Went camping at the weekend, truck did a great job of pulling my 34ft Airstream. Went to load up truck when bang, tailgate cable snapped, tailgate bent like a pretzel, much swearing. Cables looked in good shape too - don't think I'm gonna trust them anymore - anyone else had this trouble, very annoying as gate is damaged now, was in mint shape

 

I broke one when hauling some wood one time, now mine has a slight twist to it. Not a big deal as its got a couple rust spots on it anyway. Replace that and fix one other rust spot and there would be no more rust.

Anyway, mine didn't look that good when the one broke. I got 2 new ones on it now. Sucks you damaged a mint tailgate though.

 

One of the 2 cables broke on my tailgate about 5 years back and I haven't had a single problem with it. The one cable seems to be strong enough to hold 4 people sitting on the back. I'm just worried that it may be a little rotted out under the plastic coating.

 

I'm beginning to think I may have an aftermarket gate, there is no way mine has enough structure to support even one person with a single cable - also the inner has deformed and become cup shaped.

 

It will rot under the plastic sheath over time, definitely change it - $15 to replace, it will hurt someone if it lets go

 

That is very good information, I agree 100$

 

I I picked up a tailgate for $50 when I bought my truck... been looking for a replacement ever since.

I cant tell if it's aftermarket or not. I want one with the trim panel and in really good shape (no major dents and not too many digs)...

Really hard to find. I can get one from ford but they run about a grand for everything and then you have to paint it too. All the ones I keep finding are beat to shi... crap.

Richard