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1948 - 1956 F1, F100 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Fat Fendered and Classic Ford Trucks

Anyone make their own tailgate?

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Old May 21, 2008 | 05:43 PM
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Anyone make their own tailgate?

Did anyone out their fabricate their own tailgate? I am going to be purchasing the metal tomorrow to build mine for my 55. I was curious if anyone had any pics

Thanks,

ben
 
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Old May 21, 2008 | 05:55 PM
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Take a look at Bobbytynm's gallery. I tried to link it but I'm not smart enough. Look under Tighwad Tailgate.
 
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Old May 21, 2008 | 06:01 PM
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Look in my gallery I made the one on my 55 (the blue one) I used 1 inch round tubing at the bottom and 1 inch square tubing at the top and 16 ga sheet metaland a piece of 3X2 square tubing cut in half for the sides. I have since installed a repo one (primer color)
 
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Old May 21, 2008 | 09:40 PM
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Here's the link to my tailgate gallery;
1949 Ford F1 4x2 - Poor-boy Tailgate

My gate was pretty beat up. It looked like at som epoint it had been bent backwards. My guess is that it was probably hanging all the way down and someone backed over something. The top and bottom rails were toast also. I wanted to keep the rasied panels and the Ford script. I got some 1" tubing and used them for the upper and lower rolls. I took some light gauge 1/2" angle iron and used that for the perimeter frame.

To make the hinges fit into the bottom roll I pressed in a couple of sections of 1/2" pipe into the tubing of the bottom roll.

While I was at it I also fabricated some hidden spring latches to hold it closed.

Bobby
 
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Old May 23, 2008 | 01:32 AM
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here's mine
 
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Old May 23, 2008 | 04:56 PM
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Thanks guys. I am interested in how people did the aftermarket hinges, etc. I am starting with no tailgate at all and I think a plain one looks just that , too plain. I may end up grafting a Ford script from an earlier F1 into the center of the tailgate but I have not decided just yet.

All of these tailgates look good

ben
 
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Old May 23, 2008 | 08:14 PM
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Did someone say custom hinges? I just grafted the old embossed FORD into a new sheet and laid it over the old gate, so it's pretty heavy, but it looks cool.


Here's the whole gallery: 1956 Ford F100 4x2 - Bed Mods
 
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Old May 24, 2008 | 12:55 PM
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Randy, where did you get the cables for the tail gate. Was it bulk 1/8" cable that you just crimped the ends onto or were they purchased complete. Nice work on the bed by the way.
 
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Old May 24, 2008 | 03:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Kusto
Randy, where did you get the cables for the tail gate. Was it bulk 1/8" cable that you just crimped the ends onto or were they purchased complete. Nice work on the bed by the way.
Yes, I just cut the cable to length and crimped them. A local store let me use their monster crimper for a small fee. When I tried crimping the ends with the tool I had, it didn't work very well.
 
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Old May 24, 2008 | 03:11 PM
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Randy, your bed is absolutely amazing. I too have wide back tires and need to widen my fenders. However, you went about a very interesting way that ended up looking awesome
 
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