I saw a tailgate on a 67-72 truck (not sure whic year it was) with small letters on the tailgate. My 67 has big letters and my buddies 68 has the big letters as well. What year had the little FORD letters?

 

Was "FORD" embossed in the gate or on a panel. 73-79 tailgates will fit our 67-72 trucks it just looks odd due to the body lines not matching the gate and some aftermarket gates have no embossed letters at all in them. They may have done some modifactions on the gate you saw to acheive a certain look. I have a friend with a 72 and he mounted the aluminum panel from a 94-95 on his which has the small FORD letters off to one side on it.

 

I have big embossed letters on my 67 tailgate, but the tailgate with the smaller letters looked like it may have been a panel that was mounted on the tailgate. I think I may have seen a 73+ truck with the same tailgate today, but it didn't have that raised bar through the middle of the gate like most 73+ tailgates I've seen.

I guess I could find a good tailgate on a later truck with a good bottom section and weld it up to my tailgate to keep it original, but it seems like a lot of trouble if I can find one for sale easily, what does everyone think?

I don't want buy a flimsy aftermarket one if I can avoid it.

Herb in PA

 

My 71 had the later model brushed aluminum Ford panel attached to it with the smaller letters. Easy to spot since it has the depression in the middle for the tailgate handle.

I would skip the aftermarket tailgates. They in no way compare to the Ford ones, especially if you want to sit on it. You can tell just by how much they weigh, Ford ones are much heavier. Two big guys sitting on an aftermarket tailgate can destroy it. These are one of the OEM parts worth the money.

 

I have a 70 XLT and it has smaller FORD letters on the tailgate. Looks like this was just a screw on piece of trim because the big FORD letters are visable from the inside. Take a look at my gallery, I just put a pic there so you could check it out.