Mobtown Aluminum Tailgate Plate Cover 3rd Gen Tacoma

They can make it flat without the ribs. But it says out of stock, I’d send them a message if you’re serious.

 

I thought they discontinued the flat one???

 

You could contact them and ask

 

I got mine last week and installed it over the weekend. Joe from Mobtown was great to deal with, shipped my tailgate reinforcement plate with mounting hardware the same day.

I ride and or race enduro motorcycles every weekend and didn't like the plastic tailgate cover on my 2019 dclb taco, it seemed a little cheesy. The Mobtown reinforcement plate is very stout and I know I won't have a problem with the tail gate bending.

Thanks Joe!!

 

Nice be sure to post some pics!

 

Here are some pictures of my install.

 

Sweet you’re ready for work

 

I want one, is the site having problems? I don't see the pic for this on the mobtown site?

 

Does this work?

That’s for 3rd Gen only though

http://mobtownoffroad.com/product/2016-2020-toyota-tacoma-tailgate-reinforcement-plate/

 

My apologies, I have a second gen. Didn't see the pic for that one or the cap

 

Looks great, thanks for the writeup!

 

Just ordered mine... had a loading mishap and a 500lb bike was resting on the plastic tailgate cap (with the rear wheel dangling) - ate right through the plastic cover. Didn't even know these existed but excited that mine will be on the way soon.

Thanks for the write-ups!

 

Mine came in today.

Once installed, a gorgeous product- but it was BENT AF when shipped, such that I had to stand/push/bend it some to get the top part to line up halfway, then push with all my body weight horizontally as I screwed in the top two bolts - which for some ungodly reason are painted body-matched to my truck, and of course that paint in the center of the bolts is stripped out/fucked up now- so that I could get the aluminum flush with my tailgate....

I then had to stand on the main plate to press the curve out as I put in bolt/screw by screw, otherwise the Mobtown plate was too bent to line up with any of the holes.

Put together, I really like it, but I have major reservations now regarding the security of the plastic holders on the OEM tailgate. If the Mobtown plate had been flat to being with, this wouldnt be an issue- but it was so goddam curved I have my fingers crossed that it doesnt "pop" the stock fasteners out of place and come loose.

Only time will tell.

Overall this experience was 30-45min and I would rate a 6/10, with 10 being frustrating AF. Certainly not the 15minute no -sweat install as mentioned above.

 

You could take it off and have them send another one

 

Just finished installing mine - no pics at the moment, but I can add some later if anyone wants em. To sum up: Whew. Looks good, feels strong, but was about 10x the effort I expected for such a simple mod. The difficulty was not really Mobtown's fault, but it was still a PITA.

Everything came off easy except the two buttonhead hex bolts under the cap. They are painted on and loctite'd, nad getting them out was a huge. I tried wd-40, I tried heating them up, I tried a bunch of things and still managed to strip one of them without getting it out. Great. No getting pliers or a socket or anything on those little round sonsofbitches. I finally got it out by drilling out the screw and using a left-handed spiral bit with a tap wrench oh so very carefully.

I got the optional hardware pack, but they didn't have replacements for the end bolts so I needed to measure and source those. Installing the hardware pack was fairly easy and definitely worthwhile. I can't imaging doing the install using the torn-up weak piece of crap square nylon nuts, especially since...

..,my cover came bent lengthwise. And not, like, a little bent. Curved like it was set on a log with heavy shit on either side and left there for a week. Mobtown has a good rep so I am choosing to assume that damage happened in shipping, which seems very possible. While I was waiting on spiral bits and replacement bolts and shit from Amazon I clamped the thing onto the tailgate and put some weight on the middle to try and straighten it out, but by the time I was finishing the install it still had quite a curve in it and I don't think those nylon pieces would have held it - it didn't straighten till I torqued the new hardware down.

I didn't like the look of the regular hardware against the black cap, so I ended up sourcing new hardware anyway to keep it black-on-black. In retrospect I would have just done that from the beginning instead of ordering the hardware pack.

I think this was worth it, but man was it more of a pain than I expected.

 

Did you get the ribbed version? They tend to be curved as you are describing from the stamping process of the ribs. Normally it’s pretty easy to flatten it out while you are tightening the screws. If not, you can just put you knee in the center and flex it a bit closer to flat before bolting it down.

 

This was my experience, save for stripping the metal of the tailgate bolts. My paint is stripped out of the center but my impacts popped em out okay. WAY MORE work than I expected, as mine was also bent AF

 

Mine was the flat version and was still QUITE BENT. I love the mod, but would encourage 2 things:

1) include Tailgate bolts in the hardware kit at minimum, though they should prob come with the plate - the painted ones (why TF they do this I have no idea) are a PITA and was not something I (or other customers) were expecting.

2) Maybe look at adding cardboard or other supports in the box when shipping? I'm not sure if these plates are coming from yall bent, or somehow bending in shipping- but the "hotdog" style bend that mine had suggests it came from manufacturer like that.

It really is a great and functional mod, but as mentioned, was much more work/effort than expected.

 

If you say the bend is intentional I believe you but I would probably include that warning on your site. None of the holes lined up to even start screwing it in if I had wanted to until I had spent some time with it clamped to bend it back into shape, and even if they had I have a hard time believing those stock inserts would have held if it was forced. You've probably tested that though so

Now that it's in it sure fits well!

 

It’s not intentional. Obviously the intention is for it to be flat, but they don’t typically finish up the process flat. I’ll have to see pictures of your issue because I’ve personally installed a ton of them, even with some pretty radical curving, and I’ve never had to do more then flex it a bit before installing it.

As long as its not creased it should be pretty easy to manipulate.