I have barrel bolts holding the tailgate to the bed sides. I am looking to upgrade since the vibrations may cause the bolts to loosen from the bed side.

MidFifty’s has chrome latches but they cost $125/pair which I believe are a little steep. Could you please share some of the methods you used? Thanks.

 

Here is a latch kit that I installed for a customer...not cheap and not simple to install but it works great and is very well made.

 

I have the mid fifty bear claw latch setup I like it I needed a tailgate so I got the whole setup very nice and easy

 

I used seat belt latches and F150 tailgate cables.

 

Why not get the zinc plated ones instead? They are cheaper and look nice too.

 

At your convenience I'd like to see a closeup of both ends of the latch fab. Some of the available kits just have too much or a utility hardware look for my liking. My gate was shut for years with a couple small SS L brackets and polished buttonhead screws. Very clean but not exactly handy as it took about two minutes to open and close the gate. I really only open the gate for bed cleaning though.

 

Just a quick side note about tailgate chains. Looking at the picture of Abe's truck the hooks were put into the latches from the op down. I was taught by an old rancher when I was young that you should bring the hooks up from the bottom and then let them flop over. That way when you are banging down a rutted ranch road the chains can't bounce up out of the latches.


I made some spring loaded latch pins that fit in the upper roll of my 49. I used some 1/2" pipe, a spring, and some welding. Here's a link to the old album where I had some pics;


https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=25568


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...-tailgate.html


The only bad thing about latches of this sort is that it takes both hands to release the tailgate. Which means I either have to have a buddy around or I have to set down my beer....lol


Bobby

 

Yes, I know about that. That is how my Dad did it on his 48 3/4 ton chevy. But I just never have done it that way. And my truck doesn't go through fields like my Dad used his truck on our farm.

 

Cut the belt off and holes drilled for the bolts.



Cut off and welded to a flat plate for mounting.

 

I hear ya, most of our trucks don't see the abuse that they did when they were young.

 

My solution:

 

Here is another install of seat belt latching of the tailgate.






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46 Ford Tudor
48 Ford F1

 

I made my own. These fit tight, maybe to tight, I may need to change the springs inside to a little weaker spring.

 

I like the spring loading pin approach, but with the brackets instead of the cable look.

 

I just bought a set of these high dollar latches for my truck after being disappointed by the Mar-K spring loaded latches. Again, I was disappointed to find that if I actually install them, the screws will stick out visibly on the outside of the bed side. I've seen plenty of pics of these in use. To the guys who are using these, can you post a pic of the bed side, or tell me how you avoided having the screws sticking out? Thanks