TAIL GATES

[JERSEY JOE]

IS IT MY IMAGINATION OR IS EVERY J SERIES TAIL GATE I SEE HORRIBLE? WERE THEY HORRIBLE OUT OF THE FACTORY? SEEMS LIKE THEY ARE WAVY, FULL OF SPOT WELDS, AND GENERALLY LOOK LIKE POOR BODY WORK. IS THIS THE NATURE OF THE BEAST?

ANYONE EVER SPENT THE TIME AND $$$$$ TO GET ONE LOOKING GOOD?

[TexTJ209]

The wavyness is usually just due to the fact that they are singled walled, so anything that hits the tailgate while in the bed produces a dent you can see on the outside.



Mine isn't real horrible for a thirty year old unrestored tailgate.

[JERSEY JOE]

VERY NICE.

[HOOT]

I've got a virtual NOS tail gate and yes the spot welds and some waviness are all there from the start.
I've debated on cleaning this one up or using it as is. If I decide against dark green then I'll most likely put some spot putty on it to make it look better.

[tndonor]

I had a shot one then happend upon a pristine one. Since they are single paned, i wasnted to be sure nothing would dent it from the inside of the bed. I had a piece of 1/4" plate steel cut to the inside dimensions of the tailgate. I had the iron company punch 1/2" holes one half inch for the edge along all sides. Then I welded in the holes to mate the plate and tailgate.

Now I have a pristine tailgate that weighs close to 90 pounds but Donkey Kong himself cannot dent. Ill hunt for the pictures of what I did. They may have died with my last computer.

Thats what I did to keep these rare finds nice

[grand_wag_85]

I think the biggest weak point on the J series tailgates is they're single walled. Almost every one I've ever seen has dents up top from stuff in the bed riding on the top of the tailgate, the center section pushed in from people standing there and stuff hitting it and whatnot. Meanwhile if they weren't single walled, I think they'd look twice as better...Atleast nowadays

[JERSEY JOE]

ALL GOOD THOUGHTS. THEY ARE ALSO VERY SCARCE IN ANY CONDITION. IT'S A SHAME BECAUSE THE GATE REALLY RUINS THE LOOK OF AN OTHERWISE NICE TRUCK. ON MY 86 FEATURED IN READERS TRUCKS I RAN THE TAILGATE NET CAUSE THE GATE LOOKED SO BAD.

[grand_wag_85]

I've only ever seen one J Truck with a tail gate in any of the many junkyards I've been to, and that one was smashed already so what's the point in counting it?

[Kali]

If you ever go out to Arizona all the tailgates out there look like this:

(factory paint from 82)

[dngrs1]

Sometimes they look like this-------

[JERSEY JOE]

YOU KNOW I HAVE LIVED IN NEW JERSEY WAY TOO LONG. I WENT TO CALIFORNIA LAST YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME. I WORK FOR A COMPANY THAT IS BASED THERE. WHEN I GOT BACK EVERYONE ASKED ME HOW I LIKED CALIFORNIA, AND WHAT WAS THE NICEST THING.
IT WAS EASY TO ANSWER. AS I DROVE AROUND I WAS AMAZED TO SEE MID 70'S AND 80'S CARS AND TRUCKS WITH NO RUST. THE PEOPLE I WAS WITH FROM THERE THOUGHT I WAS OFF MY ROCKER AS I STOPPED AND LOOKED AT AN INTERNATIONAL SCOUT PARKED ON THE STREET WITHOUT A SPECK OF RUST. I DID NOT SEE ANY FSJ'S BUT EVERYTHING ELSE I SAW LEFT ME NUMB. WE GET HAMMERED IN THE EAST WITH ALL THE BS AND TONS OF SALT. MY 2005 F-150 ALREADY HAS AN UNDERCARRIAGE THAT HAS BEED ATTACKED BY SALT.

ANYHOW I RECENTLY ACQUIRED ANOTHER J-20 THAT IS **** NICE FOR BEING FROM THE NORTHEAST EXCEPT THE TAILGATE LOOKS LIKE IT WAS BADLY BEATEN UP. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A DECENT TAILGATE IN THE FLESH.

[Elliott]

One of the things I loved about picking up my '65 J200 was how straight the bed was, and the tailgate is about as good as they come 'cept for NOS.

