Diffrences in tailgates

[Colesnsty68]

Whats up guys, Alright so i was flipping through a friends pic on facebook and saw a pic with him and 84 on 40's. So his uncle who owns the truck just blew up the motor and now it will just sit there forever. So i want the tailgate because it's nice and has a decent band. but it's an 84-85, and mines a 77.; Is it still usable because it'll be cheap and if not want can i do to make it work?

[bigblock73]

As long as you run all the mounting hardware that came with the 84/85 'gate, you can run it on your 77 truck no problem.

[CreditGod]

some of the 77 bands didn't come with the black outline around the whole thing
some of them are flat at the top and bottom if you want the correct band look for one that has the black outline

[truckfan]

under the band the inset is different. the inset is wider on 73-80. they are all the same. 81-87 are all the same. however the beds are the same so they will interchange

[bigblock73]

Are we talking about using the 80's tailgate AND band it came with, or using the 80's gate and your 77 band?

I am under the impression you want to use the 80's gate and band on your truck.

[Colesnsty68]

The whole tailgate with the band from it. Would it look stupid if im not going to have the trim on the bed,doors, and fenders. And when you say hardware do you mean bolts,latches,the whole shabang?

[Colesnsty68]

i've looked at the pics and bigblock73, it would be the same tailgate you have on your 77

[bigblock73]

Well, I think my bed isn't a '77...so don't use IT as a reference

If you use the straps/hinges and trunions from the 80's 'gate, it will bolt on just fine. I don't like TG bands on trucks with no other trim...so I wouldn't run the band only, I would add the back of cab trim at the least, or nothing at all. Look at my 77 build thread, when I first got the 77...it had the band only. It doesn't now...LoL!

I got confused when we started talking tailgate bands...

[Colesnsty68]

ok. Well i belive the beds are the same my tanks are diffrent but yah. So it will work?

[Storm Chaser]

Don't worry about the year of the bed- just go by this:

73-80 Tailgates use 73-80 hinges
81-87 Tailgates use 81-87 hinges

When I say hinges, I mean all 4 pieces- 2 on the tailgate and 2 on the bed. So to use a later tailgate on an earlier bed, you have to unbolt the 2 hinge parts from the bed and put on the one's that match the tailgate.

There are slight changes to the bed over the years (fuel doors), but the changes are cosmetic. Structurally at the tailgate area, they are all the same.

[Colesnsty68]

Yah see thats what i thought, mine just has feul caps and not doors. But i dont need the bolts on the side of the bed that hold the tailgate there? And has anyone ever repainted the ring around the band, the black line? and i still have the back cab trim on it and that stuff i was talking about the fleetside trim.

[CreditGod]

you can do it the easy way with a black magic marker anything you get outside the lines you can wipe off with paint thinner and no it wont hurt the brushed chrome finish


or you can do it the right way. if you will notice that black paint has a slight texture to it almost like velvet very hard to replicate but what you can do is go to the auto parts store or an auto paint supply store and get what is called trim paint

step one get some 3 inch masking tape and tape of the outside first making the edge of the tape barely touch and i mean barely touch the outside of the black then after that you can use painters paper or some news paper and cover up the middle and then again with the masking tape barely touch the inside of the black once it is all taped up shoot it with the black trim paint let it set for 10 minutes and hit it again this will give it that velvet look and texture.


if you need anymore help just pm me