Tailgate Seal kit??
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Freshman User
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Tailgate Seal kit??
Has anyone bought a tailgate seal/foam kit that actually works and seals?
I have searched almost every brand and all reviews seem to say most of them suck.
I noticed on my 2017 Super Duty that there seems to be a lot of space around the tailgate and can see why a seal may not work with the irregularity of the opening. My old Chevy was easy as the gate was tighter to the frame with more overlap.
Anyone?
I have searched almost every brand and all reviews seem to say most of them suck.
I noticed on my 2017 Super Duty that there seems to be a lot of space around the tailgate and can see why a seal may not work with the irregularity of the opening. My old Chevy was easy as the gate was tighter to the frame with more overlap.
Anyone?
New User
Joined: Jan 2017
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Hey Dan, good question!
First off to everybody please keep stupid comments to a minimum, yes it's a truck and yes some people get their truck beds dirty and so on but some people would prefer a clean bed.
Now that's out of the way..
I had troubles with my box too, I used an Access Tailgate Seal, helps a little bit but one thing I notice was the gaps where the box sides meet the bed, especially around the rear pillars, huge gaps and they were awful for letting in snow, still winter here so dust hasn't been a problem... yet. My salesaman and I figured they spray the bed liner on individual pieces then assemble the box, so he got my my truck in and they sealed the seams on the sides and at the front, it has helped quite a bit, it's not going to keep all the dust out for sure but first hour long drive with the tonneau cover I had 8" inches of snow piled up at the tailgate so anything is better than stock.
First off to everybody please keep stupid comments to a minimum, yes it's a truck and yes some people get their truck beds dirty and so on but some people would prefer a clean bed.
Now that's out of the way..
I had troubles with my box too, I used an Access Tailgate Seal, helps a little bit but one thing I notice was the gaps where the box sides meet the bed, especially around the rear pillars, huge gaps and they were awful for letting in snow, still winter here so dust hasn't been a problem... yet. My salesaman and I figured they spray the bed liner on individual pieces then assemble the box, so he got my my truck in and they sealed the seams on the sides and at the front, it has helped quite a bit, it's not going to keep all the dust out for sure but first hour long drive with the tonneau cover I had 8" inches of snow piled up at the tailgate so anything is better than stock.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 5,158
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From: North of Salt Lake City
Retrax sent me a seal kit with the cover. It's a simple seal with 3M like adhesive and blocks the gaps. Before I put it on I was getting dirt sucked into the bed and now I'm not. It works.
Postmaster
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,424
Likes: 12
From: BC Canada
I have a roll up cover. I made a seal kit from foam weather stripping, 1/2 " thick, 3/4 " wide. Put it up up each side of box, inside so when taildpgate shut she is tight. Nothing on the bottom. Also added a strip across top of front of box, under front edge of the box cover. Drove 1500 or so Km in snowing, dry, cold weather, no complaints about wet, snowing, dirty Christmas presents. If they get damaged hauling rock, landscaping supplies or lumber, I just go get another roll at my local hardware. I am sure next summer it will need redoing, it was -30s when installed in garage at -10, so curing not ideal. But, it's maybe $10 buck worth of materials. Oh, long bocpx tonneau cover, only came with three clamps per side for the rails, so I bought extra clamps to seal her up tight. I will take my small extra c clamps off and replace one day when not so cold. 8 foot rails, need more clamps.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 5,158
Likes: 35
From: North of Salt Lake City
The tailgate seal that came with the Retrax said there is a vacuum in the box when the cover is closed that draws in air, dust, snow, mist, etc. Any kind of seal will help minimize that. The new 2017 aluminum bed has many more penetrations in it than the previous model. There's daylight between the bed floor and the bed walls up close to the cab and that has to contribute to dust getting into the bed also.
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 306
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I was also disappointed with one of the shelf truck bed seal kits so end up removing it, and went to Home Depot and found different thickness and width rubber seals for the sides and bottom. At first it was hard to close but later on it got easier as the foam seated well. I installed it to prevent dust from entering on long stretch farm roads. I am happy with the results.
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More Turbo
Joined: Oct 2016
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Thanks for that, they sent me one also and its still sitting on my kitchen counter.
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Freshman User
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The tailgate seal that came with the Retrax said there is a vacuum in the box when the cover is closed that draws in air, dust, snow, mist, etc. Any kind of seal will help minimize that. The new 2017 aluminum bed has many more penetrations in it than the previous model. There's daylight between the bed floor and the bed walls up close to the cab and that has to contribute to dust getting into the bed also.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 5,158
Likes: 35
From: North of Salt Lake City
It depends. I can see sealing the bed gaps but there are also slots at the front of the bed which are clearly there for draining water. It's never going to be air tight of course but I think it's worthwhile to close the unnecessary gaps.
Tuned
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 411
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Found some 7/8" tall by 3/4" wide bulb weather seal at the local AutoZone. Adhesive seems decent, but we'll see how it stands up. It was only an 8' length, and we really need about 10'. I used it to seal the bottom of the tailgate and the lower sides and used some 1/2" foam weather seal to close up the rest of the tailgate sides. The only parts not protected are the top corners of the tailgate, and my bed cover seal doesn't quite fully protect this area.
--Nathan
--Nathan
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