Aftermarket Tailgate (crappy fit)

[SactoJim]

Just got my tailgate a few days ago and test fit.....not a good fit. Only reason I got it is because the inside of the original is just too beat up to fix, so it looks like I'm going to take the inside skin off the new one and graft it onto the original. Shouldn't be too tough to drill out the spot welds around the sides and bottom, but will have to do a butt weld at the inside top. Anybody else done this???...and if so....tips, advice?

Even though I was told otherwise, this tailgate is definately not as heavily built as the original. I don't know how many sources there are for these things, but I can't imagine there is more than a couple with the appropriate equipment to stamp these things.....someone educate me.

The pictures tell the story!

[smbrouss70]

Man, that looks like crap. What brand tailgate is that? I have a tri-plus gate that I got from MotherTruckers a couple of years ago, but it's still in the box, I haven't test fitted yet. Maybe I need to do that the next chance I get.

[Luis_gz06]

All Aftermarket parts suck , but sometimes you have no choice.

[QKENUF4U]

ya think yours is bad ya should see mine !!!

[67ChevyRedneck]

That does look like crap! My fenders and doors fit well as did my stepside tailgate. Of course, it's hard to screw up the bodylines on a step gate Sorry man

[chevybill]

Return that gate if you can and get a DYNACORN tailgate from Ed at Mothertruckers in Florida. Since you are on the west coast he might can tell you of a dynacorn dealer in your area or check the dynacorn website for california dealers.

[1LoC10]

I got mine from WES and it fits great.. maybe I was lucky

[SB406]

Your original gate looks pretty damn good to me! Mine was S-Shaped to start from crap sliding & slamming into it. Started straightening it with a sledge hammer, a wood block, & a straight edge on the front lawn. The only reason I started with it is because it's a southern gate w/ no rust. It's not perfect, but my truck is a driver, not a show truck anyway. The inside is a little banged up, but if someone has the nerve to say something about it, that's when I'll tell them to get the hell away from my truck.
-Mike

[SoCal71K20]

I see not much has changed. Good luck.

[Bowtie468]

I wasn't aware that Dynacorn produces a gate for these trucks !

[71swb4x4]

I bought mine from GMC Paul, fits great, and isn't flimsy.

[Dano69c10]

Wow! That is a bad fit!
Not to hijack, but...
Let's start a list or sticky of good (decent) after-market parts.
A list of bad after-market parts would help too. Maybe it should be in the reviews thread.
This would help members steer clear of really bad crap.
Dano

[smoknbarrels]

it seems that the end gates with the chevy lettering seem to be thicker and are a better fit, ones that are blank (half price) weigh less and don't fit the same.. supposedly they are made from the same dies in tiwan but who knows... there is another thread that covers this in better detail, but i gotta run right now, and don't have time to look it up and make a link.
hopefully this sheds some light on some tailgate issues.

[SactoJim]

The outside of my gate is really good with exception to all the snap holes and generally the sloppy spot welds at the sides and in the recessed area. That was one nice thing about the aftermarket gate in that the spot welds were really nice and no extra work was required. The inside of my gate is just to beat up to try and repair.

[72CSTC5]

Sacto lets see the pics of the inside of the gate and maybe I can give you some tips.

[SactoJim]

The areas that are circled are the worst. The bottom is bowed in quite a bit and the top is pretty bad as well. Every recessed square area has dents as well. Believe me, I have looked at this pretty hard and just like anything, it can be fixed, but time involved would be substantial.

Like I said previously, I'm going to use the back of the repro tailgait and graft onto the original.

[Bob B.]

It sure seems that the 'smoothie' tailgates do not fit as good as the lettered ones do.

[MisterMan]

Originally Posted by SactoJim

Just got my tailgate a few days ago and test fit.....not a good fit. Only reason I got it is because the inside of the original is just too beat up to fix, so it looks like I'm going to take the inside skin off the new one and graft it onto the original. Shouldn't be too tough to drill out the spot welds around the sides and bottom, but will have to do a butt weld at the inside top. Anybody else done this???...and if so....tips, advice?

Even though I was told otherwise, this tailgate is definately not as heavily built as the original. I don't know how many sources there are for these things, but I can't imagine there is more than a couple with the appropriate equipment to stamp these things.....someone educate me.

The pictures tell the story!

are you going for show quality??? and btw, wow. thoes pictures are amazing, how many pixles is it?? truck looks gooooooooooooooood man.

[SactoJim]

I wish I would have ordered the lettered tailgate, but thought I would save a few $ and get the plain because I am installing the tailgate band. I figured the extra $ for the lettered gate was GM licensing crap.....maybe not.

Misterman - I'm using a 2 megapixel camera and I finally figured out how to consistently post good pics. I use Photoshop Elements to resize the pic to 640pixels wide and then save as a copy. during the save process you can adjust the size to the required 100K.

I don't know if "show quality" will be the right term, but I'm doing all the bodywork inside the bed and want it to be nice. Thanks for the compliment!

[SB406]

How much do you want for your old gate? That thing's mint compared to mine.

[SactoJim]

SB406 - I'm going to use the original. Gonna cut the inside skin off both gates and graft the aftermarket back onto the original gate. Make one good gate outa two.

[MisterMan]

Originally Posted by SactoJim

I wish I would have ordered the lettered tailgate, but thought I would save a few $ and get the plain because I am installing the tailgate band. I figured the extra $ for the lettered gate was GM licensing crap.....maybe not.

Misterman - I'm using a 2 megapixel camera and I finally figured out how to consistently post good pics. I use Photoshop Elements to resize the pic to 640pixels wide and then save as a copy. during the save process you can adjust the size to the required 100K.

I don't know if "show quality" will be the right term, but I'm doing all the bodywork inside the bed and want it to be nice. Thanks for the compliment!

same as mine, but thoes pictures look amazing as well as your truck... if i were you i would just leave it. or send it back. its too much truble for me to go cutting er' up. if i were you i would just leave it. and believe me. i have to have everything perfect. i removed my seats 5 times until the tracks were square!! lol.

[SactoJim]

I love to leave it if I could, but if I put shiny paint on that thing, it would look like big time sh*t. To much of a hassle to box up gate and send back and then order another that might not fit as well.

Besides, this helps me polish up the fabrication skills that I don't have!!

Also, when all is said and done, all sheet metal on the truck will be factory with exception to the bed front and inner tailgate skin.

[smbrouss70]

I say go for it, More bragging rights in the end.

[SB406]

I'd fix the old one. Drill a few holes in the back, Pull out the dents with a dent puller, & weld the holes back in. Grind em, smooth over it, & you're done. Just my $.02.