The GMC MultiPro Tailgate is a 6-way tailgate that was introduced on the 2019 GMC Sierra 1500 in 2018. Three years later, not a whole lot has changed and while the tailgate does offer quite a bit more utility than a normal tailgate, the frustrations we had when first testing it are still there. There’s a specific order the tailgate has to be opened for certain uses to work, and it can be a bit awkward to use at times when trying to close multiple steps and tailgates on a variety of different hinges. Is it useful utility, a marketing gimmick to sell more trucks or a mixture of both? Take a look at the video above and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Transcript[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: I am here with the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4. And this Sierra just happens to come with GMC's MultiPro Tailgate, which is just a little more interesting and more special than normal tailgate. First off, you can open the tailgate with the key fob. Now, unlike the Chevy Silverado, you can't raise the tailgate back up with the key fob, but it's not that heavy that you can't do it yourself.
The other thing with this truck, and this tailgate specifically, is we got two buttons here. Bottom button lowers the tailgate just like you saw earlier. Normal top button, lowers this section of the tailgate. Now this specific part of the tailgate, they call it the work station. I don't know too many people who work out of the back of their pickup truck, but I'm sure there are some people. And so you can throw your laptop up here, and it's just great height. Kind of like a standing desk.
The other thing you can do is lift up the back, and this will prevent anything, like sheets of plywood or two by fours, from falling out of the back of the tailgate. Next, what you can do is press that bottom button again. Lift the same thing up here. And now you've got somewhat of a bed extender, that way you can have the tailgate open and still have a stopping point for stuff in the back so it doesn't roll out.
Hit that top button yet again, and now we have a step. This step is rated for 375 pounds. I wish it was rated for a bit more. Pickup trucks, you're usually climbing up, carrying stuff. So a little bit more of a weight rating there would be nice.
We also have a USB and an AUX input here. As well as power, and the volume and seek buttons there so you can plug-in some music. We got speakers here and here.
Close the step up, and you also have a way to reach further into the bed than you would if you just had the tailgate open. So here, limited range. Press that button, and you got a little bit more of a reach. One thing I don't like is you have to open things in a specific way. So I just open this and I want to open the bottom part now, and it's not letting me, which is a little bit frustrating. So you actually have to close it, do this part first, and then this part. It does take some finagling. It doesn't take long to figure it out, but it's not intuitive right away.
The other thing is when everything is open just like this, it's a little weird closing things up. So if I just want to close the step, it seems like the tailgate itself wants to close. And if I want to close everything, it's a little awkward, but I think that's just what comes with having that extra utility. So, yeah, that's the MultiPro Tailgate on the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4.
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