Hey guys its me again with more questions, I was curious about something. The tailgate on my truck was trash when I bought it, so I just took it off, this obviously makes it hard to keep things in the bed when accelerating. What I was curious about is that I was told that Ford kept the trucks the same from 1980-1996, or 1997 in the 3/4 ton and 1 ton models, would I be able to get a tailgate from like a early to mid 1990's truck and it go right on my 86 F250? I find a ton of them on craigslist for decent pricing, but none for my actual year range. If it will work then I figure why not, I have to paint the truck anyway, and while that question is fielded, also will the entire bed from a mid 1990's ford truck work on my frame with no alterations? I realize it would have to have dual tanks, I was just curious. Thanks for all the help.

 

There are differences. '80 - '86 use folding metal straps to hold the tailgate when open. '87 - '96 use cables. The hinges are different, and I think the latches are different as well. The body contour is slightly different, so the newer tailgate will not match the body perfectly near the top.

People have put the newer tailgate on the older bed. It can be done. It is not a direct swap, though.

 

1980/82's use straps, 1983/96's use cables.

F100/350 Styleside tailgates: 1980/82 / 1983/86 / 1987/91 / 1992/96 and some 1997's.

 

The folding straps were dropped around 82/83 in favor of the cables. This means there are actually 2 different tailgates for the 80-86 trucks. Latches, straps/cables and hinges varied thru the years, making a swap far more complex.
Later beds are a direct swap, however the wheelwell arches are different. Dual tanks become more common as the years went by. By 94 or so, it was rare to find a LWB that doesn't have dual tanks. Even the short bed trucks were commonly found with dual tanks, unless they were 4wd.

EDIT, looks like ND posted the exact info about straps vs cables as I was typing this.....

 

Stylesides

1983 F100 & 1983/86 F150/350: E3TZ9943052B .. Right & E3TZ9943053B .. Left ... Tailgate Cables.

1987/91 F150/350: E7TZ9943052A .. Right & E7TZ9943053A .. Left ... Tailgate Cables.

 

i would use the straps ether way..there way more durable and work just fine if they dont get bent or whatnot...the stock cables are weak and rust and break over time

 

The difference is the hinges that are on the tailgate and on the bed. You cannot use a 87 and up tailgate on an 86 and below bed because of the difference in the hinges and latches.

 

That's all very well and good ledhead617...just make sure you get the correct tailgate to install the straps on, cuz they weren't used after 1982. The straps use different mounting than the cables.

And, as the member above points out, you cannot use a 1987/91 tailgate on a 1983/86 or 1980/82.

 

To use an 87-96 tailgate, you must get every piece of hardware from the newer truck. The hinges, latch pins, bump-stops, etc all have to be changed out. I have done the swap on my truck (you can't find an '80s truck with a good tailgate around here), and IMO it wasn't too bad, just a bit of drilling and fabbing a couple of custom spacers. Just have to measure three times before doing anything.

 

No alterations needed, it's a direct bolt on swap. You may need the fuel doors and filler necks from the new bed though.

If you put the 1987-1996 type bed on your 1980-1986 truck there will not be any need to modify the bed to the tailgate at all.


To use a 1987-1991 and 1992-1996/7 tailgate on a 1980-1986 you will have to modify it. The looks are different as well, so wouldn't be desireable for a show truck as example.

1980-1986 is also swappable, however you will have to modify the tailgate supports depending on the year. As numberdummy mentioned, they are different 1980-1982 / 1983-1986. The 1980-1982 tailgates are stronger and are made out of slightly thicker metal than the 1983-1986 counterparts. All in all they look identical 1980-1986 from the outside.

 

is this a dark brown or black paint? Can’t seem to find the original tailgate to my tan/brown/tan 1990 anywhere

 

What picture you talking about?
If your truck is the top 2 then just look at the color codes on the sticker in the door jamb.
If the bottom picture the gate looks like black & tan to me and again you can look at the sticker to see what the truck left the factory with.
Dave ----

 

mine is the top 3, color codes Pawnee tan and desert tan metallic as the darker brown. I have been trying to find an original but the darker brown one seen is the closest one I’ve seen. I had hoped it was for sale if the owner found one that matches his bullnose era one

 

I think finding a used gate is good shape would be 1000:1 and then find one in your color combo would be 10000000000000:1
If you have a good gate now or can get one no mater the color just repaint it.
You can get the right colors mixed and put in spray cans. using the color code off the door jamb sticker.

Not knowing the shape in person, nicks / rust / etc. I cant say what prep would be needed but from what I see that flaking primer / paint needs to taken down to a base that is solid. That pin stripe will also need to come off and any nicks etc. need to be feathered edge out, bare metal primed and the whole gate sanded with 400 grit sand paper or even 600 grit before being painted.

You dont need to tape off the line between the 2 colors for the first color going on.
I would do the light color first, top edge & bottom edge. Wiping any dirt off before spraying.
When that color sets up, a day should be good depending on the type paint, use fine line tape in 1/4" wide to make the line between the 2 colors. (I have used 3/4" making tape in the past)
Then use wider tape (3/4" making tape) on paper (I had used black & white news paper), folded over about 4" before the tape is put on the paper fold edge half on paper & half off. This half off part of the tape put on the 1/4" fine line tape amd use other tape to hold the paper from blowing onto the painted part.
1 last dusting to get any dirt off the gate and spray the dark color.
Let the paint dry an hour or 2 and remove the tape but dont touch or move the gate for a day as you can put finger prints in the soft paint but the tape has to be removed before the paint gets to dry / hard.

Its not all that hard to do just takes time and why body work / paint is so much dollars it time!
Dave ----

 

hi, do you still have this truck and would you trade this one for a correct bullnose era gate?