05+ Tacoma Tail gate reinforcement group buy

haha, to figure the beer i googled 'fin du' and 'Fin Du Monde' came up. 96 on BA! and the Bros gave 100!!! my bad.

 

So as of today all material is in the shop sitting on my material rack. Got some cutting ahead of me, then off to forming. Hope to send em all down next tuesday!

 

Good to hear. Thanks eric

 

Thanks for the update Eric

 

Word!

 

A Canadian already told me it means end of the world. All I know is I like it.

 

Excellent thanks for the update!

 

Anyone receive theirs yet? Jk

 

Haha I'm super excited about getting it also. What are people's thoughts on taking measures NOT TO SCRATCH the paint on the top of their tailgate during the install? I'm that guy who parks in BFE so I don't get dinged. I'm paranoid

 

PMd him last Friday about availability and haven't gotten anything back.

 

Sorry man he is busy building ours.

 

Hopefully, then he can build mine and wanna tacos.

 

I'm familiar with BFE. I was thinking a couple strips of painters tape for a test fit. There should be a gap unless it gets bent in delivery.

 

I just installed mine this weekend. I wasn't part of the group buy but thought some would like to know some good and bad with what I had.

I have a 2013 Tacoma for reference. I went ahead a removed the plastic tailgate protectors (you have to remove both the top of tailgate and the large flat one). Wasn't too bad, and pretty easy. When I went to mount the tail gate protector it was less than a sheet of paper in the middle. I used some blue painters tape doubled up near the tailgate section to protect things. I just pushed the tape up under with a plastic pry tool when I was finished.

I did run into some fitment issues. The holes that would have been at the bottom edge of the tailgate were all off (by about 1/8 to 1/4"). They needed to move closer to the edge if that makes sense. IF I would have had a drill bit big enough, or a step drill bit to enlarge the holes that would have worked perfect. I just used the biggest bit I had and enlarged them enough so all the screw holes aligned. Took a while since I'm by no means a metal fab guy and probably used the wrong tools for the job. The other problem I ran into was once it was bolted on with the factory plastic tailgate panel (with the nubs cut off, the locating tabs) I could not get my tailgate to close at all. I removed the rubber bumpers and could get it to latch partially, but not completely. I had to modify the lower edge of the factory plastic tailgate piece buy cutting off the lower ledge or lip is what it looked like. I could then get it to close tightly with the bumpers back in. I did shave them down about half way which made the opening/closing easier (it was pretty hard with the bumpers in the stock length to open and close, required more force than I was comfortable with).

Outside of my fitment issues (and I have issues with most things, so I know it's not fully the product). The tailgate is much heavier now, feels very solid, and looks like it was stock. I'm waiting for new bolts for the top as they stick out a bit and I'd like to have everything look the same. If the holes were drilled to match up better it would have been a pretty easy bolt on, and it was if I would have probably had the right tools.

I'm glad I found this, as now I feel confident with the tailgates strength and it hopefully will outlast my ownership of the truck. Thanks again for offering such a great product!

 

That all sounds a bit disappointing. I hope that's not a common theme. Did you get steel or aluminum? Steel is a bit thinner.

 

I had opted for the aluminum one and had it powdercoated. It was cut and bent perfect. It is just definitely tight in the middle but I'm guessing that's its design.

I was bummed the holes didn't all just line up but maybe the 2012+ changed a hair. That's all I can think of.

 

Did you remove the 2 hex screws along the top of the tailgate that were under the plastic cap? Those were added at some point and with them in place the reinforcement doesnt slide down quite far enough for holes to line up perfect. With those removed, the reinforcement should line up nicely to all factory screw locations

 

Was this covered previously in this thread? I seem to remember it being mentioned. Do you have a pic?

 

I did see them (from what I can remember) and they were painted with the tail gate so I didn't remove them. That would have probably helped those lower holes match up a little better. They would have been at the edge of the tailgate correct? One on each side?

Either way it was the only downfall I had. if I would have had the right size bit it would been a 5 minute fix. I will have to take a look and see if it's worth it to remove everything and remove those bolts (hopefully they don't really do anything) and try that.

I know all these products are hand made and not 100% perfect so I don't fault the build on them. I'm sure if fit perfect on one and for most does so who knows.

I'll double check the bolts though you're talking about. Not even sure what they are there for