Hi Folks: The tailgate hangers on my 88 longbed look awful (image attached). I scrubbed them up and painted about 10 years ago. Could do that again I suppose BUT I'd rather have new plated ones -- or stainless steel or something. The original part is 65770-89102, long discontinued. Problems with plating or recreating are (a) the middle rivet and (b) the nylon washer that the middle rivet pinches between the two parts. SO, I'm seeking ideas, alternatives. Would some machine shop like to make 12 sets of these in stainless, and sell them? Can a plating shop make old ones nice again and solve the nylon washer puzzle? I'm surely not the only truck owner with nasty-looking tailgate hangers. Your thoughts, please.

tailgate hanger, 88 pickup longbed. Left and right sides are identical.

 

What about replacing them with cables, like off a tacoma?

 

Thanks; it's not out of the question but I kind of like the scissor original design.

 

I've tried to yellow chromate plate and the outcome wasn't good. the zinc plating isn't hard, but getting the yellow chromate bath to come out right was frustrating. Toxic as hell, too, which is why most have switched to a clear chromate
I've also experimented with powder coating to replicate that yellow chromate hue. The closest the powder coating suppliers have come up with is a yellow-bronze, which is more of a burnished bronze than yellow. I've emailed them about it, thinking it's be a great niche to fill, but the companies don't bother to even respond.
Powder coating would be the way to go, but you'd need a replacement rivet( otherwise you'd melt the nylon washers). I've seen people with lathing skills make similar items

 

Thanks, Jimkola. I heard in another forum that zinc plating is the way to go on this, and am in touch with a guy who does it. I'm hoping to get around the rivet problem, but we'll see. If I come up with any noteworthy results, I'll post them here.

 

If they can pull off a good chromate, zinc plating is great. Post up how it goes 👍🏻
I've looked arpound here for plating, but most aren't geared for small batch.