The difficulties in opening and closing a sport utility vehicle (SUV) tailgate is important aspect of JD (James David) power’s Initial Quality Survey (IQS) assessment, and affective quality has a big impact on the the success of thesedays products. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the perceived difficulty and satisfaction of customers by the opening and closing of the tailgate and to grasp the relationship between them and the opening and closing reaction force. The mechanical force required to open and close 42 domestic and overseas SUV tailgates was measured with the help of an auto company. In the experiment, 100 male drivers in their 20s to 50s evaluated perceived difficulty and satisfaction with opening and closing the tailgate. The results of the analysis showed that perceived difficulty and satisfaction were statistically different depending on the vehicle, but did not depend on the personal characteristics of the participants. The perceived difficulty and satisfaction regression model of tailgate opening and closing was developed by mechanical force variables and had a relatively high adjusted R2 ranging from 0.62 to 0.73. The models showed that the the initial close and open force, the difference between initial and maximum close force and the difference between initial and auto-fall angle should be small for the low perceived exertion and high satisfaction. In addition, the correlation analysis between IQS score of tailages and perceived difficulty and satisfaction showed that the IQS scores were more related to the perceived difficulty and satisfaction of closing than those of opening. The results of the study will be helpful to design and test mechanical open and close structure of SUV tailgates.

This study aimed to evaluate the perceived exertion and satisfaction in opening and closing SUV tailgates and explain them with the mechanical force. The study measured the mechanical open and close force for 42 SUV tailgates and evaluated perceived exertion and satisfaction of opening and closing with 100 male participants from 20’s to 50’s. The regression models of perceived exertion and satisfaction showed that small initial closing and opening force, difference between initial and maximum closing force and difference between initial and auto-fall angle have positive effect. The results of the study will be helpful to design and test mechanical open and close structure of SUV tailgates.