Adjustable tailgate for dirt bikes in a long bed

I’ve always wanted to be able to half close my tailgate with two dirt bikes loaded in my long bed, so I finally did something about it. Of course this has been done before, but I couldn’t find anything that looked factory AND was cheap and easy.

I bought a pair of the factory tailgate bolt catches, oem part number 68965-04020 for about $7 plus shipping. Then I welded some M8 x 1.25 flange nuts to some steel tabs to fit inside the tail light cavity. I’m sure regular washers would work just fine for this too without welding. I went for a 35° angle (which is snug with a modern KTM/Husky/GasGas full size bike) and marked my holes, drilled, and bolted everything together. I also had to add a washer on the outboard side for some extra clearance to make it easier to slip the cable ends onto the catches.

Hopefully this helps someone!

 

heard bad things about GateKing on Tacomas so your way is probably better



another option for your pic
Metal tailgate skin from somewhere
Magnetic red reflectors slapped onto the top flat edge when it’s down

 

How the height in relation to the top of the wheel wells, like if you were transporting plywood

 

I saw that gate king, seems like a cool idea but that sure is a lot of torque on those brackets. And I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on it.

 

It would work well for hauling full 4x8 sheets too! If you put those cable catches a little lower it be the same height as the wheel wells. The tailgate is about an inch higher than the wheel wells the way I have it.

 

Gate king sucks, i tried it and ditched it great idea, check out this thread as well i keep these chains in the bed

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/adjustable-tailgate-cables-on-the-cheap.477171/

 

Nice! I was originally going to do something just like that.