tailgate interchange

[i heart square bodys]

are all 73-87 tailgates interchangeable, i have an 86 box that id like to put in a 75 tailgate but i want to know if it is going to fit before i spend the money

[79Betty]

Yes with a few other things. I put an 83 gate on my 78 and i had to change the circle piece on the bottom of the bed. That was all i did.
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[SkinnyG]

I could not fit an early tailgate onto my later box. A later tailgate fit the early box though.

[i heart square bodys]

Originally Posted by 79Betty

Yes with a few other things. I put an 83 gate on my 78 and i had to change the circle piece on the bottom of the bed. That was all i did.
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so all i have to do is change the hinges ?

[79Betty]

I didn't even change those just the little round piece. SkinnyG said he can't so it might not work. I'd pop mine off get there see if it lines up and works right. I thought i had it sitting on the bumper while changing out round pieces and it fell off taking out my right townail so now i only have 9... Be careful they're heavy!
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[Prong]

The 73 to early 76 gates have 2 tabs near the top of the gate that slides into the bedsides. If the gate your looking at doesn't have these, changing out the hinge hardware should be all you need to do.

Edit: look at the third picture in this post to see what I'm talking about.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...light=tailgate

[SkinnyG]

The later bed I have had thick rubber blocks near the top of the bed sides. These got in the way of the earlier tailgate sides. I removed the rubber blocks, but then the tailgate stays hit the rubber blocks at the bottom and it still wouldn't close. I ended up buying a tailgate that matched the box that was in better shape than the old one I was trying to "save."