I'm sure some of you are going to think I'm retarded, but I was wondering if any has attempted to convert the pickup tailgate into a swing gate? I'm not talking about a tire gate though, just using the original tailgate. I looked around the net all day, but only found 4runner tailgate mods. I've been toying with the idea for a few days now and was wondering what the masses think.Build in can mounts and a highlift mount too.

 

swing gate? ...you mean like a garden gate?...
could be done...
fwiw 70's Ford country squire wagons had a two way tail gate that would either drop down or swing open depending on which way you turned the latch... not sure if they carried this feature on to the 80's versions... but it might be worth checking out further... try looking up ford wagon forums ik there are a few...

any mod that works on a runner can be adapted to a pick up the issue becomes one of box rigidity... the runner has the roof which helps keep the box side in line when the weight of the gate swings out... the truck does'nt have that... you'd have to fab a reinforcement bracket from the rear corner down to the frame and across to the other side to keep the box sides in line and support the weight of the gate even without the added mass of a tire/gas can... this reinforcement would also have to reach forward on the frame to just aft of the wheel arch... you're looking for a 3 pt. "carry load" here to support everything... even then you risk excessive stress on the box top edge and pulling it out of line... you might have to loose a few inches at the bottom corner of the gate area for the bracket inner brace.

 

I don't know if the original tailgate could handle that kind of stress, supporting its weight only on one end. There may be a need to add additional bracing to the tailgate in order to keep it square so that it will continue to close properly. And of course that adds more weight to be supported by the corner of the bed.

 

I figured I would have to add bracing to the tailgate on the inside. I was thinking of using square stock to box in the inside of the tailgate, then add a few cross braces so I have a rigid structure to mount things to. On the other hand, I want to gut the bracing from behind the tail light on the passenger side to slide another piece of square or rectangle stock up inside to provide the mounting surface for the hinge on the body side. This would also allow me to run some square stock from the top of the previous post to the frame. I've sort of got it figured out, but do you guys see it being feasable? I like the idea and I'm going to leave my spare tire under the bed, so it won't have to support that weight too.

 

here's the ford squire. they show the tailgate (pretty neat, imo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qepc7c6ShN0

as for the amount of fabrication: it's certainly do-able. it's just a matter of how much time and effort (and money) you want to put into it

 

That looks exactly like the 2nd wagon we had!... ugly off green metallic... the dark blue met. we had first was nicer... great boats... lots of fun... that gate was'nt as heavy as it looked I could handle it as a 4yr old...

 

I'd like to find one of those so I can see how they did that. That wagon was actually pretty cool, those rear seats were a trip.

 

"rear seats for the kids"


right. because that's what people did in the back of cars

 

The ones we had never had the 3rd seat option... but I remember going to drive-ins with my 'rents and getting in my sleeping bag in the back while they watched the 2nd feature...

think I recall watching most of The Towering Inferno over the back seat when I was supposed to be a snooz'in...