My tailgate mod

I will take some pic's soon, but....

I bought a sheet of aluminum 54.75 x 15.25 by 1/8 thick. My idea is to put it between the composite tailgate cover and the tailgate itself. A few minutes with a jig saw and I notched out where the composite cover curves in (towards the hinged end). A little more time and I got it notched for the latches. A friend suggested some expanding foam, so I will put that it the raised areas of the cover. This should help with those deflecting inward. Then I will also bolt the cover to the aluminum in probably 10 places. I thought about epoxy but then thought better of it due to possible differences in thermal expansion properties, the bolt holes will give allow a little play. This will hopefully laminate the 2 together well enough for some additional support. The aluminum is expensive, more than steel right now, but I went with it for rust-resistance. Steel would have been stronger too, but then again, more weight. If you do this, buy some aluminum that is marred up or scratched and see if they will give you a discount. Mine was almost 90.00 including the cutting to size. I realize that this is not the strongest, best way to do this (it seems that even Toyota cannot figure that out yet!), but it is relatively cheap, easy to do, and keeps it more or less stock (and stock looking). Again, pic's when I get a chance. I am trying to get this done before the weekend, helping someone move. I am still anxious for Toyota to get a grip on this issue, hopefully soon.

 

Sounds like a plan... be sure to post pics of the mod if you can.

 

yes post pics i would love to see this mod

 

dbbd1: Toyota has already addressed this issue... unfortunately you're talegate has to be bent before they do anything about it. Anyway, sounds like a cool cheap mod you're doing. I'd love to see pics of the install process if you have them. You should turn it into a DIY thread and see if you cant get in the running for this months prize

 

Whats wrong with your tailgate that you have to spend $90 on an aluminum sheet?

 

How do I do that? I might want to turn in the "beep" mod I just wrote up.



http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/te...-door-lock-audible-2007-tacoma.html#post37186

 

Nothing yet. But I am the type of guy who would rather take care of it now, so I do not have to fix it later. The d@mn thing is too flimsy.

That is kind of where I got the idea from, he is not making them anymore (but he is willing to sell the plans. anyone?) I just went with aluminum for ease, corrosion resistance. And thin enough to put the stock gate panel back on. I ended up trimming 1" off of the bottom edge, it was too thick at the lower end of the gate, where it meets up with the edge of the bed. It closed but too snugly for my liking. I would really prefer it if they would just replace the gate (there is a new TSB out now for it, but oyota still will not unless it is damaged).

 

Cool, would love to see pics when you get them.

 

Here are some pic's....

Took it off



Cut and shaped it


To fit into the tailgate cover


Drilled indexing holes to line up with existing indexing tangs

 

Lined everything up


Drilled and tapped 1/4-20 threads through the gate into the aluminum


And here it is...


It is quite a bit stronger but not really what it should be. we shall wait and see what this new TSB tailgate looks like.

 

Almost forgot to tell you, ended up trimming about an inch off of the bottom, it was too thick, difficult to close to gate. Now that it is spaced out an 1/8 of an inch between the gate and bed, it was too much. After trimming, it works fine, allows the composite liner/gate cover to flex that 1/8 and close real easy. So, when you get yours cut, get it cut to 14.25 inches.

 

Toyota engineers are idiots regarding this... Is easy to see that the top and bottom edges are too weak if you've ever seen one of the buckled tailgates. Their solution would have worked if:
1. It was ONE SOLID PIECE instead of 2, bolted together, able to flex, and still let the tailgate bend
2. made it out of something stronger that freaking SHEET METAL!! They know their doors, roof, hood, etc bend and dent easily so why on earth would they use the same crap for structural reinforcement?!?

I did 2 braces on mine it's rock solid. No redesign, not custom milling or water jetting or other fab tools needed. But a cut off saw, titanium drill bits, and some nuts n bolts.

What I did is put two pieces of angle iron (from scrap bed frames) in the tailgate. One over the top edge under the plastic cap, and one inside at the bottom.

Here's a quick look: (bolts are where the piece is in the bottom)



Shot of inside the bottom of the tailgate.



End result: stronger than anything Toyota has come up with yet, and free to do (for me anyway!).

 

Have any pic's of the top edge?

 

Let me understand this. The tail gate is weak. If you break it Toyota will replace it.
Why not break it in the spring and get it over with when it is convienient to replace?

 

No, sorry. I epoxied it on with 2-ton epoxy, trimmed the snaps off the plastic cap, and glued it back on before I thought about pics...

The dealership boys f'd it up attempting to do their TSB. I had to order them to glue the cap back down since they peeled my glue off (they were just gonna let me leave before I said something), but their glue failed. So I ended up drilling holes through the plastic cap, angle iron and tailgate to drop some machine screws, washers and nuts in to hold everything together. They're more to hold the plastic cap on really. The 2 ton epoxy on the angle iron has held up for over a year and a half so far!

It was just a 3' section of angle iron IIRC. It didn't cover the whole tailgate. Maybe 6" or so shy of each side. Basically just reinforces the center so it doesn't bend like this \/. The angle iron went on so that it covers the edge facing your legs while standing in front of it opened and the top (inside when closed) edge if that makes sense. I should've gotten pics but it's such a PITA to take apart now I'm not about to do it just for pics!

But you can check this out:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t170754.html

I got the idea from that one for the bottom piece. Someone else just did a piece of flat bar on the top edge, and that's what gave me the idea of my angle iron.

Figure now for the tailgate to even FLEX it has to break a 1"x1" 90* bend in 1/16" (guessing) solid iron. Not likely!

 

Well for me, I did this BEFORE Toyota issued the TSB, when they DID issue a TSB their "solution" was half-assed and not worth it, and now I'm out of warranty. Even they admitted it was a poor solution in a way because now they are replacing tailgates.

Too bad I fixed mine over a year ago and it took them this long to figure it out.... I mean, when my skinny-ass 150lb body steps on it and it flexes that shoulda been an indicator to the engineers that it wasn't up to par. Bed has something like a 1300lb capacity so how are you supposed to load things? 50lb boxes at a time? or take the tailgate off? morons...

 

What blows my mind is that I'm not a structural engineer and I can see that the weakest point of a span is the center. The toyota engineers apparently forgot that as their original TSB was a 2-piece U shaped sheet metal bar inserted under the top edge and bolted in. The 2 pieces were tapered to fit into each other with over-sized holes for the bolts. So the whole bar could flex in the center, the very part you're trying to keep from bending!?!?!!


I guess I should just be glad it only took them a few more months to realize this.