new tailgate?

[cstm68]

has anyone here bought a new tailgate from a catolog?

are they good quality?

is there truck shiping charges on them ??

[GREASEMONKEY72]

i cant really say much but from what ive seen and heard, the blank gates are wimpy and bow easy

[LUV2XCLR8]

I have the Blank gate on "Merlot" and it is pretty Stout, however the norm
is they are not, a nice used one or a NOS one is the best way to go, but u
better be ready to fork out some $ for it, BTW a NOS one is on Parts Board.

[Ironhorse]

I bought a re-pop 'gate from GMC Paul and was very happy with it. Don't recall the $$$ but quality and fit is good. It is a blank 'gate with no logo but after having it on the truck for a couple years now I like the blank look even more. Has held up well with no apparent weakness. Can sit or stand on it with no "bowing" . Hope that helps.

[19673ontree]

I bought one of the new chevrolet lettered taigates without doing any research and it SUCK'S , I have since seen five or so of the non lettered one's and one's like mine and they all have the same trouble
#1 thin is the word ,,,,,,,,toooo thin !
#2 won't fit the thickness is so that when close they look to be open
they stick out past the bedside about a 1/4 of an inch maybe more
I now have three tailgat'es I have the new one , I have my original with some rust but it's beat to death , and I picked up another with rust on the bottom but it has a good straight solid to rail ,,,,,,,,,,,,,
so here is what I'm gonna do none of my three are any good as they are , the new one look's and fit's good from the bottom up to say the latch , the original one I picked up the other day is good from the latch up , I think I'm gonna take those two and cut them in half and create one that will fit ,,,
that's all I know to do ,,,,,

[cstm68]

what is NOS? can i buy it repro from a catolog?

[dan42]

New Old Stock, and sometimes you can -

[SactoJim]

I Bought a "no letter" gate from The Truck Shop and was very dissapointed......thinner gauge metal and worst of all is how badly the body lines didn't line up.

In the first pic there is no adjusting to fix it! The second pic shows a little damage from shipping, but again, the body lines are off.

The third and fourth is the factory gate...lines up good.

The fifth was my solution!


I cut it up and used the inner skin to redo my factory gate since that was the main reason for getting it to begin with.

[1LoC10]

I bought mine from wes at http://www.classicheartbeat.com/products1.htm been on for over a year and I have had up to 400 pounds on it... fits great and i have nothing bad to say about it

[1LoC10]

side

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

I bought a re-pop 'gate from GMC Paul and was very happy with it.

I believe that is where this one is from also, the PO bought it, not me.

*Lower right corner is a body blemish, not from the tailgate fitment

[see ten]

I bought a Goodmark gate without the letters a few years ago and I can't complain about it. It was much better than the one I had bought ten years ago when all you could get was a slick gate that wasn't good for anything but holding the color of your truck! Mine was dented the first time we closed it hard. Here's my Goodmark gate.



Of course there is no substitute for an NOS gate! I bought this one just cause I thought it was to good of a deal to let it go.

[19673ontree]

I notice that not a lot are saying anything about this so I am just gonna spill it , the aftermarket tailgate's unless they make MAJOR fitment improvement's are total JUNK ! I am pissed as hell with mine I paid almost $400 buck's for it and it's usless !! I notice now that LMC and some other's have lowered the price to $200?? something , word must be getting out and they are gonna get stuck with them , this is the worst aftermarket part I have ever seen , mine was advertised as being heavy gauge same as original FLAT OUT LIE !
if I had any way of getting my truck done without cutting and using part's of this thing I would lay it down on some concrete and take my 12lb sledge hammer to it till I got my money's worth out of it ,,,, and let's don't even get into the inch to short front fender patch !!
my goodness they sell this stuff everyday !!!! DAMN

[AKChevyman]

I have to say I bought a repop tailgate one of the dynacorn gates It looked OK until you went to put in on the truck so I took it apart and used the side braces from my old gate and welded in a 1x1 tube from one side to the other to reinforce the edge of the tailgate the body lines had to be massaged but it fit's fine now oh and I had to drill all the spot welds from the bottom to squeeze the gate together at the bottom because it was too wide and rubbed the cross sill. That is my experience with repops Next time I will get a decent take off gate for $400-$500 that way I know it is made correctly. I almost had a really nice one for $300 last year but didn't think I could fit it in the Chevelle for the hour drive back home from the show.

