why is there kevlar in the tailgate?

I got a small quarter size dent in my tailgate right in the middle below the handle. took it to a paintless dent repair place and the guy said it would be no problem and quick. once he took the back panel off the tailgate to access the inside sheet metal he found a rectangle piece (12 inches x 8 inches) of what he said looked to be kevlar right in the middle of the tailgate where the dent is. long story short the dent wont come out even after we ripped off the pad. the pdr guy said he's never seen this before on a tacoma, and he has done a lot of them but no 2009's. I'm just wondering why the pad is even there, is it for sound proofing or does it have to do with the reverse camera? it seems pretty pointless to me and is pissing me off cuz now I gotta go to the body shop instead of spending way less for pdr. anyone know why its there?

 

Bullet proof tailgate?

 

I think he's pulling your leg....

 

Just installed my pop'n'lock on my 2009 4 door auto, no Kevlar.
Take care
vbibi

 

is that what they put on to help with the bent tailgate thing?

 

Did you buy used? Carfax your vehicle. make sure it wasn't in a wreck.

 

did you snap any pics while you were poking around in there?

 

we need pics.

 

That just sounds so dirty.

 

hahaha maybe he posted them in the underground already

 

If it was Kevlar/fiberglas or any kind of composite repair it would have been pretty hard to just "rip off" of the metal. Is it maybe just a damper or some type of stiffner?

 

I had a friends tail gate opened up to install a rearview camera and vaguely remember there being something in there.. have no idea what it was.

 

Toyota bean counters probably found it was cheaper to use a piece of tape to stiffen the tailgate then to melt down one more Budweiser can

 

just take the tailgate off and get an air gate....that's what i'm gonna do if mine ever gets bent....i mean if it bends once it will bend again right

 

bought truck brand new. no he's not pulling my leg I saw it myself and helped him rip it off. it did not come off easy. we only got a portion of it off where the dent is, the rest is still stuck on to the inside sheet metal. I could see if it was sound dampering material but why in the tailgate when theres none in the doors? I guess no one knows....

and im sorry but those airgates look horrible. id rather have no tailgate than one of those flapping all around.

 

he ain't lyin. I don't think it is kevlar but it is definately there. I noticed it when i was working on my tailgate. It reminds me of that dynamat stuff you would use to cut down on vibrations from a stereo. My truck is an 06 so they have been doing it for a while. Probably makes it sound more solid when you shut the tailgate.

 

I noticed the same thing a couple weeks ago while installing a Pop n Lock on my son's '10 reg cab. Didn't really scrutinize it though, just figured it was a deadener/vibration dampener of some sort.

 

Maybe it's to help minimize vibration for the camera.

 

I was installing dynamat in my doors last month. I saw these patches of "kevlar" in the front doors. I guess Toyota puts it there when necessary for it to pass their testing, because they were not in the same spot on both doors. I wouldn't worry.

 

A little late now.... dont you think?