Nothing Special Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 I thought I'd already started a thread for my pickup, but I guess I've just put stuff for this truck in the "what have you done..." thread. So I guess I'll start one now. As I mentioned in my motorhome thread, Coming home from a recent trip to Walt Disney World we made a detour so I could pick up a tailgate from a junkyard outside of Kansas City. That story actually starts back in September when I started looking for a decent tailgate using an on-line junkyard search (car-part.com). I quickly found this tailgate in Kansas City. It looked good with a good price, so I talked with the owner of the junkyard. He looked at the gate and sent me some pictures. It seemed like a good option so I asked him about shipping it to me. And I kept asking him about shipping it for the next couple of months. Apparently he wasn't too excited about doing that. So when we were going on this trip I looked into it and found that it was only about 100 miles farther to go through Kansas City than our normal route and it actually fit in pretty well, where we could stop Sunday night near Kansas City, be at the junkyard when it opened at 8:30 and not waste a lot of time. It did mean getting home at 5:00 PM instead of around noon, but it wasn't a ridiculous detour. So we made arrangements that he'd hold it for me and I'd be there in about 2 weeks. Well, it turned out that the junkyard owner that I'd been talking to called in sick that day. The guy that opened up at 8:30 knew nothing of our arrangement, or where the tail gate might be. After he asked me if it would be too much trouble to come back another day (yes, it would) he let me go out in the yard to look for it (the owner had told me it was still in the bed of the truck). I found it pretty quick and carried it up to the office. There was a little more confusion when it came to paying for it, but we got that figured out to everyone's satisfaction and I was on the road before 9:00. Of course the road I was on was very hilly and narrow (about 17' total width, with pretty good drops right off the pavement) so it wasn't the greatest place to be driving a motorhome! But we made it back to the highway without any real issues. Anyway, with that story safely in the past, today I finally got around to putting the new gate on my truck. The old gate was pretty sway-backed and the latch was pretty balky when I got the truck nine years and 70K miles ago. Neither of those issues improved with time, and now it's gotten to the point where rusty metal chunks fall off it almost every time I close it. So it was time to do something. Here are a few pictures of the original gate (sorry for the poor focus, camera issues I guess): Calling the "new" gate "rust free" is probably a bit of a stretch, but it's in great condition compared to my old gate, or anything I could find locally: I sprayed some Fluid Film in the bottom of the gate, so hopefully it will hold up for quite a while. It had a plastic liner attached using many of the screw holes for the latch access panel. But a few of those screws were missing and I didn't like having the plastic panel anyway, so I took it off. That meant having to steal a bunch of the screws for the latch access panel from my old gate, but that wasn't a big deal. It also had a stainless cap which I did want to keep because it would protect the top of the gate from rubbing against the topper lift gate. But I couldn't close the topper lift gate with that piece on, so I had to take it off. And the latch on the passenger side seems to fall into the latched position sometimes when the gate is open, then you have to unlatch it before you can close the gate. I may end up stealing that latch from my old gate too. It's not the right color (that would've been too much to hope for). And it doesn't have the blue oval or F-250 Heavy Duty emblems that the original gate had. I might spray paint it next summer so it's a little closer in color. But the rest of the truck isn't much better than the old gate, so it's not going to be pretty no matter what. And I'll keep the old gate in case I want to get the emblems (or any other parts) off it at some point. But it fits (of course), it's solid and straight, and the latch works well enough that Lesley can open it (she was never able to get the balky latch on the old gate to open). So I'm happy with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Well done! Man, that old 'gate looks bad! I forgot where you are - in the rust belt. The buckle thereof? But it seems like you'll be able to meld the two gates to make one that does everything right. Makes the detour well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 .... I forgot where you are - in the rust belt. The buckle thereof?.... Yeah, pretty much This truck spent the first part of it's life in New Mexico, so it wasn't terrible when I bought it. But it had spent some time in Gary, Indiana, and was just starting to have the rust come through the bedsides above the rear tires. And it's gotten a lot worse in the last 9 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 .... I forgot where you are - in the rust belt. The buckle thereof?.... Yeah, pretty much This truck spent the first part of it's life in New Mexico, so it wasn't terrible when I bought it. But it had spent some time in Gary, Indiana, and was just starting to have the rust come through the bedsides above the rear