[kelsfine69]

M2c

I seen a NOS GM gate at the Portland swapmeet a couple of years back for...

Choke...$1000firm

[MT1972cheyenne]

I have followed these trucks for quite a few years now, and I can remember WAY BACK guys were not happy about fit the GM tailgates. I have tried at least a half dozen used GM tailgates on trucks over the years that didn't fit well either. If GM fit is that bad, I doon't expect much better from aftermarket ones. Its too bad though.

[19673ontree]

another idea I am thinking about is to just modifie the bedside's to match the tailgate , this will be easier than modifying the tailgate itself , my tailgate look's ok just sitting against the wall , it is straight and look's good it's just that it is off bad on the side where it meet's the bed ,,,,,,,, just an idea ,,

[TONE]

I bought my blank endgate from Classic Parts of America (formerly Chevy Duty). The first time I climbed in the back of the box after painting it, it bowed on the backside which put a huge crease on the out side of it.I weigh 180 lbs. I was pi$$ed! After a lot of pulling, pushing, cussing, and reinforcing, I got it back to good. They do have a lot of good parts here, I've bought many, but do not buy their blank end gates!

[1LoC10]

i have 400 pounds on mine and its fine

[TONE]

Different place http://classicparts.com

[cypress TX 72]

I have bought just about every one made, I can say that the best repro is Goodmark, however compared to NOS or OEM used THEY R JUNK!!!!!
I have had the bend when someone sits on them (kids) and the fitment - forget it - you need a die grinder, crakerbox welder, and a lot of patience.

After I went through all of that about two years ago, I went out and bought all the good used gates I could find - after about 8 months I only found 5 - I used 2 sold one and have 2 left.
Let me know if your interested and I'll send you pictures.
tonys72@sbcglobal.net

[PICKMUP]

How can some guys always come on and say these are junk, won't hold 200 lbs, don't fit and some company's are much better??? TGs are all made by the same factory, same metal, etc. The only thing different is the boxes they go in. There may be some bad manufacturing runs and poor quality control, but they are all the same.
The other group of guys says they are great, fit good, hold 400 lbs and never had a problem with them.
We will never know! I think they are a good piece for the $$$ and really clean up a truck. Perfectionists will never be happy. I think I will raise the prices on my "take off" gates. They must be worth a lot more to some folks.

[cstm68]

can i buy just a new inner replacement panel ??

[cypress TX 72]

Pickmup,
you may be right, I cannot agrue that fact with any backup that would prove different (all being made by the same people) - however, I can absolutly assure you that I have two aftermarkets in my garage, bought between 2004 and 2005 and they are two completly different gauges. One of them - The first one I bought I put about 15 hours in fitment (trimming, welding, and filling) and finally decided I just recieved a bad one - So I ordered a new one - from another vendor (Good Mark) may have been the same manufacture - who knows - but this one was a heavier gauge (the gate it self was 17lbs heavier) - Fitment was just OK, not great, but OK ...... I had to cut out one circle hindge and lower it almost 1/2 inch to level the gate. re-weld and clean.
I painted the gate, put it on my truck ----LOOKED GREAT!!!! at the second show. My daughter (8 years old at the time) 70-80 lbs sat in the middle of the gate and raised up to stand on it - bent it to about a 2" bow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NEVER -NEVER-NEVER again
Facts - and since I do not sell them, I have nothing to gain or loose by sharing my experiences.
I will say this, the OEM's are just about gone forever, and with a little work the Repro's can look perfect!!! Just what ever you do . . . . . do not treat them like you would a OEM gate. or you will be sorry.
Cypress

[19673ontree]

well it's back down to 31 friggin degree's here in southrust virginia , it's to cold to work on my truck as I have been till 10pm or later every night for week's , so sitting here thinking I have decided that I am gonna modify my bedside's to match the new tailgate , my new tailgate standing up against the wall look's fine , it's straight , it has no ding's or shipping damage , the chevrolet letter's are correct looking , but when you install it the side stick out , so rather than cutting up two or three tailgate's it will be much easier to add metal to the bedside's , only drawback to this is that if I ever find an orginal gate it won't line up if I put it on , I probably won't never find one anyway so to get my money's worth out of the new one that's what I am gonna do ,,,,,
when it warm's up I'll get back to the truck , weld it grind it , weld it grind it , fill it sand it , fill it sand it , prime it block , prime it block it , and it go's on and on , and on , and on , and on ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, is it worth it ?????????????

HELL YES IT IS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!