Tommy Gate liftgate advice (and off-roading with it)

Does anyone have experience installing a TommyGate Pickup Original Liftgate? I read another thread out here on a 1st Gen I think talking about its weight being much higher than the OEM tailgate. Are there any consequences of that for off-roading, perhaps needing some changes to the shocks? Also any opinions/reviews on the liftgate are welcome!

 

a tommy gate on a Tacoma?

 

Yeah, I can't find a single example on the internet, but I think this is the way I would like to go if I can.

 

that sucker will be heavy...mebbe hang down kinda low. They have a lightweight off road version?

 

Nah, they don't. I'm just curious what it would take to off-road with a tommy gate.

 

begs the question of what you will use it for

 

We have Colorado's at work with aluminum tommy gates. Pretty handy. Not sure how well it would handle offroading.

https://www.tommygate.com/liftgates/pickup/g2-series/#overview

 

The G2 series for mid size pickups comes in two models - 369 & 421 pounds.
Seeing as the original tailgate weighs less than 75 pounds this sounds like a bad idea.

First that much weight, that far back is going to mess up your handling and second it will eat up about 1/3 of your payload.

https://www.tommygate.com/media/528305/tg_2018-liftgateguide.pdf
Page #10.

 

Don’t.

 

I have only seen a lift gate on a 2nd gen 5lug regular cab.

 

So it's for a telescope structure that's expected to weigh about 150lbs. So I don't need it to be very heavy duty: I'd rather have a lighter duty gate that will weigh less (so I don't have a 300lb extra tail weight), but I can't seem to find any on the market. Does anyone know of any?

 

They have detachable liftgates: https://liftgator.com/product/truckgator-1300lb-removable-liftgate/ but they look awfully bulky to store etc.

 

Why not just leave the telescope in the bed? I mean as far as on site as opposed to at home.

 

For getting 150 lbs in the bed a lift gate seems way overkill. Could it be disassembled? Put on wheels and ramped up?

 

Even easier, two or three decently capable dudes?

 

I have a canopy and too much vibration. So that'll introduce a different set of complications!

Not a bad idea, if I can find a larger one. The footprint will be about 3' x 3'.

This is for the disassembled form. I believe it's hard to get the heaviest component below 150lbs. And yes, you're right, it's overkill.

The problem is getting a 3' x 3' box that weighs 150lbs for someone with a smaller (5'8") build can be challenging, unless the ramps are really long; by really long, I mean something like 16ft long. So I'm starting to wonder if I had a pair of electric winches mounted in my truck that could share some of the weight off of me, perhaps that might work. I could slowly control the winches to feed out while I guide the box down shorter (~10ft) ramps. Of course, pulling it up should be more straightforward. Have to make sure the system is failsafe so it doesn't come crashing down on me and RIP, but that shouldn't be hard if I drive the winch bolts into the truck bed.

 

They make truck bed cranes for cheap, kind of similar to a wheelchair hoist. If you can fab up a platform with lifting hooks, you'd be in business.

 

Is your structure on wheels or casters? If so, I vote for atv or motorcycle ramps and a block and tackle anchored to the bed up front. How often and on what kind of terrain are you loading and unloading?

 

Op’s driving off into the darkness, literally, to get away from light. I know someone that does this, they go anywhere they think the sky will be darker. It puts them it all kinds of places.