Tailgate bent???

That tailgate looks like it has body filler on it? I think the reinforcement plate I had was from Relentless. It may be too late to use that on your tailgate though.I don't know if you can straighten that top rail enough to get it on.

 

My first thought was body filler as well.

 

yea I was thinking it may have been filler on it.. A new tailgate is way out of my budget right now (like 500dollars CAD) should I just pop some more filler in it and paint it just until I can afford a new one?

 

hmmm...this may be the answer to my question of "why are tacoma tailgates stolen so often?"

 

You need a new tailgate to fix the horrific rusting anyways.

 

I would just let it go until you can afford a new one. Filler won't do anything to fix it.

 

fml lol

 

Take the diagram posted above to a fabricator and have them cut you a piece of aluminum or steel to those dimensions. It won't be very expensive. once you bolt it back together, sand and prime the fucked up area. Then clean the whole tailgate with acetone and spray the whole thing with rattle can bed liner.

 

I'm likely gonna do that, think the steel would pull the metal back in place? or should I give it a few shoves before I go at that? Its far too cold now for any paint work so its gonna be a nice summer project lol

 

Definitely will not fix the tailgate. But it’ll keep it from getting worse.

 

It won't be perfect, but it will make a huge improvement, and you can be confident it will be structurally sound afterward. Some bends I've seen posted have been pulled back to where they're very difficult to see. Post pics when you install it!

 

Look on craigslist and any local scrap yards. Going rate for a good used one is $100 - $150 around here. After you get a good replacement then get a Relentless skin. As many of these trucks as there are out there you are bound to find one that was totalled due to front end damage or something. Perhaps a tweaker with one to sell on CL that he grabbed from the parking lot!

 

I will update once I get it going, granted its gonna be a month or so. My garage isn't heated so I'm gonna get the paint/ repair work done before I slap on the reinforcement !

 

Tacos are never scrapped here, I went to our only scrap yard and they had a 2008 there and all that was left was the shell lol... yet they have thousands of other cars fml

 

I just built my wife side rails and rack on the back of her taco and across the tailgate (before it got bent)lol. I used bed rail. Bedrail angle iron is very strong. Bolted some eyes to it and used a metal strip underneath. In other words "right". Something you can tie to and not pull the bolts through the metal. Then on the tail gate just screwed it with several self taping screws. Not as strong but also not strapping things to it but for a motorcycle it will hold. The bed rail was perfect size for the top of the tailgate and the sides.

 

Just take the tailgate off and bedline it yourself. Until you can get a new gate and then install the cap

 

I just built my wife side rails and rack on the back of her taco and across the tailgate (before it got bent)lol. I used bed rail. Bedrail angle iron is very strong. Bolted some eyes to it and used a metal strip underneath.In other words "right". Something you can tie to and not pull the bolts through the metal. Then on the tail gate just screwed it with several self
taping screws. Not as strong but also not strapping things to it but for a motorcycle it will hold. The bed rail was perfect size for the top of the tailgate and the sides.