[Tonka J200]

I found a virtually new tailgate for my J200 - thanks to a lead from Kali to a Craigslist ad. The story was that the Grandfather of the current owner had bought a J300 new in '65, drove it home, took the tailgate off to have a wrecker boom installed and stored it in his basement. It was still there with all the hardware included when the house was being sold last fall.

I bought it from him and have yet to put it on my truck because it's just too nice! I still use my truck as a "truck" and would hate to scratch it up hauling something! I'm going to put it on for the upcoming Willys Jeep Reuinion in Michigan, but I'll probably swap it back out after that. Maybe I'll hang it on the wall like the piece of art that it is...

As you've pointed out, even when new they had many visible spot weld dimples and waves in the flat parts of the metal. But trucks in those days weren't meant to be pretty, just practical. I'm sure they didn't think it would be worth the extra effort to make them nice and smooth when they were just meant to be abused anyway.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attac...7&d=1162407013http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attac...6&d=1162407013

[Elliott]

Whoa Frank, do you keep that under your mattress?

[nsanebiker]

Originally Posted by Tonka J200

I found a virtually new tailgate for my J200 - thanks to a lead from Kali to a Craigslist ad. The story was that the Grandfather of the current owner had bought a J300 new in '65, drove it home, took the tailgate off to have a wrecker boom installed and stored it in his basement. It was still there with all the hardware included when the house was being sold last fall.

I bought it from him and have yet to put it on my truck because it's just too nice! I still use my truck as a "truck" and would hate to scratch it up hauling something! I'm going to put it on for the upcoming Willys Jeep Reuinion in Michigan, but I'll probably swap it back out after that. Maybe I'll hang it on the wall like the piece of art that it is...

As you've pointed out, even when new they had many visible spot weld dimples and waves in the flat parts of the metal. But trucks in those days weren't meant to be pretty, just practical. I'm sure they didn't think it would be worth the extra effort to make them nice and smooth when they were just meant to be abused anyway.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=2437&d=1162407013http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attac...6&d=1162407013

Yea, that is a very nice gate . I would hang it on the wall and put a spot light and alarm on it.

[Pakistan Jeep Guy]

We will be working on making new M715 tailgates soon. Will post up pics of the project when we get started.
Ehsan

[Kali]

Yup, same here. Driving around the Mesa/Phoenix area and a good portion of the trip back to New Hampshire all I saw was old cars in good condition for CHEAP MONEY. One could make a fortune hauling rust free cars back to the Northeast to sell, even with the price of gas. The worst part was even with all of the old cars in good condition... the steets were packed with brand new cars! It was insane. If the cars didnt rust in the northeast barely anyone would buy new!

Originally Posted by JERSEY JOE

YOU KNOW I HAVE LIVED IN NEW JERSEY WAY TOO LONG. I WENT TO CALIFORNIA LAST YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME. I WORK FOR A COMPANY THAT IS BASED THERE. WHEN I GOT BACK EVERYONE ASKED ME HOW I LIKED CALIFORNIA, AND WHAT WAS THE NICEST THING.
IT WAS EASY TO ANSWER. AS I DROVE AROUND I WAS AMAZED TO SEE MID 70'S AND 80'S CARS AND TRUCKS WITH NO RUST. THE PEOPLE I WAS WITH FROM THERE THOUGHT I WAS OFF MY ROCKER AS I STOPPED AND LOOKED AT AN INTERNATIONAL SCOUT PARKED ON THE STREET WITHOUT A SPECK OF RUST. I DID NOT SEE ANY FSJ'S BUT EVERYTHING ELSE I SAW LEFT ME NUMB. WE GET HAMMERED IN THE EAST WITH ALL THE BS AND TONS OF SALT. MY 2005 F-150 ALREADY HAS AN UNDERCARRIAGE THAT HAS BEED ATTACKED BY SALT.

ANYHOW I RECENTLY ACQUIRED ANOTHER J-20 THAT IS **** NICE FOR BEING FROM THE NORTHEAST EXCEPT THE TAILGATE LOOKS LIKE IT WAS BADLY BEATEN UP. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A DECENT TAILGATE IN THE FLESH.