My outside tailgate VENT FLAPS fell apart?
 

Has anyone else had a problem with the rubber flaps that cover the ventilation fins on the outside of their tailgate. All of mine have fallen off (one by one)hese little thin flat rectangle shape pieces on the floor of my garage but never notice where they were coming from, untill Bingo! I saw my rear vent obviously missing something.

My jeep is only 5 years old and garage kept. There is no good reason these rubber flaps should have degraded like.

Has any one elso come acress this problem and if so what did you do about it?

It's a Chrysler product

Mine came off like 2 years ago I didn't do anything about it. I was thinking of buying a new vent thingy but the same thing is gonna happened and so far it hasn't affected me in anyway lol

You can cover it with a Poison Spyder Tramp Stamp. or something similar.

yep!
 

I just realized I had the same problem. I have an 08 2dr. The last time I drove down a dust road, I noticed that the inside of the jeep got really dusty, especially the tailgate area. I didn't think anything of it, I had the front doe windows down. I figured it just collected there. The other day I washed the jeep ant one of those coin operated car washes ( first time in a long time, I just bought new tires and wheels and was about to have them installed so wanted to take a few photos of it ). I saw water inside the tailgate area. I figured it was just a leak in the top, plush I had used the pressure washer on the tailgate. I went home and removed my spare so I would have a place to mount the new spare. A little rectangular piece of grey rubber fell onto the ground. I wondered what it was. I couldn't figure it out. After I got home with my new tires and wheels I took of the spare to install some home made bump stops on the tailgate. Another piece of rubber fell to the ground. This got me looking and I noticed the tailgate vent was missing all the rubber flaps. Mystery solved. That's where the water and dirt was coming from. The little rubber flaps were gummy and just fell apart. More Mercedes quality. Gotta love that German engineering. Hahaha. Guess I have to buy a new one.

Someone gave me one because he didn't like the way you have to jerry-rig it to work. It's actually not designed for that purpose and doesn't fit properly. You have to drill some holes to make it fit. On top of that, because of the Poison Spyder logo, it doesn't seal the opening, which could be a problem if you ford streams (I do). I ended up also giving it away, and just bought a replacement vent. Wasn't very expensive, though I don't recall price. If someone wants a more permanent solution, I'd recommend buy the metal, cut and drill, and screw into place with sealer to prevent water leakage into the tailgate area.

I will say that I know when my flaps came off: When I hit them with the water from the local car wash. So now I avoid doing that, and hope it lasts a little longer before falling apart.

https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/...40096578_n.jpg

MOPAR Exhauster For Tailgate Door 55394330AB $7.99


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There's a reason for this vent,when closing your doors it's a path for the air to get out otherwise your windshield will crack or your doors will be hard to close.As for sealing been in deep water to no leaks

Is the part # different for 2007-2009? I have an '08 and I'm going to need one in the near future

The real purpose of the tail gate vent is "flow through ventilation".
The air that comes in the front vent exits through the rear vent. Otherwise, not much air would come in the front.