Tailgate hardware...

[78C10BigTen]

Lol, I believe you

I got some shots this morning. Definately a quick tailgate lol. So 78 had them... only silverado maybe?

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[bucket]

After breakfast I'm going to wander out to my truck for a looksee. I must be remembering wrong.

 

[bucket]

So yeah, my '79 has the quick release hinge too. I guess I never tried to take the thing off due to the wires for the clearance lights. Which now that I look at it, those wires may go into a removable socket. Its hard to tell, there's a butchered ground wire rigged up too. Anybody with a 70's or early 80's dually know how GM had the light harness set up?

 

[Big Chip]

So yeah, my '79 has the quick release hinge too. I guess I never tried to take the thing off due to the wires for the clearance lights. Which now that I look at it, those wires may go into a removable socket. Its hard to tell, there's a butchered ground wire rigged up too. Anybody with a 70's or early 80's dually know how GM had the light harness set up?

I think it’s just a single wire with a spade type terminal in a rubber connector. I don’t think there’s a separate ground wire in the setup. I assumed it was just grounded to the tailgate similar to the cab clearance light.

 

[Craig 85]

Anybody with a 70's or early 80's dually know how GM had the light harness set up?

Here's my '85. It's 2 wires. One of mine is broken at the bottom of the gate, but the lights work without it.

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[bucket]

Here's my '85. It's 2 wires. One of mine is broken at the bottom of the gate, but the lights work without it.

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At least from above the bumper, that's what mine looks like. Looks like your ground wire with the broken eyelet may have originally went to the little socket/bracket thing on the tailgate? It was common for GM to engineer stuff like that to serve as a ground. I'm also surprised your '85 has the round rubber plug, isn't that the first year that the taillight harness used a weather pack connector? Also with no ground wire hooked up, doesn't that make the clearance lights flicker over bumps?

I'm afraid to see if mine still has the rubber harness plug. It's one hell of a rat's nest under there that I still haven't dealt with.

 

[Craig 85]

I'm also surprised your '85 has the round rubber plug, isn't that the first year that the taillight harness used a weather pack connector? Also with no ground wire hooked up, doesn't that make the clearance lights flicker over bumps?

My gate has a pretty tight fit. I think between the upper latches and the bottom hinges the contact is pretty good. Mine does have the weather pack connector. I had to buy a new plug and re-pin it due to some hacks from prior PO's.

 

[R8rPhan]

Idk about where to find a diagram, but that shouldn't really be necessary. It's a couple rods, a handle, some plastic clips, and latches. Not rocket science. You may need to figure out what year it is for the sake of ordering parts, but besides that it should be self explanatory once you take it apart and get a god look at it. Not like building an engine or something, it's a friggin tailgate lol

I know it's not rocket science, but after a lifetime of making dumb mistakes involving taking spring loaded things apart that you don't know before hand how they are connected or how they were assembled, and then realizing after the springs threw everything in 12 directions and now you have no clue how to put them back together, WISDOM says to learn as much as you can beforehand... 'especially' when the thing they are contained in hides everything and is 'WELDED' shut... You learn that from 'experience'.. Obviously, you haven't learned this yet.. Must be lack of experience..

Honestly there probably isn't a diagram out there better than what you saw in LMC because who really needs it? Hah, if you can't figure out something so simple, put the wrench down before you hurt yourself.

I was turning wrenches before your dad was born.. on all sorts of stuff.. From cars, to large distribution systems, to Jet aircraft

Who knows, maybe you can be the first one to make a diagram and post it all over facespaceogram and become famous for helping all the kids figure out how a tailgate latch works

I might do that and post it here, so that 'serious' people in the future don't have to rely on bad advice from smart ass know it alls that probably don't know 1% of what they think they do...

 

[R8rPhan]

So, I took a chance and pulled it all apart... Nothing flew apart or fell down inside the tail gate never to be seen again.. so that was nice.. But all that happened before my last post about identifying the year, and long before Mr. Smart Ass commented on a thread without reading through it...

In the end, I was able to get it to work by soaking the handle with WD40 over night, working the thing, soaking a second night, working it, doing the same a third night, working it, and 'finally' it freed enough to start working it loose.. Sprayed some white silicone grease on the thing and reassembled it... Works for now, but I need to replace it.. The thing is seriously rusted out, and the little keeper clips are totally rotten... Plus the assy is a little bent up from yanking it open with force because of the rust.. Unbent it as good as I could..

At RockAuto, they have probably four different part numbers covering the possible years the bed/tailgate is.. But at LMC Truck, they only offer one part number for all the years, so it probably doesn't matter which I order, but I'd still like to make sure before I do.. because (I'll mention this before Mr Know It All opens his pie hole ) having been burnt by making assumptions too many times in the past, it's a freaking hassle to send crap back....