tires. And it's gotten a lot worse in the last 9 years. Nice find, glad it worked out! Man, it’s been awhile since I was in a salt the roads environment (Indiana). I don’t think I could do it again. What I call rust, the rust belt folks wouldn’t see! I probably wouldn’t consider buying a vehicle from the coast out here. Pretty spoiled in that regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 Here’s an example of way too rusty to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 Nice find, glad it worked out! Man, it’s been awhile since I was in a salt the roads environment (Indiana). I don’t think I could do it again. What I call rust, the rust belt folks wouldn’t see! I probably wouldn’t consider buying a vehicle from the coast out here. Pretty spoiled in that regard. I'm with you, Dane. I don't think I could live where vehicles disintegrate. As we drove through Michigan there were vehicles that I consider "new" and they had holes in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 I'm with you, Dane. I don't think I could live where vehicles disintegrate. As we drove through Michigan there were vehicles that I consider "new" and they had holes in them. That's not Minnesota rust! The sun never gets high enough here to bake paint, so we never get that kind of look on the top. But the brine that collects in pinch points eats through from the back side. So a panrel can still look really good except for one small spot of rust. But there's no solid metal for 6" around that spot, the paint is just holding it together. As to not wanting to live in the rust belt, I suppose we all get used to what we get used to. It's not like I like having vehicles rust out, but I don't like the heat of the south, and I actually like the range of seasons Minnesota has. And Lesley says she's never leaving the state. So I guess I'm stuck with the rust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 That's not Minnesota rust! The sun never gets high enough here to bake paint, so we never get that kind of look on the top. But the brine that collects in pinch points eats through from the back side. So a panrel can still look really good except for one small spot of rust. But there's no solid metal for 6" around that spot, the paint is just holding it together. As to not wanting to live in the rust belt, I suppose we all get used to what we get used to. It's not like I like having vehicles rust out, but I don't like the heat of the south, and I actually like the range of seasons Minnesota has. And Lesley says she's never leaving the state. So I guess I'm stuck with the rust. Well, you are blessed with her, and if she's not moving from MN then I guess you aren't either. But I like the four seasons we get here. Enough cold to say we had winter, and more than enough heat to know you had summer. And essentially no salt on the roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted March 26, 2022 Author Share Posted March 26, 2022 Well, you are blessed with her, and if she's not moving from MN then I guess you aren't either. But I like the four seasons we get here. Enough cold to say we had winter, and more than enough heat to know you had summer. And essentially no salt on the roads. Time for another update on the pickups project thread. Not a very fun or exciting project this time but necessary. Last Sunday I was out running errands. When I got back to my truck it wouldn't turn over. Just a hot "click" from the starter solenoid. I tried using my jumper cables to jump across the solenoid. I got a spark as I touched the second terminal so the starter was drawing current, but it wasn't turning. 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon wasn't a fun time for that to happen, but I wasn't that far from home so I walked home and was able to find an open AutoZone that had the right starter in stock. Then my son was able to help me tow it home so I could work on it in my driveway instead of the Target parking lot. By about 8:30 I had the new starter in and it started right up. I had replaced the starter not that long after getting the truck, so it was only about 9 years old. I'm a little disappointed in that, but oh well, it should be good for at least another 9 years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Time for another update on the pickups project thread. Not a very fun or exciting project this time but necessary. Last Sunday I was out running errands. When I got back to my truck it wouldn't turn over. Just a hot "click" from the starter solenoid. I tried using my jumper cables to jump across the solenoid. I got a spark as I touched the second terminal so the starter was drawing current, but it wasn't turning. 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon wasn't a fun time for that to happen, but I wasn't that far from home so I walked home and was able to find an open AutoZone that had the right starter in stock. Then my son was able to help me tow it home so I could work on it in my driveway instead of the Target parking lot. By about 8:30 I had the new starter in and it started right up. I had replaced the starter not that long after getting the truck, so it was only about 9 years old. I'm a little disappointed in that, but oh well, it should be good for at least another 9 years now. Bummer! But things like that do see to happen at inopportune times. Glad it worked out What brand was on it that failed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts