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Old 08-29-2010, 04:38 PM   #1
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Question Tailgate gasket

My 2007 Avalanche has a gasket along the bottom and sides of the cargo box that seals with inside of the tailgate when it is up (or raised, or closed, or latched, or whatever term you may use). The gasket very easily detaches from the edge of the cargo box along the bottom. I have to push it back into place almost every time I use the tailgate. If you have encountered this problem and found a way to repair it that worked well please post what you did to fix it.
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Old 08-30-2010, 11:36 AM   #2
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Re: Tailgate gasket

I as well have a 2007 but do not have issues with this seal....... yet. First off I would remove the seal completely and inspect it closely for any damage that may have occurred to it. Also check inside the groove in the seal that slips over the lip where it is held in place and make sure nothing has accumulated in this groove. Also check in this same groove if you can feel if there is any metal clips inside of the rubber in the groove that assists in holding the seal onto the edge. If there is any, it is possible that when removing something out of the bed of the truck at some time that it could have hooked onto the edge of the seal pulling it off and damaging (opened up) one of those metal clips. By simply squeezing this clip back together with a pair of pliers, carefully so you do not damage the rubber seal, should solve the problem. If there is no metal clips you could go one of two ways. You could buy a replacement seal or you could use either clear silicone or weatherstrip adhesive and glue it back in place. Just be sure if you choose to adhere it back in place to clean both surfaces well. I would put the adhesive into the groove of the seal rather than onto the edge it slips onto to prevent from getting which ever adhesive you use from getting all over the seal. Good luck.
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Old 08-30-2010, 06:42 PM   #3
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Re: Tailgate gasket

Kenny,
Thanks for the prompt reply. Everything that you wrote looks like great advice. After reading it I took a closer look at the seal. The plastic panels on the vertical sides of the cargo box help to hold and protect the part of the gasket that seals the sides of the cargo box to the tailgate. I decided not to remove the gasket completely because removing it from the rear edge of the cargo box floor was very easy. This part of the seal frequently detaches with normal use of the tailgate. I could easily inspect and access the groove of the seal that slips over the edge of the box floor while leaving the vertical ends of the it attached the box sides. It looked like it might be difficult to remove the cargo box side panels. The vertical part of the gasket is still very secure and seals well so I decided that I might do more harm than good if I tried to completely remove it. The gasket looks very good. It's not damaged, or cracked, or brittle. There was very little dirt and grime in the groove; far too little for that to be the problem. The gasket appears to fit properly, it just doesn't stay in place. The very little bit of "grime" that I did find was sticky, like adhesive. Since the rubber is very pliable I could easily feel that there are no metal clips integrated into the seal. I bought my Avalanche a year ago and within days I noticed that the seal didn't stay in place. I'm not the original owner so it's quite possible that the seal was originally detached by dragging something heavy out of the bed. The design of the rear edge of the cargo box and this seal could probably be better because I see how this could have easily happened. If that is what happened then I would expect to find some damage on the inside of the groove. If there is any damage I can't find it. Since there is no metal retainer integrated into the seal, perhaps there were separate metal clips that fit into the groove? If there were such clips they were lost before I got the vehicle. I don't think that there were separate clips because the paint that is covered by the gasket when it's in place doesn't have any scratches that such clips typically make. I think I'm going to follow your suggestion to use weather strip adhesive. That was recommended most on the other forums that I checked. Some indicated that 3M makes a good weather strip adhesive, part number 08008 for black. When I bought the vehicle it was obvious that the cargo box had not been used very much. My best guess is that the seal is supposed to be adhered and that somehow during manufacture the adhesive was not applied. After I get some adhesive and apply it, let's give it a few weeks of normal use and then I'll post the results.
Thanks again for your input.
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Old 09-01-2010, 09:35 AM   #4
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Re: Tailgate Gasket Seal

I was wrong about some things in my previous post that Kenny was spot on in his. The plastic side panels in the cargo box DO NOT hold the vertical lengths of the tailgate seal in place. They do provide a little protection for the gasket however the edge of the panels easily flex to allow the entire gasket to be easily removed. Once I had it completely off I could see into the groove better and I did end up finding a little more debris in the area that has been detaching. I still don't think there was enough to keep the gasket from staying in place. Once I had the gasket completely removed I was able to press the groove closed a bit more. This makes me think that there is indeed some metal integrated into the rubber. The outside of the seal does look like those that do have integrated metal clips. If there is metal inside then it is way too easy to bend to be very effective. Although the seal looks to be in good shape maybe I do need a new one? After squeezing the groove closed as much as I could it did hold onto the edge of the cargo box a little better. The hold still wasn't nearly firm enough to give me confidence that it would stay in place. I took it off again, applied a small bead of 3M adhesive to the inside of the groove and put it back in place. I'll report back after a couple of months of normal use; sooner if I have problems with it.
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Old 11-20-2010, 08:44 AM   #5
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Re: Tailgate gasket

A couple of months have passed so it's time for me to report. The 3M adhesive has worked great! The gasket hasn't move since I applied it over two months ago. Yesterday I was hauling some very heavy metal items and while dragging one out it hung on the gasket and pulled about 4" of it out of place. I pushed it back into place and I don't anticipate any problem until something else that I'm dragging out gets snagged on the gasket.

I wish Chevy would improve the design of the cargo box near the tailgate. Becasue of the way that the edge of the gasket is an exposed part of the cargo box floor I must be very careful every time I drag anything out of the cargo box and onto the tailgate. If the gasket was positioned such that it was under the rear edge of the cargo box floor and protected this would not be an issue.
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Old 11-20-2010, 09:42 PM   #6
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Re: Tailgate gasket

Glad to hear things worked out well and inexpensive in the end.
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6" Pro Comp lift
305/55/20 BFG A/T KO'S
K&N FIPK GENII
Flo Pro V force muffler & 4" slash cut stainless tips
Color matched front and rear Bowties
3" polished stainless bull bar and Nerf bars
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