Has anyone bought one of these ebay aftermarket tailgates?
I don't expect them to be as stout as an original but how stout are they?
I guess as long as it doesn't bend in half the minute I bounce a heavy round of oak off it
will be good enough.
Mine is rotted thru the bottom, don't think it is salvageable at all.
Anyone have a good one they want to sell?

 

Great for show and resto but they are not as durable as oem.

 

yea as I expected but tin can durable/don't use it in a working truck?
I think I saw only 1 on ebay and it seemed pricey for what it is.
They rot from the inside out so pictures of the outside don't do this part much justice.
The 80's are move readily available but kind of hate to use one of them. Just might have to..

 

You may wish to search for this using the search function, as this has literally been beat to death a million times since the tailgates began being repopped.

in short, if it's a mall crawler show truck it'll be fine. If you use the truck like a truck it will not hold up at all.

 

Oh I figured I'd be like everyone else and just ask instead of searching the forum.

 

If nobody ever asked a question that hadn't already been asked and answered there would be no need for a forum. The search function on this site leaves much to be desired but I'm not a computer genius anyway. Plus we get the added bonus of seeing Miss Page when you post, and that's never a bad thing. A reminder of the prim & proper 50's where Mother's little helper kept the wife happy while Daddy was at work.

 

Here's a video that Fred posted on widening his tailgate. It was pretty rusted when he started. Maybe using the same idea you could save the one you have...~Pat

 

 

I'm torn on the subject, but would opt for an original every time anyway.
I bought a reproduction almost 30 years ago now. It was still made in China and did not have the FORD letters stamped into it. It weighed exactly the same as the original I took off, and looked and (basically) fit like the original too. As a bonus it comes with a nice e-coat finish on it that can be used as the primer with a tiny bit of surface preparation. At the time it never even occurred to me that a brand new one (even Chinese) would be better than a junkyard one. That I could have gotten for cheap all day long back the most likely.

The reason I'm sort of torn is that when I installed all the guts of the old one into the new one, the latch never did close to my satisfaction. However, in it's defense, the original had literally been mangled by a tractor, so I can't confirm that the hardware is not at fault for the sloppiness.
The tailgate closes like an original and fits very well. The lever just sits loose and in all these years I never replaced or fiddled with it much. And it's still in it's original e-coat as I never got around to painting it because "I was going to be painting the whole truck any day now" and never did.

That was then and this is now though, with a lot of spilled milk under the bridge. Can't say any current ones are going to be the same, but I really can't complain about what I got for, at the time $100 vs the $450 for a new one at the dealer.

Paul

 

 

the bottom is rotted out (like all the ones I see)and I don't believe it's able to be saved. Plus no welder.
appreciate the insight on the repops, I'll keep trying to find an oem.
here in ohio that would almost be like finding a unicorn.

 

What year truck tailgates will work on ours? I'm pretty sure anything up to 86 works. What year could we use up to?
I'm looking at an airflow tailgate but they only show 87 and up for f150's.
I think that will work but not positive.
Has anyone used one of those tailgates and how do you like it?