I just got a 1953 F100 and it is a pretty decent truck. The tailgate is a no-rot tailgate but not very pretty. I intend on blasting and epoxy priming it this coming few days. The question is---has anyone tried to remove the bow in a bent tailgate?
It has about a 3/4'' bow and I was going to try to press it out-but these tailgates are hollow and tempermental. Tell me how you did it--and don't tell me to drive the truck on top of it--LOL Bill

 

where is the bow? top rail, bottom, both?

I have successfully bent large diameter (1-1.5in) tubing after filling it with sand without collapsing the tubing wall. I have a tailgate with a slight bow in it that I was planning on doing this way.. (haven't got to it yet tho)..

and I WAS thinking of using the truck weight and tire width to spread the load out too.. using a jack, but not driving it on..

Sam

 

I used two turnbuckles attached to the tailgate chain eyes and kept pulling them tight ( I used the bolts holding the fascia onto the garage door to anchor them. When I pulled them, I heated up the inside of the bow with a torch - not too hot, just cherry red. Occasionally cool the other side with a wet towel. Then with tension, and heat applied, I hammered a steel rod through the hollow top (or bottom as the case may be) to help straighten - left the bar in there.

If you're lucky, this will remove any stretching in the tailgate sheet as well. Otherwise you will have to shrink that.

Obscenities DO help!

J!

 

Jules---you are funny--and very informative--haha
I thought I have done everything and now know--nope---never stretched a tailgate--haha
I may try your theories and sounds like it would work. Sam---I was thinking of downward pressure from a press. I do not want to collapse it....will be exciting if this works--haaha!! THANK YOU Bill

 

I recently started tearing apart the bed on my '56. The tail gate is VERY solid, but beat to crap. I was thinking of just buying a new one..... maybe I'll give saving it a shot.

 

I have three bowed and beat. Its cheaper to just buy a new one.

 

Mine was bowed worse than that. I laid some 2X4s across my saw horses and laid the tailgate (bow side down) on that. That was to tell me about how much bow there actually was (It was on top and bottom). I then put another piece of board (Higher than the bow) in the center and used padded "C" clamps on each end to slowly pull it down. I would pull it slightly, release..look at the bow left...and repeat until it was flat. I had to move the center board around as I was doing so...to "chase" the bow.

Do it a tiny bit at a time. Patience is your friend here.

Once that was done...I took a hammer and dolly (my favorite hockey puck)and worked the dents out in the middle.

AX may have a better way, but that is how we straighten stuff all the time at the steel shop. Worked just fine. I did not need any special tools other than a couple of decent sized "C" clamps. No torch or anything.

If that explanation does not make sense...I can mock up what I did and take pics next week. I can use my spare gate for demonstration purposes. Alhough, I only have one of the larger "C" clamps at home. Dad borrowed one from where he works when I did my gate.

If it is just bowed and has a few dents...it is soooo much cheaper to fix them. You might spend part of one afternoon straighteneing. I will do that rather than spend $300 or more (plus shipping) any day.

 

My tailgate was toast. The top and bottom rails were hammered, bent, and bowed. The whole thing had been been across the middle (more than once). I was just going to take a later tailgate and cut it down to size but I want to keep the original Ford script. I decided to just fab a new frame for it. I took some conduit and some light gauge angle iron and fabbed up a new frame and welded my original sheet metal into it.
During this process I got a little impatient while welding and created a bow in my tailgate. The top of the tailgate bows outward and the bottom rail bows inward. I straightened the bottom easy enough with a prybar. The top, well, I man handled it a bit and have it close to straight (maybe 1/4" off across the width).

Jules, you never cease to amaze me. Great ideas

Bobby

Here's a link to my tailgate pics;
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=25568

 

Thanks ALL!! I like the idea Brian has and will try that tomorrow. Brian that is a good idea!! Hope to get truck running also tomorrow--there are all kind of switches in this truck that my 56s never had. I will have to look in my manual and see what they are for. thanks Bill

 

Bobby: I did not need to on mine, but I have seen this done on tailgates (like ours) and the sides of the "hay beds" like ours. Take a round bar or heavy wall pipe the correct size and drive it down the length (inside the tube part). You would need to heat it (just some) as you go in order to straighten the "tubes".

Where the tubes go...the sheet metal generally follows.

Again, I have not done it personally, but have seen it done.

If it is just a gentle bow (like this thread was meant for), I prefer the clamps method. No heat or chances of warping it too far.

It is just steel. You can make it go wherever you want.

 

be creative
be original
make a new one

 

Oh by the way - I just thought of something else to add.

After you get the tailgate all straightened out (or for that matter for anyone else) if your lower tubes are stretched out (or torn) and the tailgate slops around on the pins, try this.

I gently hammered a 3/4 inch Copper Union - the kind you use to solder 3/4 inch copper water pipes together - into the holes (had to file and sand a dash to get the hammer burr off). It was a tight fit, but made the perfect bushing for the tailgate pins. The soft copper conforms to the pins and while they still pivot, the fit is nice and tight!

But check the coupler fit on the pins before you hammer them in. I have two sets of pins and they were slightly different sizes - one fit and one didn't.

J!

 

Julie,
When I fabbed my own lower rail I did exaclty what you mentioned. Works great. Yea, you do have to do a bit of "file to fit" but not much

Brian,
Thanks for the tip. I will have to try it on my bed rails as I have a few spots in them that need some help

Bobby

 

Julie-

Not wanting to be **** here but I think you used a 3/4" copper coupling instead of union. Just didn't want someone going to their local hardware and purchasing a union. All great ideas by the way!

 

Not much to add to this. Always the idea is to apply force in the opposite direction to whatever caused the damage. In the same vein, straighten from the outside in towards the center of the damage: the outside was the last to bend, the center the first, so straighten in the opposite order. A "Porta-power" hydraulic ram system is a worthwhile investment, makes it easy to apply controlled push where needed.