truck tailgate mods

October 22, 2011 8:27 PM

My question involves truck tailgate fancification. What I'm asking for is are there kits that help you to transform your existing (boring) tailgate that opens by just folding down into one that opens by swinging sideways? Perhaps one that if you had your tailgate sawed in half, both sides would swing open sideways (meaning it opens in the middle, sort of like a set of french doors)?

I think I've seen these things in the past, but I'm not a motorhead and I can't seem to think of the right keywords to google what I'm looking for. Thanks!

posted by gregg to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

This site, Truck Addons, calls it a Double Gate or a Barn Gate. I googled 'aftermarket tailgates'.
posted by carsonb at 8:35 PM on October 22, 2011

Tailgate conversion kit? Pics of a Jeep conversion. Depends on the truck, though, I assume.
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:36 PM on October 22, 2011

Another search string: tailgate barn door conversion
posted by carsonb at 8:38 PM on October 22, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks guys much better keywords than I came up with. Doesn't seem to be a lot of products out there mostly homebrew. The truck addons tailgate looks pretty good, it replaces your existing tailgate though. I seem to be hung up on using my existing one for some reason.
posted by gregg at 9:44 PM on October 22, 2011

If you mean to swing the entire tailgate horizontally (not split it in the middle) that's a lot of leverage at the fulcrum and it's going to need some pretty stout hinges plus reinforcement at the body of the truck. And a new latching mechanism so it doesn't open on the highway.
posted by werkzeuger at 6:20 AM on October 23, 2011