RePop Tailgates all the same?

[nevada]

My 72 tailgate has bondo in it. the LET of Chevrolet are gone, and upper part of tailgate has bondo too so it may have taken a minor 2mph bump that crumpled it years ago. the gate operates perfectly...just dont like knowing there is 5 lbs of bondo in it.

Question, are the new reproduction tailgates any good? are some better than others or do all the sites I see, LMC , etc get their repop gates from same factory and sell them?

Have read online that the repops are lighter gauge? lighter gates? this true?

Body shop will cost double to repair my OEM gate over just replacing it but if the repops are garbage, perhaps I bite the bullet and pay to repair my original,, there in no rust on it, hinges and bottom of gate are perfect.

which way would you guys go on this?

[hugger6933]

I will tell you that the smooth gate[with no lettering] is from all accounts junk. The ones that do have lettering are quite a bit thicker and are supposedly the same gauge as the OE gate. I do have one in a box at my shop and I know it is heavy as all get out. I moved it today. Now with that being said and NOT knowing how it fits yet, I would check into seeing about having yours reworked. You said the LET was gone do you mean it has been filled in with filler? if so you may have more damage than most will fool with. I will also tell you now as back then the tailgates are harder to fix[gate are normally thicker than the side sheetmetal] and the tops are really hard to pull because it is thick there and the medal seems tougher

[hugger6933]

OK I didn't see the pics before my answer. get a new gate it was bent bad enough that they cut it open to work it over yet still lost the lettering. replace.

[nevada]

Thanks

but are all websites with repop gates the same quality....as mentioned , LMC has one with chevrolet lettering for $329.

I guess their gates are as heavy and same quality as any other vendors selling them online?

[hugger6933]

The one I have is a tri plus and those are good parts. I'm not sure how many companies make a gate.

[franken]

My guess is most Asian parts (as in all repro parts) are from the same company after all the BS is laid to rest. LMC. Goodmark, and so on make nothing. They distribute parts.

[Ironhorse]

When I did the restore on my '71 4x4 I looked around long and hard for a decent useable OEM lettered tailgate. Everything I found looked like you could eat soup from it, dished and bent really bad or you could strain your spaghetti thru the rust holes. Finally bought a re-pop from GMCPaul, non lettered and have been VERY satisfied. My body guy said he couldn't tell it from original other than the lettering not being on the gate. Has held up well over the years, standing on it, sitting on it and normal use. I don't haul engines and transmissions loose in the bed since most of the tailgates I found seemed that was their use at that time. Not sure where or who GMCPaul purchased their gates from at the time but I would contact them about a gate. GMCPaul generally has a great rep here for parts and customer service. Wish I had thought to look at the box it came in a bit closer. Not sure I still have the invoice or if it has a description but will look and post if I find it. At the time they had both lettered and non-lettered gates in stock. Kinda liking the blank look my self.

[Greg58]

I had a reproduction end gate on a 77 Ford pickup I used to own. It was quite flimsy and actually bowed in the middle from people sitting on it.
I have no experience with the aftermarkets for our trucks.
Greg

[James the III]

Originally Posted by franken

My guess is most Asian parts (as in all repro parts) are from the same company after all the BS is laid to rest. LMC. Goodmark, and so on make nothing. They distribute parts.

Yup, BUT... some vendors get better stock..
AMD /goodmark will tend to get the better quality passing stock..
Ideally if there is a vendor close to you that you can look the part over.. helps..

Many forget that many service body parts from the oem.. AKA nos..
where rejects off the line.. meaning they didn't fit worth a crap.. and they line is moving so they grabbed another..

Many also forget if they made them as good as oem new. you couldn't afford the hobby.. Go price out a new truck hood.. and then price a replacement for these trucks.. almost bet you can buy 3 of these to one of the new truck g.m. oem hood .

Many more forget the fit and finish of these in 67-72.. we've all seen way tomany trucks with more hours in panel fitment and gaps than it took to build the thing when new..

[nevada]

guess I'll order a new gate and hope they are better, back in the early 90's I ordered a after market front fender for my datsun pickup after hitting a deer....new panel was flimsy and didnt fit worth a damn, after re-drilling holes and massaging it bolted up albeit with larger panel gaps vs the other fender.