How I'm fixing my flexy tailgate...

I found a guy on Custom Tacoma's (http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144576) who made a stack of these cold-rolled steel tailgate plates.



Which, as I whole, is a good solution. But not as aesthetically pleasing as I'd like. But it's about the best solution I've found. So I order one up. It comes to about $170 shipped, and it arrives in about three days.

So I pull apart my tailgate, and while there was nothing glaring, you could see a lot of bending damage.


I have no idea if those wide tabs are supposed to be bent down like that...

So the plate is almost perfect. The lip that goes over the top of the gate, that which provides the majority of the strength, is too narrow to clear the middle of the tailgate. Perhaps my tailgate already has a slight smile, or the curve of the gate is thicker at the middle, I don't know. But I ended up with a few scratches figuring this out.

I also had a hard time widening this channel so that it would be reasonable flat without too many woogies. I ended up using a block of 2x4 and a sheet of plywood. I would bang on the wood and spread wide portions of the steel gate.

I also really wanted to retain the composite decking. So I took a flap wheel and cut about 2mm off the left and right edge.


by doing this, it was really easy to mark and drill the holes in the steel. Oodly, it took me more time to drill all the holes than it did to lop off a couple of mm's with the flap wheel. (great finger placement too!)


The composite plate now fits over the top of the steel reinforcement plate, and after adjusting the the tailgate clasps, the gate closes perfectly.

Painting it is going to be the hard part because its January in Utah. The fortunate thing, is with the composite decking, only the upper-lip is visible. So the primary goal is "Not rust".

I cleaned the steel with wax/oil remover and laid down a light coat of primer. Then I found some rubberized undercoating spray and laid down a whole can of that on the bottom - the side that will be in contact with the tailgate.

The plan for tomorrow is to put down some roll-on bedliner across the upper lip. I'm also considering using some sort of liquid nails or something between the bottom of the composite decking and top of the steel plate. But part of me thinks it's not going to be necessary.

dp

 

I hate rust.
After getting it to fit, I would have removed it and did a proper primer/final paint job.
Looks good otherwise.
Glad I have a steel bed with my '01.
500 lbs. higher load capacity.

 

No no no. I wasn't clear. I'm painting it right now.

I'll post pics later.

dp

 

Primed then left to sit above heaters over-night, now for the first coat of "bed liner'





Now I wait two hours and do the second coat...

(sorry about the blurry iPhone photos)

dp

 

Did you at least give the underside a coat of primer before you bolted it down? If not I would take it apart and spay it then put it back on. If that is steel, it will rust up fast if you do not coat it. It does look good!

 

Looks familiar!!! Hell, looks identical. I've had one of these on my truck out of Alum. diamond plate since about July 2007
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-builds/17769-relentlesstacos-build-up.html
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/29117-weak-tailgate-reinforcement-solution.html

 

Oh yeah. Primed the whole thing.

dp

 

is it bending from your r6 on the back of the bed?

maybe i should take apart my tailgate and check to see if there is any bending. Did plenty of trackdays last season....farthest one was from San Francisco to Miller Motorsports park ( R1 and R6) on the bed and the rear wheel sitting on the taillgate..

 

nice mod.. but really sad that toyota passes off these weak ass excuses for a truck to the US+Canada market...

 

If I had something as heavy as an R6, it would surly have bent. But I ride a lithe 848.

jk

I actually haven't put any bikes in the truck yet, but know that I will eventually, so this was a pre-emptive strike, if you will.

So, here's the second coat of bed-liner baking in the sun.


After another couple of hours, I replaced the composite decking.


Old man Jake looks suspicious of my work...


Tailgate closed, from the inside...


and from the outside.


The tailgate is really heavy now... Really heavy. When summer rolls around I may take it apart and cut some holes to reduce the weight a bit. As of now. I think it may be a bit of overkill, but at least I won't have to worry about it flexing.

dp

 

If you are talking about the half-moon-shaped tabs, they are like that out of the factory. Noticed them on my truck when installing the Pop N Lock. No damage to your tailgate yet.

In order to carry a heavy load, the steel sheet needs to be fastened to metal parts of the tailgate, not to the factory white plastic inserts.

 

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FWIW ... that is a great mod ... I have been looking for a way to reinforce my tailgate too ...

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looks good, hope it works out for you

 

OP as well as the guy from the original thread who was selling these both mentioned the lip over the top of the gate is too close in the center. They both also attributed it to the gate possibly being bent already. I bet it's more because the tailgate is naturally convex from left to right with the center being thicker.

 

if anyone was wondering i got word from the guy who did this on customtacos.com and he still has a few. thinking about picking one of these up since i'm loading my harley and R6 in here pretty frequently.

 

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I would love to get one of his tailgate kits. Do you know how much he charges and how to get in touch with him. You can post the info here or PM me.

FWIW .... I was looking at some special sized aluminum angle to make a top bracket to catch the top of the tailgate. I could even do my angle on top of his aluminum plate on the tailgate.

Thanks

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if you have a dimple dye, speed holes with make that a tone lighter and just as strong

 

The price is $150 + S/H which for me in MD would be $37 but varies based on where you are. I'm towards the high end for shipping since he's located in NoCal i believe and i'm across the country. I only have his customtacos name and no email but i asked him for contact info to post here and will when he responds.

I'm not sure what you are saying by the aluminum angle top bracket. His tailgate kit covers the top of the tailgate and the inside part. Apparently the only difficult thing is bending out the middle of it slightly and you need to grind a few mm's off each side if you want to re attached the plastic from the bed, which i plan on doing with mine.

 

Hey guys, Justus here, the OP from the CustomTacos forum.

Thanks, gov875, for posting up that information. Yes, the cost of the tailgate is $150+shipping which ranges from $30 to $50 but in most cases is $36. I use FedEx and I think it has something to do with how far from a distribution center you are. Not sure.

I think I have 3 or 4 of these left right now; I'll have to check.

The best way to get in touch with me is by email: hoffmandesigned@gmail.com.

Thanks!

 

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Thanks guys and I will email you tomorrow for the details ... I want one for sure.

Thanks again ...

EDIT ... Email sent to Justus tonight @ 2235 hours, ET.
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