Ram's Weird Dual Tailgate Appears Ready for Prime Time

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Say you’re planning on hauling items of uneven length in your next full-size pickup. Eventually, everyone does. Those extra-long pieces of lumber, a disassembled bed frame, tubing, you name it, would normally poke out the top of the bed, resting on a closed tailgate.

Not in the 2019 Ram 1500, it seems.

Spy photos of the next-generation Ram full-sizer reveal a very suspicious seam in the vehicle’s tailgate, and there should be no mystery as to what it means.

You can see the image, along with other photos, at TTAC sister site AutoGuide. Don’t be shy — click the link. The image shows a tailgate with a roughly 60/40 split, with the seam located to the right of the tailgate handle.

Ram has tinkered with trucks beds in the past, offering its novel RamBox cargo system and following Ford’s “Man Step” with one of its own. This feature, however — a split-folding tailgate that can either fold down or open up like barn doors — could make Ford and GM tailgates look antiquated by comparison.

This camouflaged test vehicle seems to be sporting a feature we first saw back in 2014, originating in a patent filed the year before. In it, the individual “doors” are actuated by touchpads, allowing an owner to leave just one side open (or down) if his load calls for it. If not needed, the tailgate can revert back to traditional form. (This Allpar post shows the proposed doors in action.)

Ram accomplishes this tailgate magic through a series of electromechanical locks. There’s a possibility that Ram omitted some of the patent’s functionality in the interest of simplicity for the production model. In that case, the doors might just fold down, together or separate.

It’s easy to see FCA offering the feature on uplevel trims of the next-gen Ram 1500, which debuts (and starts production) in January, 2018, or making it available throughout the Ram range as an option. Given the age of the patent, let’s hope FCA engineers took the time to test the long-term durability of such a crucial vehicle component.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 33 comments
  • Rudiger Rudiger on Nov 16, 2017

    This gimmick reminds me of the old GMC Envoy XUV with the sliding rear roof which was just a rehash of the old Studebaker Wagonaire station wagon. I'm thinking it will be just as popular as those two. FCA would have done better to bring back the old Chevy Avalanche folding midgate. That was actually useful.

  • Tele Vision Tele Vision on Nov 17, 2017

    Around these parts the tailgates must be up or off. Nylon flappers are legal but one can't rest anything on them. All loads have to be secured, too. A County Mountie told me to imagine my truck being held upside down: every single item that fell out was worth a ticket.

  • Syke Kinda liked the '57, hated the '58. Then again, I hated the entire '58 GM line except for the Chevrolet. Which I liked better than the '57's. Still remember dad's '58 Impala hardtop, in the silver blue that was used as the main advertising color.
  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • Ravenuer The rear view of the Eldo coupe makes it look fat!
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
Next