces?
There is none, is there?

Thus, I would imagine if rain, or water sprayed directly at this seam area between Lift Glass, and Black Corner Trim Pieces, the water has nowhere to go but straight down basically. And if that Rubber Weatherstrip Gasket Seal on the Tailgate does not butt tightly against the rear body sides in the jamb area, then I imagine water would continue to seep downward, and possibly to the tailgate jamb area, and carpet.

Let me ask this question?

Does your Tailgate appear to properly close flush, and tight? Or does it look like it should maybe close further? Those two little weatherstrip Tabs on either side of the top of the Tailgate should butt up against the body, creating a seal at this point.

(I'm sorry if my post here seems to jog back and forth, seems I somehow screwed up typing it, and hope you can make sense of what I have written)

Hope you get this issue resolved, Mark

 

[Tahoe97NC]

Mark,

Thanks again for the comments. I purchased my 1st set of replacement seals from LMC about 3 weeks ago. Installed all of them and then threw in the towel when I couldn't resolve the leaking. Took it to Chevy who promptly tossed the after market seals and installed OEM seals which reduced the leaking but did not eliminate it. Now I am about $450 into it! Realized I had water getting under the bubble gasket seal (that is the one that wraps around the entire opening and comes together at the bottom of the floor bed) and flowing down and into the truck. I suspect I had this problem with the original seal for many years. Didn't realize this until I removed the plastic trim piece on the rear of the floor bed and felt the padding underneath, soaking wet and stinking.

To address water getting under the bubble gasket seal, Chevy packed the inside with silicone, installed it again, and ran a bead of silicone caulk around the entire outside of that seal where it makes contact with the body. This will prevent any water flowing down the left and right vertical channels from getting under this seal, over the metal flange that it holds onto, and into the truck. This corrective action seemed to have worked as no water appears to be flowing in through that pathway.

So what remains as the only point of entry that I can find is at the junction of tailgate, liftglass, and rear opening bubble gasket seal. You are correct, these all come together nicely but in my case not completely.

When closed, the liftglass is not absolutely flush with the vehicle. sticks out about 1/8th of an inch or slightly more. I noticed this when I first installed the bubble gasket seal around the entire rear opening but assumed it was due to the robustness of the new gasket vs the flat 16 yr old one I pulled out of there. The fact that the liftglass is not totally flush prevents a solid closure on top of that tailgate edge seal where it butts up against the rear opening bubble gasket.

So last night I put down a bead of silicone just on top of that tailgate edge seal to give it some more height and hopefully seal off that entry point when the liftglass closes. Seemed to have helped when I tested it this morning but I am still seeing water coming in right where that tailgate edge seal tapers off into that thin rubber strip that rises up on the rear opening bubble gasket. I just put a little more silicone onto that spot and will give it some time to cure and then will test it again tomorrow am.

I believe I am making progress, not the way I would have liked, but hopefully will get dry and stay dry.

Took delivery of my '97 in Texas in October, 1996. Original owner. Best vehicle I have ever owned. 175,000 miles or so at the moment. I've taken great care of it.

Jeff

 

[lesterl]

Have you checked hinges for wear and latch mech also?

 

[Beeker702]

Make sure everything is still aligned right. Over the years things can move and that could bathe cause of your leak as well. Sometimes it's always simples things. Always keep that in mind too

 

[Tahoe97NC]

I also thought the liftglass may be slightly out of alignment on the right side (a bit higher than the left) as that is where I have the water incursion issue. To check this I dropped the tailgate and removed the hydraulic piston from the right side and let the liftglass down. I then loosened the two bolts holding the right liftglass hinge to the roof and observed the alignment of the liftglass. As expected, the top edge of the liftglass dropped down slightly to fall in line with the body of the truck. I tried to force the hinge back further toward the rear hoping it would find a new location that would allow closer contact of the liftglass with the tailgate seal. Unfortunately when I re-tightened the two bolts holding the liftglass hinge to the roof, the top of the liftglass rose up again. I believe this is the cause of the poor seal with the right side tailgate seal. We'll see if my silicone caulk addition tightens things up for me.

J

 

[Tahoe97NC]

Thanks to everyone who tried to provide some guidance on this issue. I believe given the age of my Tahoe and the new seals, the liftglass is just not settling in as tight as before and the alignment is slightly off, allowing the lower right corner to be slightly higher than the lower left corner where it meets the tailgate.

My test for integrity was to put a garden hose up on the roof facing to the rear and turning it on to provide constant flow, not deluge style, but moderate flow. Simply too much volume to flow down the openings available at the edge of the tailgate which in turn puts pressure against that flimsy tailgate seal where it makes contact with the rear opening bubble gasket.

