Tailgates have been known to break with 700 pounds on them. I don't believe Ford officially publishes a weight limit to avoid liability concerns. The tailgate step is rated for 350 pounds, and it is cantilevered out away from the tailgate which means the gate itself can support more. Personally, I think 1,000 lbs is probably too much, but that's just me. I guess it might depend on if you are putting ramps up the tailgate which means it has to bear all of the load, or if you are driving on from a loading dock or similar position.

 

I would remove that tailgate to load that much weight.

 

I use the DG Manufacturing tailgate support for my ATV and have used them on my last two trucks. I also used to sometimes haul my Polaris Rzr 800 50 inch side by side in the bed of my truck using these and they work great.
https://www.dgmtailgatesupport.com/p...lgate-support/

 

Wouldn't only about 1/2 of the vehicle's weight be on the tailgate at any one time? Of course, that would depend upon the machine's weight bias. And there's the operator's weight to consider, too.

 

 

Same here, been using these for years on a few different trucks.

 

I had been pulling my tailgate off for the winter when I use my wide-track sled as I am worried about damaging it while loading/unloading. What a pain to take it off and install it by yourself. I just put it back on as I still want to use the back-up camera. Just ordered the tailgate support after seeing this.
Thanks guys.
If you leave this support on while driving does it diminish the tailgate flopping on bumps? Hoping it does as I can hear my banging even with my sled sitting on it. I assume my sled gets tossed up a little when I hit a bump and the gate goes with it.