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On this balmy 6 degree morning, I was trying to open my tailgate and the handle broke. Now this is not the first time I have dealt with this. I luckily had my older handle fron the time before there was a camera in the tailgate. So I am looking at replacing it with a metal handle instead of a plastic handle that seems to fail easily especailly in cold weather. Anyone have any suggestions on who or where has a good replacement product.
Truck is a MY 2016 F-350. The handle range will be 2008-16 for fitment on these generations.
On this balmy 6 degree morning, I was trying to open my tailgate and the handle broke. Now this is not the first time I have dealt with this. I luckily had my older handle fron the time before there was a camera in the tailgate. So I am looking at replacing it with a metal handle instead of a plastic handle that seems to fail easily especailly in cold weather. Anyone have any suggestions on who or where has a good replacement product.
Truck is a MY 2016 F-350. The handle range will be 2008-16 for fitment on these generations.
Thanks!
ive had the same issue! I’ve never thought about a metal one but I’m definitely going to subscribe to this thread
I actually picked up that exact one. I should have it by Friday according to the tracking. I found my original tailgate handle. A back up camera handle kit was installed several years back. I installed the handle part so I have access to the bed again. However, when the metal one comes in, it looks like it is primed and ready for paint. So I might have to wait until warmer weather for the install as I would want to paint and clearcoat for better protection. However I will update the thread once I am able too.
I fixed the handle on Sunday night after I was done for the day. What happened was I found the handle when the tech replaced the camera last year. He knew I wanted the handle back. It was at that point I realized the handle I had in the truck was the Fractory handle mated to the Holding bracket for lock and camera. So it was the same handle I had with the truck as I moved that handle to it in 2020 when the handle broke. When all of this happened my memory was jogged. The handle from the camera was weak not the factory. I moved the factory handle to the first kit but I never swapped to the replacement niether did the tech. I am sorry to sound so confusing. I have no other way to explain but if you saw it in person it would make sense.
The part came in on Thursday but since I worked a 16 hour day I really didn't a change to realized it showed up. I opened it up on Friday. Looks pretty descent. Taiwan build. Similar design as factory handle. I think I will just swap the handle itself to the current mount for the tailgate since the camera has 2 small phillips screws holding the camera in. When it gets a bit warmer I am going to swap out the handle and take pictures for better reference.
Installed the metal handle this afternoon. Here is how it went.
Metal on the left. Plastic OEM handle on the right in the Rydeen frame with camera hole.
Metal Handle installed in the Rydeen frame. Original handle broke into 3 peices last week when the handle broke while opening the tailgate. I found the original OEM handle on another frame when the tech replaced the failed camera last year.
Installed in the tailgate. There is the fit of the part. While I had the tailgate open, I gave it a quick shot of silcone lube on all moving parts. Much smoother.
From the outside. Looks like a stock handle. Retains all other function.
Here is a video of the handle in action Youtube unlisted. Click on the link
If you have any questions, just ask. It took about 15 minutes to swap out the plastic for the metal. The plastic panel in the back is held on 8 T27 torx shoulder bolt screws. There are a handful of plastic push in body clips. In my case, I had 2 10 mm nuts holding in the handle assembly.
