Best Tailgate reinforcement ideas

Nearly lost my life and dignity on my friend's truck that has one of those HDPE Mountain Hatch ones. MUY PELIGROSO

 

The mob town is slippery too?

Thankfully I have the bed mat for that, but the tailgate is lethal.

 

Man that took some balls to load like that. I would have brought my trailer. Those guys on the forklifts make me nervous.

 

No idea. Even the factory plastic one gets slick.

 

Does mobtown sell em raw? Might be worth it to get it raw and have it painted at a shop with sand in it for extra gription.

 

The fail points will be the hinges and mounting locations. In terms of the surface cracking you could line-x it
But for big heavy stuff i don't think the tacoma is the right choice

 

Sketchy.

 

Rent or borrow a trailer with a drop gate. Problem solved

 

This!
I've had numerous company trucks for years, and they just get the shit beat out of them loading and unloading. And of course, every year the tailgates gets thinner and more expensive to replace. For my personal use; if it needs a forklift, more than two grown men, or any other mechanical advantages, I'll load it on my trailer, plus it's closer to the ground and easier to unload when I get home. My trailer was just under a $1k, the last tailgate we bought at work, was nearly that, before labor, paint, and robbing some parts off the old one.

 

I like that your 80lb son took the downhill role.... trooper there!

 

I was thinking about getting one of those Mountain Hatch ones.

Good to know it’s that slippery.

 

Mobtown is not slippery, it's ribbed for her pleasure and the powder coat has a slight texture. I've got the steel one. Works great but makes that tailgate 2x as heavy. The soft drop hinge still works, but it's not at all like factory.

 

They even say as much on their website

 

I don't see a steel option on mobtown's site.
The aluminum one says 15 lbs, no mention of a steel option.

How does it look when the tailgate is closed....cant seem to find any pix of that. Wondering if it'll scrape the paint on the tailgate.

 

Yeah... I read that. When wet. I just didn’t think it would “that” slippery

 

https://mobtownoffroad.com/product/2005-2015-toyota-tacoma-tailgate-reinforcement-plate/

Doesn't include the cap portion. Just the plate section. We don't make stand alone caps for the 3rd gen. If you want the cap, the aluminum one piece plate/cap combo is the only option.

 

One thing to note is with the steel tailgate skin your tailgate will slam open now. The struts won’t handle the extra weight.

 

They may have changed the struts since 2016. But when we tested them with a steel skin and the steel cap we used to make, the tailgate came down faster (maybe too fast for some), but I wouldn't say it slammed down. On my 2nd gen though (no struts), it slams down with authority.

 

Pretty certain that's exactly how Stonehenge was built.

As for the slippery tailgate, Lowe's sells grip tape for stairs on the cheap, might be a viable option. Especially if you cut it into strips and space them out.

 

@jowybyo can you add some pictures of the steel tailgate? Even if it’s just your truck, I want to get eyes on it. I was thinking about getting a mountain hatch one, but the steel one (or even aluminum ine) might be better match, if rather have the just in case protection.