Tailgate support hinge color?

[custom10nut]

What color are the Two tailgate support hinges from the Factory?
Was it just a dull silver bare metal?
Kinda like an Argent Sliver?
The reason for asking is, I pulled mine off to soak and get rid of the surface rust, and they HAD paint all over them from an old repaint job.
I think they’re just bare metal, right?

[Louisvillekytruck]

They are painted body color the tailgate and hardware was paint altogether on the truck

[mr.mud1]

the tailgate support arms on my Fremont built truck were not painted.they are silver or light gray,natural metal finish is what it looks like to me.

[DeadheadNM]

Hinges and the big square rubber bumpers were painted body color. The smaller rounded rubber bumpers weren’t painted and must have been added post paint.

[FirstOwner69]

My '69s tailgate straps were painted when the truck was new as I recall. The paint just wore off over the years.

[Richard]

AFAIK the hinged links that hold the gate were a silver color, not body color. Mine were not body color and it was obvious several panels had been repainted, including the bedsides. Do not see a reason GM would have painted them. 50 years ago, so the parts could have been replaced. Guessing gate was not in place during paint by GM. So body color is unlikely IMO.

[special-K]

They were absolutely most definitely painted body color or not painted at all. Either or, not one or the other. I have multiple examples. Mostly I have seen painted body color.

Maybe the outside of a tailgate, or just the accent paint, was painted on the truck but it's hard to believe the whole tailgate was painted on the truck

[Jason Banks]

I think the natural silver color is galvanized. I have seen them both ways...painted and not...

[mkmc69]

Mine are silver or galvanized plating of some sort. Probably depends on where the truck was built.

[mr.mud1]

well as i said on my truck and that's all i have to compare to,the supports are not painted,maybe plated or something but definately not painted and also not painted are the square rubber bumpers or the round bumpers.that's why there are missing from the pictures,so they won't get painted.you can see the black square bumpers in my picture.that is a 74,000 mile truck with original paint at that point.

[DeadheadNM]

Few original paint examples

[custom10nut]

Interesting
It’s wild to see how many different ways these truck were optioned/equipped
As I was cleaning mine up a removing the little bit of surface rust, I found that mine were the “Bare Metal/galvanized” option.
The paint that was on them was from the repaint (Poor quality) that was was put on the truck in the late 70s, by the second owner

Today I shot the with an Argent Silver color
One day I may powder coat them, but for now they look decent