SuperX1964
Member
Craigslist or "take off" shops can be a good resource. I had a damaged tailgate and found a King Ranch replacement on Craigslist for $150.00. $200 to paint and reinstall.
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Nice. I imagine there’s tons of places to ride in Dubai.
I messed up the tailgate on my last F-150, three times. I just claimed it on my insurance and paid the deductible each time. In no case did my insurance go up or anything.
In one case, something similar happened, the damn trailer came off the hitch ball and "followed" me down the street until it hit the back of the truck. My fault. It was pitch black out and I was having trouble getting the ball on the hitch. I thought it was on there, but evidently not. Another time, I was backing my boat down a ramp (once again in pitch black) and I fell out of the damn truck, landed on my face, and the truck and trailer kept going. The trailer jack knifed and saved everything from going into salt water, except it somehow involved the tailgate. So, new tailgate and also a new trailer because the tongue of the trailer was bent to shit. I don't even know what happened the other time. I came in from fishing and noticed that my tailgate was smashed up. Not sure if I did it, or someone else did. Claimed it. There are a lot of parts in the tailgate and that is what makes it so expensive to replace. Deductible was cheaper for me. Oh, I got a huge set of backup lights now for when I am night fishing.
OP, make extra sure when you are connecting the trailer that you don't accidentally catch the lower locking hasp on the ball when you drop the tongue on. It can get hung up ON TOP of the ball and look normal, and latch normal, until it pops off.
I had one of my boat trailers do this and it unhooked about 100 feet from my house and scared the shit out of me. All of a sudden I heard this tremendous bang and crash right behind me! Thankfully I resisted the urge to brake and coasted to a stop letting the drag of the trailer stop me. With the chains attached there was no damage done to the 26 foot boat, or my truck and I only had a small shit stain in my underwear. After that I always tested with some upward pressure after I attached a trailer so it never happens again.
After the hitch is fixed you can put a drop leg on loading gate