Tailgate Assist

Has anyone installed a tailgate assist. I see 2 option; torsion bar or shock and I am wondering what works better.

 

reviving this old thread... im not seeing much besides the torsion bar these days. anyone retrofit a shock for this?

 

there are a few on Amazon for various trucks....so I'm gonna try a couple and see if I can't retro fit one for the 1st gens.

They will be here tomorrow...gotta love Amazon.

 

let me know if you make any of them work!

 

well I tried two different ones tonight, 1 for a dodge and 1 for a ford. The struts themselves were very different in length but most of the hardware is the same. The issue you run into is that you will probably have to drill a hole into the tailgate as well as the bedside sheet metal. The ball mount bracket that the kits come with are fairly thick and there just isn't enough room between the tailgate and bed sheet metal due to the thickness of the ball mount bracket.
I'm going to try and find a ball mount screw and see if I can make this work.

 

Cody. I looked at doing this a while back and ran into the strut thickness being too great to fit in the gap. I actually considered removing the tailgate inner bed cover and mounting the strut on the inside of the tailgate wall (vs. between the gate and latch wall). Might need to notch the tailgate steel? Notch the bed cover and reinstall.

Didn’t pursue as far as you due to other truck priorities. Maybe this is another option outside the box?

 

maybe you could show me a picture about what your saying cause I can’t get a visual of what you mean, sorry. I am thinking about denting in a quarter size of the tailgate and then throwing a threaded insert in there for the ball head screw so there would be more clearance but don’t know if it’s really gonna be worth it. Plus what if I do this and my tailgate is too heavy or too light for the strut....would be all for not then lol

 

Its up to you to make the concept work. Like I said, this was just a brain storming event last year and had too much going on to actually commit to something low on the truck priorities.

 

Gotcha. Yeah I thought about that location too but didn’t wanna have a hole for more dirt and debris to muck up.

 

I could make something happen. Just need the DZ kit in hand then do some reverse engineering.

 

Here is some hardware that I think will make that above DZ opener work without cutting a slot as I suggested above. Ditch the DZ hardware and use these. The final measurements are your call.

 

Could you measure the length of the tailgate cable, get an assist that length and use the threaded studs in place of the existing cable mounting screws?

 

I’m cooking up something right now as this thread restarted a fire from last year. Hope the best for me. If it ends in agony, will you guys still love me?

 

Sick! Just don’t ruin those hands

 

Those screws are what I was looking to buy locally but no one has them. The ford kit I bought has one but the threads are too small but I believe that it would work otherwise.

 

any lucky in this?

 

The Hopkins torsion bar will work and isn't really noticeable...

 

Does the hopkins bar help both lifting and assists going down on its own?

 

It does!

https://www.etrailer.com/p-74211.html?hhyear=2006&hhmake=Toyota&hhmodel=Tundra

 

Dangg youre selling me on this thing!
Do you personally have it on your truck?


Does anyone also suggest any measures I should take to avoid having rust get into my bed if I drill a hole into it?
the hopkins assist requires me to drill 1 hole into the bed.

 

I installed one on an F150 several years ago; not on my Tundra. No more than I drive my truck I'm fine with the heavy tailgate...
Hopefully a few folks on the forum will chime in

 

yes, I ended up buying those screws off Amazon but with the two strut kits that I bought, I just couldn't get them to work for me so I gave up on it...

 

I would have tried the torsion bar first if I had known about it, but so far so good on the assist strut installation. It saves my thin biceps from the fast/heavy gate drop.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/the...vestment-‘build’-a-chronological-story.46816/

 

I'm gonna order that torsion bar and see how it works.

 

How are these setups working out for you guys?

 

the torsion bar works pretty well. You still can't just let the tailgate slam down but it's way lighter now and has held up fine for the past 4 years

 

Installed the torsion bar, as stated it helps both ways but if you’ve had a gas strut before you will be disappointed, it does not slow the drop nearly as much as a strut and you can’t just pull the handle and slam it down.

It is worth it however imo. Definitely have a buddy over for a beer to help install, they aren’t kidding when they say don’t do it alone. Very difficult to try and hinge the tailgate up and over the bar without smashing it all over the back of the truck

my experience
https://www.tundras.com/threads/mechanics-special-05-dc-refresh.133376/page-4#post-3526961

 

I haven't tried the strut, but had the torsion bar on my last truck. I liked it, but yes it was a bitch and a half to install by myself. I don't recommend if you ever have the need to take your tailgate off. both options you have to drill into the tailgate but I liked the bar being lower profile and assisting with both up and down.

 

I went deep down this hole a year or so ago. I tried to get the strut to fit in the pocket so it was hidden when the tailgate was closed but there’s just no way. If you’re gonna do the struts, do them like professional hand model ^.

And I can just attest from having a 2nd gen for a while, the gas strut tailgate is the one thing I miss the most. Other than the 5.7.

 

Yep, I bought and still have a few different struts that I just couldn’t make fit without being in the way and out in the open. The torsion bar is the best way to go for us 1st genners