I have a 78 F150 and just painted my tailgate, when I put it back on all of a sudden it will not close properly. It travels fine unitl about 6 to 8 inches from the latch and then it suddenly stops and I have to force it to close. Before it closed without any problems. Does the hinges have to be oriented in a particular position. I have them on the right sides of the truck was wondering if I have them on backwards. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

You may have them backwards. To put them on you have to orientate the hinges in the opposite direction "upward" and then lay the tailgate down. When closing, the hinges will swing in the downward direction.

 

Thanks, for the reply but I am talking about the hinges at the bottom of the tailgate that attach to the body of the truck with two bolts.

 

Actually, he still may not be far off of accurate. While he's referring to the hinge bars and you're meaning the hinge cups that bolt to the body, the concept may be somewhat similar.

If you're sure you installed the cups the same way (right on right, left on left, and not upside down), then things should be ok. If, however, you got them switched, or if it's possible to bolt them on upside down (as the bolt holes are the same distance from each other regardless), then that could be part of the problem. The other aspect to this is that while they bolt into a fairly fixed position, they do move, and you'll have to fiddle with them to get them bolted in precisely the correct position. You'd be amazed how a tiny incremental movement of those hinge cups can translate into major tailgate alignment issues. Anyway, that'd be the first place I'd be looking. I wouldn't even bother with the hinge bars until you've got the hinge cups aligned properly.

That's my $0.02

 

Oh OK, sorry about that. I also think Behemoth is right. When I put my tailgate on just recently, I had the cups switched around and I could almost get my tailgate on and probably could have, but it was binding pretty good and I didn't want to scratch paint so I had to switch the cups around and then it slid right in. And just being off just a little bit can bind things up.

 

Mine have a little indentation on the cup that attaches to the bed, do you remember how you positioned yours? toward the front or rear?

 

2) D3TZ9943018A .. Tailgate Hinge-Bolts to Body / Fits: 1973/79 F100/350 Styleside.

 

The hinges aren't specific to each side... they look exactly the same.

Josh

 

Correctamundo, this is why I typed...

2) D3TZ9943018A .. (Styleside) Tailgate Hinge in the post above.

I assume (mebbe I shouldn't) that peeps can figure out that 2) means right AND left.

And...if they wooda been right and left, I wooda typed 1) & 1) and defined the sides.

 

Ok, so I now know that they are interchangable from side to side, but how do you mount them? when I look at the ball on the hinge it is not dead center they seem to be off center toward the front or rear depending on how you mount them.

 

All I know is I have 67-72 hinges on my truck. Work like a charm.

 

There are some adjustments to these hinges. Loosen the bolts on them, align the tailgate so the gaps are similar, tighten and check. Took me 10 minutes last time I removed mine to get them correct.