Too much work and too little sleep...

I backed into the poolman's Ford Ranger. His tailgate was down so I dog-eared his upper passenger side corner of his tailgate plus bent the hinge a bit. His truck is already pretty thrashed from years of service, so he said he'd try to bend it back into working order. If that doesn't work, I of course offered to pay for his repairs. That's the good news.

Bad news is: I creased the heck out of my tailgate. My tailgate was up at the time of impact and I hit it about dead center, so the thin sheet metal creased pretty well even though I was probably only going about 3mph.

Any ideas on where to get a replacement? I have a local wrecking yard doing a computer search; another yard quoted me $400 for a F-150 tailgate (they claim will fit, I'd just have to swap the emblems for my F-250 onto it). That sounded like a lot for a used tailgate that I'd also have to paint (theirs is white; my truck is dark grey).

I guess my other option is to go to the body shop and get an estimate and compare vs. going the wrecking yard route. But, if anyone knows of a place where I can get a 1999-2004 F-250 SD tailgate (preferably dark grey), please let me know!

Thanks,
DS

 

The tailgate from an F150 from 99-04 is different from the one on the F250 series. they wont fit. plus it would look pretty weird too, so I'd get the proper tailgate for the truck.
It sounds like you pretty much smashed his tailgate good.

 

newfordparts.com has pretty good deals on gates. I also have found some on ebay but that requires patience. Good luck I am in the same boat.

 

you can get a tailgate shell from ford in primer for 380.00 new just swap over your hardware.

 

The 97-03 F150 tailgates are actually almost identical to the SD gates. (the plastic tailgate protector is a bit different on the 150's.) There are plenty of Diesel crew cab long bed dually F150's around here, if you know what I mean...

FordPartsonline.com has the tailgate shells for $325, for example.

 

Thanks, all...

I have contacted both places to inquire about shipping costs to CA. I wil compare their overall prices to the quote I get from the body shop on Monday and determine which way is best to go. Thanks for the info on the OEM parts suppliers... I'm sure I will be using them at some point!

Best,
DS

 

Wait a minute. You can afford a poolman, which means you can afford a pool, which means maybe you can afford a house--and, you're going to a junkyard to fix your SD??? What's next? Retreads?

"Call the man, Aunt Bea. Call the man."

 

Oh yeah. And what's up with the site? I posted this same response yesterday and now it's gone.

 

Lnd Svyr,

"Frugal" is my middle name of late (see my E-mail to you for further)! I'm hoping to get the tailgate AND the front bumper repaired at the same time, now that things are looking up again.

For the rest of you who know/remember my situation: I ended up getting my old job back after a 19-month fight with the State of California. I'm back at work once again and loving it!

Cheers to all,
Daryl

 

congrats on the win daryl. tail gates hurt i've done that a few times my self..with my old yak "dodge". if i did that now to my s/d i think i would cry for a year over the custom paint and lettering on it.

 

Hi daryl,

Someone on ebay is selling a nice white oem f250 tailgate and the winning bid right now is 177.00 with just 12hours remaining!Good luck