Bought my av in Jan 02, never had the tailgate fall until this weekend. Had my v-nose trailer hooked up & the trailer jack interferes with the tailgate (too close to allow the tailgate to fully deploy). Apparently I didn't close it fully due to the awkwardness of accessing the bed while holding the tailgate off the jack crank, & it fell when I turned into a lot. No real damage as the cladding is what hit the jack handle. The pilot(me) then turned sharply to put the rig in position to determine what the loud "cluck" of the falling tailgate was, and proceeded to jam the tailgate towards the bed. My special vehicle is now just a truck. The trailer won the battle as the tailgate now would not close. Removed it, stowed it in the trailer for the rest of the weekend. Some judicious work with the hammer, vise and pry bar managed to bend everything back into shape at least to make it function. We'll see if there are any long term effects.
Score is currently Haulmark 1 Avalanche 0