Does anyone know what the cables are rated at on are tailgate?

Yesterday I had 3 cast iron sinks loaded on my tailgate and got me thinking, how much weight can be loaded on the tailgate before the cables fail? I have had over 1200 lbs of cast iron pipe loaded in my bed with the tailgate open and don't want to be driving and have the cables fail, with the items falling off and would like to know of much weight is too much.

 

Tailgate will bend before breaking those cables, my guess is there good for around 600- 800 lbs safely

 

OK thanks Jake, I will keep those numbers in mind the next time I load the tailgate.

 

The tailgate will bend before the cables break. The cables would probably pull out of the crimped on ends before the cable itself broke. That being said, the tailgates on Tacomas aren't known for their strength. There is a TSB for the 05-08 models because of bent tailgates (http://www.customtacos.com/tech.old/file_d.php?id=2).

 

Best thing to do is get 3/4 plywood that extends from the front all the way to the end of tailgate while it's open, that will help equal the weight out

 

I did a search about the question I'm asking and one person uploaded a photo of a back tire on a motorcycle bending the tailgate, but a number was never given on load limit though.

 

Yeah, great tip I will keep that in mind as well. I did see someone upload a photo of a heavy dune buggies back wheels loaded on the tailgate, but with planks like you said.

 

The tailgate is not rated for that. The truck tailgate is not designed to leverage thousands of pounds.

 

I've never seen a load limit given. Probably because the tailgate isn't meant to be load carrying. It's meant to keep the load in the bed or at most act as an extension with the majority of the load in the bed. From the owners manual, the AC weight capacity is 1300 pounds total for driver, passengers, and cargo.

 

True, I sometimes forget that fact, one time I overloaded the bed with gravel and the Tacoma did great, but will not push it like that again. I think the 2.7L load limit is a little greater than the 4.0L if I remember correctly.

 

I had about 700+lbs of people sitting on my tailgate once. Tailgate survived. The stock rear suspension suffered.

 

When I overloaded with gravel I couldn't believe how bowed my old rear springs were, kind of scary with the 25-mile trip home and especially braking, so won't do that again. I made sure to keep it in 4th gear on the highway though at 55 MPH.

 

Flip to the back of the owners manual. You'll find all the weight rating info there. Or look on the driver side door jam placard.

I think everyone has overloaded their truck at one time or another. I've moved 2000 pounds of wood pellets a couple of times in my truck, and it was sitting hard on the bump stops. I only had to go a few miles, so it wasn't that bad. I don't use pellets for heat anymore, so I don't need to do that again. If it was an every year thing, I would look into getting a small trailer.

 

I just take mine off if I am loading something heavy.