Aftermarket Tailgates

[bb400ho]

I have a plain no letter gate that i put on my 68 gmc. I had already fit an original tail gate but since I eliminated all the emblems and lettering i decided to go with a plain gate. the gaps were larger on both sides. i ended up putting a weld bead down each side to shrink the gaps

[GMCPaul]

Originally Posted by Rich72C10

Sorry to dig up a very old thread but GMCPaul was the last reply and I just ordered a tailgate from them. I asked where the gate was manufactured, Dynacorn Industries & Key Parts INC by Apex in Taiwan.

Now my current gate is crap and when I would just set on it I could feel flex (I'm 205 lbs). A week ago we were unloading my brother's 78 Wurlitzer Jukebox he leaned it to me and than I stepped on the gate to catch my balance. It proceeded to fold. Luckily it was already on my list to replace since it had a bad dent on the outside from the PO. The tuck was restored roughly 10 years ago and this is when the new gate would have been bought/painted/installed.

I am really hoping this gate is MUCH better. I am hoping I am not really getting a "APEX manufactured gate which is a unbelievable 23 gauge steel tailgate". To be fair, on GMCPauls site, it is listed as new Tooling and 19 gauge.

But I do have a question: is it expected that all the hardware to be painted matching the truck - like the hangers/latches for the tailgate?

This post is over 14 years old, the suppliers have since re-tooled at Apex and began using the original gauge steel. Whats good one day eventually wears out and needs replaced because they are now bad from wear on tooling whats bad to start with often gets improved as they lose market share. So were constantly monitoring parts. IE: Until now the lower door skins were 13 1/2" tall suddenly most recent container they are 9" tall on same part # and we've heard that they are 1/2" to wide possibly on these 9" high repair panels. So that's the latest change of many that occur multiple times a year as things get replaced and changed sometimes we know prior especially when when it's a improvement and then you get hit with un-notified changes that are hit and miss on quality. Thus the constant need on our part to monitor whats occurring.
Apex, Dynacorn, Key Parts and several other manufacturers and suppliers have gone a long way in getting improvements made in the last 14 years.
Paul Jr @ GMCPauls

[Rich72C10]

Thanks Paul for replying, my story was more of my gate that I have now, not so much on the one I bought from you the other day. Though I did get a bit concerned about "Apex". I have bought a few things from you guys and the stuff has been super duper!