[Tsuter]

Is there a way to adjust the opening height of the rear lift gate? My Q7 has a procedure to adjust how far the lift gate opens, so I assume the Pacifica does as well, but I don't see anything in the manual. Anybody have any insight into this?

Thank you,
Tom

 

[BRLowry]

I've not found any way to control the height of the liftgate, other than stopping it manually.

 

[Tsuter]

That's what I'm seeing too. Seems odd to me. I would think it'd be a simple add on to the lift feature. I see the Sedona offers such an adjustment too, I'm really surprised it's not a common thing on the minivan set. My q7 is 10 years older and has the feature. I assumed the Chrysler folks would've included the adjustment as well. Oh well. Minor quibbles... At least until the door mashes the underside of the garage door.

 

[BRLowry]

Thankfully, mine stops just short of hitting the underside of the garage door.

 

[kahala74]

I wondered the same thing as my Pacifica Limited power liftgate hits the top of the garage door frame. I looked that the Owner's Manual but didn't find anything regarding adjustments to the liftgate height. I previously had a Honda Odyssey that had a height adjustment for the power liftgate, which came in handy for my garage as well as the garage at work (with exposed hanging pipe in the ceiling). Seems like such a basic feature to prevent the liftgate from hitting the ceiling of any indoor area.

If anyone has a solution, would appreciate it.

 

[ezdays]

I would suspect that it opens to the height it does so that most people wouldn't hit their heads on it when it's open. We park in the driveway, so there's no problem with ours bumping into anything.

In these litigious times, I can see the TV ads, "bump you head on a Pacifica tailgate? Call us, you could be due a sizable sum of money".... Half the ads on TV new days are about lawyers suing some company on you behalf.

 

[Boomage]

From everyone I asked, the tailgate height can not be adjusted. I put the van in my garage on my test drive and the door hit my garage door. It lifts about 3 inches too high. Gonna have to keep the rear wheels out when loading/unloading.

 

[Tsuter]

Well I'm going to find a way to limit mine. My better half had an incident where she drove in reverse with the gate opened with the van still in the garage, wiper arm caught the door and crash, no more back window.
I'm not blaming the manufacturer for the operator error, but I was just thinking to myself earlier in the week that I'm sure an adjustment can be made in the lifting mechanism to limit the height and that I would look into it this weekend. I was about one day too late. But the good part is there is no additional damage other than the glass and nobody got hurt.
I'll keep you all posted on what I figure out.

 

[BrettP]

Some information on the Powerise linear drive unit used on our Pacifica liftgate. It is made in Mexico by Stabilus (a German company).

From their website...
<<<<<
POWERISE systems from STABILUS are a technical symbiosis of gas springs and electrical drives. POWERISE allows the trunks of cars to be opened or closed with a remote control. And, the lid can be stopped in any intermediate position. A sensor system is integrated in the POWERISE drive that reliably eliminates safety risks due to improper operation.
>>>>
Home

I haven't found an installation manual or data sheet yet for the Powerise units but I am still looking. I'm sure it is available somewhere.

 

[Tsuter]

Thanks for the info. Once the glass gets replaced I'll dig into the mechanism. I'm assuming it's similar to the previous gen vans, but it could be different. Looks like stabilus makes a few different power rise units with different configurations. I'm assuming a sensor can be relocated, or some other way to limit the top of travel stop, but I'll post what I find. I'm still peeved that Chrysler can't set it up with an adjustable limit similar to what my 9 year older Audi Q7 has. First world problems, I know.

 

[fastm3driver]

Following. I just noticed this yesterday and figured there was a setting. I spent time going through every menu with no luck and ended up here. My last BMW x3 had a setting. Maybe the limit switch can be moved.

 

[generaltso]

Mine actually continues to open about a half inch after the motor stops. If it weren't for that extra half inch, I'd be fine. But that's just enough for it to lightly tap the threshold of my garage door.

 

[Tsuter]

Following. I just noticed this yesterday and figured there was a setting. I spent time going through every menu with no luck and ended up here. My last BMW x3 had a setting. Maybe the limit switch can be moved.

I didn't see anywhere there is a limit switch. It appears to be a self contained actuator that doesn't have a limit switch, but instead it is limited by the stroke of the cylinder or if it hits an object.
I'm sure the actuator could be swapped out or modified somehow, but I wasn't going to tear mine apart to try and figure it out.

 

[BrettP]

Mine actually continues to open about a half inch after the motor stops. If it weren't for that extra half inch, I'd be fine. But that's just enough for it to lightly tap the threshold of my garage door.

After the motor on the passenger side stops running the door continues coasting up until the gas-shock-strut-arm on the other side (driver's side) actually stops it controlling the final height. About an inch on mine. I wonder if the driver's side bracket is adjustable.

 

[generaltso]

I wonder if the driver's side bracket is adjustable.

Good thought. If we could limit the extra travel of the gas shock arm, we wouldn't have to try to mess with limiting the motor at all.

 

[BrettP]

Yeah, just observing mine I think that even if we shorten the time the motor runs it would still end up coasting the last part... being pushed up by the gas-shock-arm "spring" on the driver's side to exactly the same height as before where the gas shock arm is fully extended.

Adjusting the driver's side gas-shock-arm length or bracket location would need to be a very slight change to ensure the motor always turns off first and never powers against the physical limit of the gas-shock-arm travel.

Because the motor stays on so long, I think adjusting the bracket slightly would help only people whose door just barely touches in the garage where a quarter to half inch lowering of height would make all the difference. If we could shut off the motor earlier (repair manual intimates this might be possible) AND also shorten the gas-strut-shock arm length (or adjust bracket geometry) then we would have a general fix for people needing two or three inches of reduced height.

 

[generaltso]

this type of mod would help only people whose door just barely touches in garage where a quarter to half inch lowering of height would make all the difference.

I fall into this category. But not sure how easy it will really be to limit that gas shock.

 

[Mars_D]

I fall into this category. But not sure how easy it will really be to limit that gas shock.

As do I. The ladies' Escape has this problem, but of course we can set the limit lower on that vehicle. :|

 

[generaltso]

As do I. The ladies' Escape has this problem, but of course we can set the limit lower on that vehicle. :|

Yep, our Explorer's lift height was customization. Ironically, we didn't have to change it because it didn't hit the garage opening at full height. My Cherokee doesn't hit either. But the Pacifica does.

 

[BrettP]

I fall into this category. But not sure how easy it will really be to limit that gas shock.

There's those two funky bolts where the bracket attaches to the liftgate and, once loosened, the bracket may slide enough to gain 1/4 inch...maybe, or existing bracket holes could be drilled/elongated if you are equipped and inclined. If someone were to try this I'd suggest taking a sharpie and tracing the outline of the bracket before loosening the bolts, haha, just in case it is VERY adjustable and you need to return to the original location.


I'm just throwing out ideas here. Our Pacifica has never been in the garage because that's MY man-cave and I don't allow my wife's dirty ol' minivans in MY space. > The rest of the house, of course, belongs to her.