I saw this tail gate on cragslist, Its the side latch one . Well the hinges have 3 holes instead of the 2 that are on my truck, any idea if it will work Id pefer the side latches over the one in the middle,? He thinks its early 80's

 

Side latch tailgates aren't compatible with center-latch beds.

Side latch beds were made in Japan; center-latch beds were made in the US. Or the other way around. I forget.

 

damn lol those side latch ones are way more reiable than the center latch ones. thanks for the info.

 

WTF? My '92 was made in Japan, why would they bring production to the states then send it back?

 

Your cab and chassis were Made in Japan. Your bed was most likely made in Long Beach, California.

 

It's been explained more properly in other places, but it came down to this: Incomplete trucks from Japan were classified as "parts", and therefore subject to less of an import tariff than if they were shipped fully assembled and complete from Japan.

 

not quite correct ..



side latch gate WILL fit (same dimentions) except you wont have the "pins" protruding from the box corners for the "latches" to catch and lock the gate . 2 holes on the hinge are the same , but the 3rd is just not used .




side latch gates were on all toyota gates in the late 70's early 80's .. in 81-82 they (toyota Japan) redesigned North American trucks (4X4 and most 2WD) to the center latch style .. ALL of these beds were built in JAPAN untill /84 .

for some unknown reason some of the 2WD's had center latch gates , and some had the side latch gates , even 4WD's , but mostly only in other countries .. some are in the USA (none in Canada) as well as all over the world .

/84 is when the USA curtailed Japans importing and import laws were were changed . Japan built it's first plant in the USA to get around the import laws .. then came the DOMESTIC bed .. different design (no lip) but the same dimentions ..



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soooo. theres a possibly that that tail gate on craigslist might work. Ill have to go see if it mounts up I guess.

 

If this is the one: http://roseburg.craigslist.org/pts/831296964.html
That is an awesome deal, that thing is in awesome shape (from the pics) 5 Minute test fit will tell you if it works...

 

that would be it lol just waiting for a email back to go test fit.