With the addition of some silicone caulk on the top of the right tail gate seal, I was able to close the gap but not 100% sealed unfortunately. So I have been forced to fall back on the approach that Larry the Cable guy would take, putting down a strip of black plastic tape to cover the gap across the entire top frame of the liftglass where it aligns with the roof. This will allow all rain water to shoot over the top of the liftglass and into oblivion as opposed to down into that gap and toward the side channels that run down to the left and right sides of the tailgate. This will significantly limit the amount of water that can get to my problem area. We'll see if this works in the next thunderstorm.

Thanks to all for the comments.

J

 

[MarkD51]

My Tahoe sits covered basically 24/7 now, with a Covercraft NOAH Cover upon it, I drive my crapbox 2001 Kia Spectra mostly, as the Tahoe drinks dead Dinosaurs like they're going out of style.

But when I detailed the entire Tailgate area some months back, I went places where I've never been before on the truck, and did some disassembly of things like the Tailgate Carpeted Plastic Cover, went inside, lubed, cleaned to my heart's content.

I didn't stop until I was satisfied all was clean, and back the way it should be. I spent 5-6 hours just on the tailgate area.

I also removed that long Rubber Seal Weatherstrip that seals the Top of the Lift Glass where it meets the top of the Roof. This was an SOB to both remove, and re-install. Any impatience would've ripped this seal, and I had noted it had cut out notches where the two Lift Glass Hinges are located.

I suppose this could be another area for water intrusion, and a ton of it, right from the roof, going back to this seal, and leaking straight down into the truck. Any rain, or water from washing, going down the road, and straight back this water will go, at this junction of the top of ther Tailgate Glass, and the Roof.

Have you checked this Weatherstrip Seal also?

I took all Gaskets, any parts, washed all down with APC, water, dried, and treated every plastic, and rubber part with Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant from AutoGeek-Autopia.
Great stuff, those rubber seals felt soft, pliable, and looked like new when I got through.

I'm a stickler on little details like this, and having owned Cars like 1967 Stingrays, and 1968 SS396 Camaros, I pay attention to such little details, and enjoy the detailing hobby.

BTW, my Tahoe has 39.000 and a little change on the Odometer. I think I've taken better care of this vehicle, than the two cars I mention above.

 

[Tahoe97NC]

You have the nicest one I have ever seen at this age! I also removed that seal at the top of the liftglass and replaced it with a new LMC after market seal. Not sure what it is sealing except the liftglass when it is raised. Otherwise it seems to perform no function at all. Unless there is some magic adjustment on the alignment of the liftglass, I am stuck with the remedy described above. My Chevy dealer has thrown in the towel on this as well. No obvious solution.
J

 

[MarkD51]

Been monkeying with my Tahoe the past couple days.
Yanked the step bumper, stripped off all trim, license lights, used a rust remover first on the inside, then painted in the inside with chrome paint. Bumper was waxed with Collinite Metal Wax, and I replaced the long top step pad, had seen better days. Looking much better, short of a total rear bumper replacement.

But getting back on topic, and looking again at my tailgate to refresh my memory, the only area on the vehicle I see that "might" have adjustability, is the two Strike Pins on the rear body quarter jambs which the tailgate latches to.

These have a large female Torx-Spline on the Studs. One pin on each side. I see no adjustability on the latch in the tailgate which holds down the lift glass
I would assume the tighter the tailgate is, the tighter, and closer the lift glass will be when closed.

Problem is, these might be just like the strikers on the side doors, which I found some years back have no adjustability when loosened. Some vehicles do have the ability to move the pin around up-down-in-out, then be retightened. Not sure about these though? I never toyed with mine, as there was never a need to.

Again, I note nothing in the way of a weatherstripping around the lift glass on my truck, zero, except for that piece that runs along the rood where it meets the lift glass.
Mark

 

[Tahoe97NC]

Thanks Mark. I am stuck with running black tape across the top of the lift glass where it meets the roofline. This prevents any water running down the channels of the roof from dropping into the gap between the roofline and the liftglass and then flowing to the side channels and down either side of the liftglass. Hopefully this will keep the backflow pressure down which should help keep the water from wanting to run under the seal or through the meeting point of the tailgate and liftglass by the jams.

I have no other options at this time. Just a poor design as it applies to adjustability.
Jeff

 

[bsw1999TahoeSport]

Hello. I have been searching high and low for someone with this issue. I have water entering the rear upper portion of the endgate - between the window and the corner portion of the upper endgate water seal on my 1999 Tahoe Sport. The only thing I notice is that the tail gate seems to be slightly lower on that side. I have changed all of the seals to GM components and I still have a slight gap. Has anyone experienced this or know of a fix? Can the rear endgate be adjusted or shimmed?