73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

I know there's a thread here that talks about the differences in 73 to 87 tailgates. Anyone know where it's at?

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

Fittament-wise or aesthetic-wise?

Early 70's gates were not removable on the fly,

You can put a mid-late 70's gate on an 80's box but it won't work the other way around.

Not sure when the changeovers happened exactly and it's not that big of a deal making an 80's gate fit on a 70's box, you just need to change out the pivots.

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

A thread on this forum starts the topic and a link is posted off site to the best info.

Here: Tailgate year break down
Off-site: Tailgate Identification - What year do I have?

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

Thank you.
You're right, the off site info was what I needed.
Next question. My gate is the 81 to 91, as is my bed. I also have the original gate from the 77, which is in better shape. Not sure which one to use.

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

I have two questions. I have two 1978 trucks one a c20 and the other a c30. If following the article Captkoas posted both of my trucks should have the tailgate with the CHEVROLET script in the middle and not offset to the right. Was this just an option that you could change in 1978? I would like the center CHEVROLET script but want it to look period correct.

http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps713e5399.jpg

My second question is did all the c30 trucks come with the red rear lights attached to the tailgate? I've also never seen the center Chevy script with these lights on them.

http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps6c3cb8b0.jpg

Thanks
Slim

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

There's more to the other thread here http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/sm...p?topic=6065.0

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

Thanks. It seems that they really don't have a definite answer when it was all over in that thread. If I'm reading the info right then basically both of my original looking trucks had their tailgates changed to an earlier tailgate. I see so many 76-80's with the same gate as me....

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

Someone swapped that first tailgate for an 81-87 model. I believe the tailgate lights were standard on all 1-ton trucks. And if you remove the tailgate band under your lights, you'll see that your tailgate has the embossed letters underneath of it still. GM used the same tailgates whether your truck had a tailgate band or not.

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

Well, I just found the tailgate that I like the best instead of figuring which year is which...

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

Now that you have two of them, besides the chevrolet stamping, is the inside of the tailgate stamped the same on both? Side profile the same?

Alex.

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

Well well well. I guess I answered my own question and yours too. I guess it could be any of the tailgates when you take the panel off...

http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps952fe796.jpg

http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps1bb9dfd3.jpg

http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps110f7b95.jpg

Re: 73 to 87 Tailgates?
 

I just put a tailgate used on my 81 Gmc . I had some leftover link assembly ( arms ) from a 72 c10. The tailgate won’t close as the arms keep hitting inside the tailgate panel before it will close all the way. Does anyone know if they arms from 67-72 are different? Length or something ?