Does your truck look better with the tailgate band on, or off?

[bennylava]

I'm thinking of getting rid of the tailgate band on my 87 at some point. It's dinged up and while it could be flattened back out, it seems like it would be difficult to recreate the factory brushed aluminum look. It would be pretty noticeable you painted it.

So have you ever ditched the tailgate band, and how did it look? Thank you

[TKCR]

I think it looks better with the band. If you take it off, you'll have holes in the tailgate.
They do repop these. Ive seen them, and you'll think its a NOS band. You won't tell the difference at all.

[Dead Parrot]

This is a tailgate I got several years ago from the local Pull-a-Part. Back when there were still a lot of square bodies in the yards. It had a band on it but I pulled it off as it was damaged and I didn't want to be charged for a trim piece in addition to the tailgate. As noted, you will wind up with 4 holes. IIRC the tailgate was $30.

[sick472]

My 85 was stripped of all it's trim before I bought it. I wouldn't have it any other way since I us it and drive it a lot, but a nicely done truck with a trim package screams for the tailgate band! I love trim on a finished truck, or car.

A work truck's trim is just going to get buggar'd up and look shotty anyhow.

[Loco83]

I like without.

[mongocanfly]

if you have all the other trim, then it looks better with
if theres no side trim ,then without

[4u2nv]

Painted to match the colour along the bottom of truck and hand pin striped around each letter in black

[bennylava]

That one looks pretty good. Got any more pics from further away?

Yeah the holes would have to be filled. I was just curious if anyone decided to remove it when they painted the truck.

[69Tom]

Mine was a stepside and I just converted to a fleetside. I put on all the other molding aside from the tailgate band. I'm ok with it off, but I think I'm definitely going to put it on once I find a nice one.

[old Rusty C10]

i love chrome i put one on there when i had none

[Corts60]

My old C10 originally had a larger band that filled the whole cavity like Tina’s, but I swapped in the smaller band after the repaint as I looked the way it looked better.

[85/Silverado]

Yep

[bennylava]

Originally Posted by Corts60

My old C10 originally had a larger band that filled the whole cavity like Tina’s, but I swapped in the smaller band after the repaint as I looked the way it looked better.

Hey I really like those colors. Do you happen to know what colors they are, or perhaps the paint codes?

A few more pics of the truck would be welcome as well!

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by bennylava

Hey I really like those colors. Do you happen to know what colors they are, or perhaps the paint codes?

A few more pics of the truck would be welcome as well!

Thanks buddy. I can’t remember anymore, I’ll have to look them up when I get home. They were factory colors in 1978. Here is another pic.

[Corts60]

The light green is called sea mist and the dark green is Holly.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Corts60

The light green is called sea mist and the dark green is Holly.

That’s sharp! I love the green trucks. Can we see the interior?

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by TKCR

That’s sharp! I love the green trucks. Can we see the interior?

Unfortunately I don’t have any Tina! My hard drive crashed a couple years ago and I lost all my pics from the build. My threads on here are pictureless because i unfortunately used photo bucket back then and they jacked my pics when I wouldn’t pay their ridiculous annual fees.

[bennylava]

Originally Posted by Corts60

My threads on here are pictureless because i unfortunately used photo bucket back then and they jacked my pics when I wouldn’t pay their ridiculous annual fees.

Yeah they really went down the toilet. You can use imgur now though. It's still free

[special-K]

I removed the tailgate band on an '84 Silverado I had because I used it for work. While the tailgate band is a pretty sight on the back of a truck, it doesn't make much sense to put a big frail piece of flat trim where it is so vulnerable to damage. No trim looks better than dinged trim. Plus I like the body forming that gets covered up, as well as the traditional embossed "brand" all trucks had up until GMT400s.

Originally Posted by bennylava

Yeah they really went down the toilet. You can use imgur now though. It's still free

The problem is all the pictures held ransom on Photobucket. Is there a way to steal those back? I have thousands of pictures there, going back to '04.

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by special-K

I removed the tailgate band on an '84 Silverado I had because I used it for work. While the tailgate band is a pretty sight on the back of a truck, it doesn't make much sense to put a big frail piece of flat trim where it is so vulnerable to damage. No trim looks better than dinged trim. Plus I like the body forming that gets covered up, as well as the traditional embossed "brand" all trucks had up until GMT400s.


The problem is all the pictures held ransom on Photobucket. Is there a way to steal those back? I have thousands of pictures there, going back to '04.

I tried to steal them back. But they won’t let you. You have to pay their ransom. Not only all my square body pics were there, but all my 60 GMC pics. I almost hunted down the CEO for a minute. Haha.

[Loco83]

Originally Posted by 85/Silverado

Yep

Nice!

[bennylava]

Originally Posted by special-K

I removed the tailgate band on an '84 Silverado I had because I used it for work. While the tailgate band is a pretty sight on the back of a truck, it doesn't make much sense to put a big frail piece of flat trim where it is so vulnerable to damage. No trim looks better than dinged trim. Plus I like the body forming that gets covered up, as well as the traditional embossed "brand" all trucks had up until GMT400s.


The problem is all the pictures held ransom on Photobucket. Is there a way to steal those back? I have thousands of pictures there, going back to '04.

If it were me, I would pay the one month, or whatever minimum you possibly can and then cancel after you get all the pics back. I would also buy an external hard drive and keep them backed up at my house from now on, just in case.

But back to the tailgate bands, what is the best method of polishing the big band on my 87 truck? I read that they're actually anodized. So I wouldn't want to harm the grain, or the finish on the aluminum. Something tells me standard car polish is a bad idea.

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by bennylava

If it were me, I would pay the one month, or whatever minimum you possibly can and then cancel after you get all the pics back. I would also buy an external hard drive and keep them backed up at my house from now on, just in case.

But back to the tailgate bands, what is the best method of polishing the big band on my 87 truck? I read that they're actually anodized. So I wouldn't want to harm the grain, or the finish on the aluminum. Something tells me standard car polish is a bad idea.

Yep, they’re anodized. I always just soaked a rag in wd40 and wiped that on after washing the truck. Kept it nice and shiny.

[dagnabbitt]

Depends upon your paint, really nice paint doesn't need trim covering it.

I'm really split on it though, it really just depends upon the truck.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Corts60

Yep, they’re anodized. I always just soaked a rag in wd40 and wiped that on after washing the truck. Kept it nice and shiny.

Mine, I did take mine off, and worked out some of the dents. Then I cleaned and polished it, using Brasso. And I do the same , but wipe it down with Skin So Soft, but it’s the same as using WD40. Keeps it nice and shiny.
Did the same thing with my cab trim.
That sucks about all your pictures! I’d find some way of getting those back.