I found one that is just like mine with the letters instead of the symbol for $400.. Its alot better. And it says brushed aluminum(though I kinda already figured that out). Thats like 30 soda cans.

 

So what were the old ones made of then? I thought that they were aluminum too. So bottom line, you've got 30 cans, a strip of black plastic, and either chrome Ford letters or the Ford emblem...is there any reason why they are marked-up several hundred dollars?

 

It's called supply and demand, they supply it and demand that price!!!!!

 

I'll sell mine to you red, for 1 Billion dollars,

 

Original's were made of lexan I believe, with the reflective quality of a tail light lens built in.

 

Well, mine is fine, but now I am considering taking it off and putting it in a museum. And I have the kind with the black strip in it, so although i could walk outside with a flashlight and see, I'll take a guess and say the black ones don't reflect that much

 

And you my friend are the reason AMERICA's economy is in the toilet, with an answer like that.
BUY AMERICAN

 

OR.....You can be a cheapass like me...And like the 94-96 model tailgates better.....lol

I like the look.....But they are too much trouble, to expensive to replace....

 

Mine doesn't look like that really it has more of that "brushed" not the reflective material so maybe even that one isn't even original

 

I'm just going to get 30 cans, a strip of black plastic, the chrome Ford letters, and brush a wire brush and make those lines to get the "brush" effect and spend about $150 instead of $700. Or maybe see whats at the local salvage yard.

 

I found this Ford Tailgate Trim after reading this post. Just posted it in case you fellas are interested.

 

Hum, "make offer"...he must have seen this thread

 

Well, if I ever screw up my tailgate to where i would need a new one of those I would probably go with a metal louvered tailgate I've always fancied those and I don't really think a solid red tailgate would look very good

 

I agree they are over priced, but we don't need anymore China made crap, and I mean CRAP. I think that they should be about 200 bucks new at most. The reason they are so much is because they are discontinued and are now NOS parts. Sometimes there isn't a choice, but there usually is. My F150 and my Mustang have some reproduction parts and some China or Taiwan. The stuff is rarely as good as OEM or even the better reproduction stuff. A perfect example is the mirrors. I had repop mirrors and they were junk. They looked like old mirrors in a couple years and the would vibrate on the highway which made it difficult to see out of them. I found a good deal on NOS ones and am so glad I switched them out.

 

That tailgate with the black trim is 92-96 XLT. Mine has one.