Raptor tailgate

[Jhollowell]

I removed the plastic covering the tail gate. It is only fastened at the top and top half of the side, so the bottom is loose and warps up and get hung up when sliding stuff out of the bed. Also, those plastic ripples are hard on the knees of this old man. I installed a sheet of aluminum diamond plate in place of the plastic cover. It's flat, so like it much better. Did the same on the previous two trucks. The diamond plate is easier to slide stuff in and out of the bed than the ribbed metal tailgate, but is not as slippery as the plastic covering, which, for me is a good thing.

I like that idea. Can you post a few pics?


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[Gary E]

I used 0.100" thick diamond plate. Having used 0.125" on the previous trucks, I decided it didn't need to be that thick. The tailgate assist strut still works fine even with the added 15 pounds of the plate. Used four flush (metric) screws across the top and bottom, and 1 on each side middle. Metric because of the existing screw holes along the top.

Also, with this plate, may have no need for that $300 access cover plate. At $300, it is not far from the cost of a whole new bare tailgate.

 

[Deckmaster]

Thanks
I finally got around to installing a plate on the truck.



Looks much better and is way easier to get things over. Now just to go have the bed sprayed by Line-X.