Chevy Tailgate

[MikePA]

Any one ever take one apart?

I noticed the other day the pin on the driver's side doesn't come out far enough to engage the latch. So, the only thing that holds the tailgate up is the passenger side pin. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

Well, I did some further investigating and found out what caused this problem. When I took off the tailgate protector it was obvious when I looked down at the gap between the bed and the tailgate. It looked like |).

We have a gooseneck horse trailer. I think you know where this is going. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] We keep the truck, with the tailgate down, parked under the gooseneck for easy hook up.

Seems a while ago, my bride tried to drive away WITH THE TAILGATE UP!. Sigh. Guess I will be calling some junkyards to see if they have a tailgate. I lubricated the mechanism enough to get the pin to come out a little more and latch. Not as good as the passenger side, but latched at any rate.

BTW, I discovered that I can not get inside the tailgate without removing spot welds. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[RobS]

Shoulda bought a Ford Mike [img]/forums/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img]

Just kidding but I did have the same problem with my Ford recently. Too many things dropped on the open tailgate caused it to bow just a little too much. It has an inner cover that unscrews so I was able to get in there and "straighten things up a bit".

In your case, if you are already headed to the salvage yard, perhaps some gentle persuasion in the opposite direction could bring some life back to it. Try backing into a non-moveable object (slowly), or wrap a strap around the whole thing (vertically) and pull from within the bed.

If you want to only pull the inner panel in some, drill some holes and put some screws in to pull on. A come-a-long is great for pulling body panels into place [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Stoneheartfarm]

I just hold mine closed with a piece of rope. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]

Steve

[Pat]

I'm sorry, but I thought that was clearly an application for bailing wire! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Stoneheartfarm]

Bailing wire isn't springy enough. I like mine to bounce a little bit when I'm going down the road. Keeps people from following too close. (well, some people. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img] )

Steve

[Al_Wa]

Mike, remove the tailgate entirley, lightning can strike twice in the same place. Start a thread on better mileage with the tailgate removed.

[Brimfield]

havnt tried it but Jc Whitney now sells the replacement handle and actuator for tail gates