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I have a 1997 F-250 Heavy Duty that I just got from my mom's boyfriend, who bought it in 1998. It came with this ugly utility cap that I have just sold with the intention of putting a tailgate on it. I'm thinking this truck may have originally come with that utility cap and never had a tailgate. I think this because I bought a tailgate for it, then bought all the hardware. As I was attempting to put the hinge on the truck, I noticed there is nothing to screw the bolts into. What is supposed to be behind there for me to screw the bolt into?
You're missing the mounting plate (my term) that goes in there. It mounts on the inside, and has two captive nuts for the hinge bolts.
I don't think what you're experiencing with that truck is all that rare, as just this past summer I sold a tailgate on CL to a local guy who had the same thing (utility box inside the bed), and he had to buy the mounting plates elsewhere. Not sure if he sourced them online or found them in a junkyard, but they were easy to find, relatively inexpensive, and simple to install.
I have a nearly identical truck that came with the same type canopy.
The caged nuts were sourced from a wrecking yard. They come out easy once the old screws are removed.
The old screws are easier to remove with a hand held old school impact driver that you strike with a hammer.
Remove the caged nuts from the body by bending the body sheet metal retainers accessed from the tail light opening.
Get the rubber bumpers and the side seal strips too. Side seal strips are held in with serrated push pins. Both of these rubber pieces are available new as well.
A "correct" tailgate for a 97 HD is one that has no aluminum trim on the back and has a Ford oval stuck to the pass. side and F250HD emblem on the drivers side. But other 87/96 gates will fit too.
Where do the side seal strips go? I saw those on the LMC web site when I was buying parts. Can you see them from the outside, or are they on the inside of the sheet metal somewhere? And what do they do?
Most vendors also sell a plastic hinge bushing for the TG pivot hinge but I have never been able to make it work.
In fact, my 1993 F150 which I bought new, never had the plastic hinge bushings in the TG and the replacement TG I installed in my 97 HD wouldn't fit with those hinge bushings in place so I just make sure that the metal on metal gets some good lube in there.
If I remember right, I used sil-glide.
As acquired from local telco:
replacement blue tailgate from 1992 truck with XLT aluminum garnish panel
Also might be a good idea to re-install the two inner screws for mounting each tail light lens and getting rid of the two screws placed at the out edge of the lens. They were removed prior to canopy being installed to facilitate bulb replacement.
