05+ Tacoma Tail gate reinforcement group buy

Pro tip: buy locally. Shipping is more than the hardware.

@scocar

 

I bought the part number a couple pages back locally for about 1.70 each. And they got them next day. So +1 for getting them locally

 

Thanks. Yeah, I just wanted to see what they looked like. I would defintitely just run up to Maita.

OK, so these are the same as the ones at the bottom of the gate? Damn. I got all excited and thought someone had already come up with the solution I want.

I'm really interested in the countersinking the aluminum idea for a flush, flat gate. Not even sure there is enough thickness to countersink, and those coarse threads into plastic...meh, going to be hard to find something of the right spec that would work. Tired of this plasticky cheap shit. Hmmm, maybe rivnuts.

I ahve yet to find 5 minutes to even remove mine and stare at it for a while. Fuck. But this mod is next on the list without a doubt, just to get my Leer door to close/seal better. Curved tailgate FTMFL.

 

I don't think anyone has countersunk yet. It's pretty thin..

 

Yeah. .10 inch I think, so that'd like, fuck, I forget, 3/32ish?

 

As other people already said, these screws are pan head just like the ones on the bottom of the the tailgate. Looks like you figured that out once you had a good link to see the screws. This is still an improvement over the normal top screws which have shoulder making them stick up even more.

I agree the aluminum is probably far too thin for counter sinking given the screw diameter. You could probably have a thicker Al plate made that would sit on top of this thinner tailgate reinforcement. The Relentless material needs to be reasonably thin since it is bent to form a cover and lip for the top of the tailgate. But you could easily take something like a 3/16 Al plate that is just flat and put counter sunk holes in it. You could put that on top of the Relentless cover like some people put the old plastic cover on top of the Relentless cover.

 

Or, another option to consider is to not be an anal retentive bitch.

 

Yeah, I will likely end up doing the latter in the short term at least. The whole tailgate is such a weird design.

 

@scocar are you going to put the factory cover back on over the Relentless skin?

Like this

 

I didn't intend to, but it may be necessary to avoid having the screw heads interfere with loading /unloading material and accidentally damaging it (like bags of concrete or lumber or furniture). I suppose it will make it easier to slide stuff in and out anyway since it will keep a relatively level plane between the top lip of the tailgate and the bottom of the bed. I'm probably just being too fussy as James opined.

 

That's not my pic but that's the way I have mine too. I think it protects the RF plate from scratching all up (except the top), plus it keeps the factory look. Just do that and use the other bolts and you are good to go.

 

If you keep the OEM cover you don't need new bolts.

In fact, Scott - I have 7 of the bolts you need if you are just going to run the Relentless piece and not return the OEM tailgate skin if you want them.

Fair warning: they're in my garage.. I am sure I can find 6 in 10 seconds but the 7th may be tricky.

 

Really? I needed them. Whats different now?

 

Well...I am running into this on my 2015. I already pulled the tailgate off the truck because it seemed like I could not even get your plate on the gate without marring the exterior bulge of the OEM gate without sliding your reinforcement on from the side. I've even trimmed the flash off the plastic screw retainers in the OEM gate to minimize interference. Some were sticking up as much as 1/8 - 1/4 proud. I was eyeballing the two panhead torx head screws at the top of either end thinking those are coming off next...

 

I have the cap (narrow top piece) I'll sell. Where are you?