what's the deal with this tailgate?

[AaronATX]

with tailgates costing so much, what's wrong with this one to be so cheap, other than the fact there's no paint, emblem, or handle?

eBay Motors: TAILGATE ford F250 PICKUP F-250 97-03 truck tail gate (item 370101686568 end time Oct-29-08 19:44:40 PDT)

[HVAC SuperTech]

high ticket item cause its easy to steal is all I can figure.


and that tailgate is probably just the shell of one. No hardware or anything. I have seen shells on there pretty cheap. you have to buy the locks, the cables, the handle peices and the rod assembly to open it to make it a working tailgate. plus, its might be a less thick metal?

[Super Kaz]

Originally Posted by AaronATX

with tailgates costing so much, what's wrong with this one to be so cheap, other than the fact there's no paint, emblem, or handle?

eBay Motors: TAILGATE ford F250 PICKUP F-250 97-03 truck tail gate (item 370101686568 end time Oct-29-08 19:44:40 PDT)

Its a cheap repo. I have one on my truck. pretty thin metal.

[AaronATX]

because the dealer around here wanted 1300 to replace my 01 tailgate, 2900 (!!!!!!) to replace it with an 08, i can buy an 08 take-off for around 300-400 and either gut the torsion bar or get a new bracket.. or there's the one i posted in the first post from ebay which costs almost nothing but then again could be junk. but it all seems silly for...........

...a tailgate

[HVAC SuperTech]

like I said, they get stolen pretty easily and people want their tailgates, so, they make e more pricey cause they know people will buy em.

and I was right about the gauge of the metal, as said above, they are thinner than an OEM one.

[Super Kaz]

I use this place called certifix. Sheet metal from there is thin junk, but headlights, and grilles are pretty good. I can't tell the difference from my oem ford one the repo I put on there now. For the $40 bucks you can't beat it. I never painted mine because it just not worth it. A $50 tailgate with a $200+ paint job? Save your money and get a oem take off. My tailgate was smashed to bad I couldn't open it all the way. So it was a step up for me, but a big step down from a oem one.

[Blasterak]

As said, Do NOT get aftermarket tailgates, they suck the first time you step on the they will bow out, this is from experience too. Look on craigslist locally or go to car-parts.com and see if they have any tailgates for a good price. I hate aftermarket body parts, they dont fit right and they're alot weaker, like my korean bumper I have...it bends if you stare at it to hard...