Hey guys, not sure if this is the best spot for this but I figured that I would post it here.

Over the last few weeks, I have noticed that my tailgate was sagging on the left side and was not latching on the drivers side. Yesterday I went to close it and the bottom swung right out and after further inspection, it looks like the pin or socket that anchors that side has rusted/broken loose.

What is the fix for this problem????

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Are you talking about the part on the gate or the body? The piece that holds the hinge socket is a "L" shaped bracket I believe. It is available from Ford and has to be spot welded to the gate body. It is a one piece part to replace the socket. On one side it has a gap in the cup that allows you to lift the gate off when it is held at an angle. The other side is a cup that fits over the hinge pin.

 

It is the cup side and I stopped at lunch time at the garage that I use for my repair work. They were a Ford dealer until they decieded not to renew their franchise with Ford.
Anyways, the service writter and the body man said that they maybe able to remove the cup side that has setup on the pin and weld it back to the tailgate. The only problem is that the cup portion is rusting and there may not be enough material there to weld it properly. Also the existing tailgate is starting to show surface rust on the lower edge. To repair may run around $125.

The other option is to get a new tailgate which then everything will be new and it will cost about $225.

I plan on keeping it for at least 5 - 6 more years.

 

Item Details

 

Welded my cup back on my tailgate-no problems. Bring it to a welding shop, should take them a few minets and cost just a few dollars
Chris

 

There is a retired body man that lives near me and he said that he could weld it back on. Now it is a case of getting the cup off of the pin na dhoping that it is solid enough to weld.