 

[RecklessWOT]

I know it's not rocket science, but after a lifetime of making dumb mistakes involving taking spring loaded things apart that you don't know before hand how they are connected or how they were assembled, and then realizing after the springs threw everything in 12 directions and now you have no clue how to put them back together, WISDOM says to learn as much as you can beforehand... 'especially' when the thing they are contained in hides everything and is 'WELDED' shut... You learn that from 'experience'.. Obviously, you haven't learned this yet.. Must be lack of experience..

At first when I read this I was gonna say fair enough, you make a good point. I actually almost lost a finger from a spring loaded rear window regulator in a square once, better safe than sorry

I was turning wrenches before your dad was born.. on all sorts of stuff.. From cars, to large distribution systems, to Jet aircraft

And after reading this part I thought well okay maybe this very elderly man knows a thing or two (despite sounding VERY full of himself). I too have experience with assembling parts of aircrafts, both commercial and military, so I can respect that (though you don't see me playing that card to make myself sound important, especially not when asking questions about something like a tailgate handle)

I might do that and post it here, so that 'serious' people in the future don't have to rely on bad advice from smart ass know it alls that probably don't know 1% of what they think they do...

And after reading this part I think it's pretty safe to say go **** yourself, buddy. If you're so high and mighty then why the hell isn't your smart ass out in the garage figuring it out for yourself rather than asking for help finding a step-by-step how-to with pictures and arrows about how to fix a ******* tailgate? I didn't give "bad advice" I just said to figure it out because there probably isn't a more detailed picture than the one already posted from LMC that wasn't good enough for you.

 

[Big Chip]

At first when I read this I was gonna say fair enough, you make a good point. I actually almost lost a finger from a spring loaded rear window regulator in a square once, better safe than sorry

And after reading this part I thought well okay maybe this very elderly man knows a thing or two (despite sounding VERY full of himself). I too have experience with assembling parts of aircrafts, both commercial and military, so I can respect that (though you don't see me playing that card to make myself sound important, especially not when asking questions about something like a tailgate handle)


And after reading this part I think it's pretty safe to say go **** yourself, buddy. If you're so high and mighty then why the hell isn't your smart ass out in the garage figuring it out for yourself rather than asking for help finding a step-by-step how-to with pictures and arrows about how to fix a ******* tailgate? I didn't give "bad advice" I just said to figure it out because there probably isn't a more detailed picture than the one already posted from LMC that wasn't good enough for you.

Well said.

 

[legopnuematic]

My 76 and 79 Have quick release tailgates.
According to the 76 truck brochure, it was the 1st year.

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[R8rPhan]

At first when I read this I was gonna say fair enough, you make a good point. I actually almost lost a finger from a spring loaded rear window regulator in a square once, better safe than sorry


And after reading this part I thought well okay maybe this very elderly man knows a thing or two (despite sounding VERY full of himself). I too have experience with assembling parts of aircrafts, both commercial and military, so I can respect that (though you don't see me playing that card to make myself sound important, especially not when asking questions about something like a tailgate handle)

Hello?? Who the hell is it with the smart mouth acting full of himself? Who is it that said I shouldn't be playing with tools?

And after reading this part I think it's pretty safe to say go **** yourself, buddy. If you're so high and mighty then why the hell isn't your smart ass out in the garage figuring it out for yourself rather than asking for help finding a step-by-step how-to with pictures and arrows about how to fix a ******* tailgate? I didn't give "bad advice" I just said to figure it out because there probably isn't a more detailed picture than the one already posted from LMC that wasn't good enough for you.

So let me get this straight.. You can be a smart ass and mock others, but they're not allowed to call ya out on it???? Nice!

Back atcha bitch... You were of zero help to me.. All you offered was mockery...
But it's obvious the only thing bigger than your mouth is your ego..
Pha-Q-II

You can dish it out, but can't take it...
What the hell is it with you millennials, anyway?
Snowflake!

There are plenty here that are serious and helpful... You? You've been of zero value to me... "Reckless" is a good username for you... At least you know yourself.. Aggravation/stress is everywhere in life... I don't need people who go out of their way to increase it...


I'm done pretending you matter...

Should have just wrote you off as a ******** from the get go and ignored you... I did for a few days, thinking "WTF? Well, maybe I'm just reading this wrong? I'll come back in a few days and read it again.. So this time, I read through the whole thread first to make sure I was getting your 'point'" I did... and your response to my calling you out on it, proves it...

But ignore you from here on I shall..

 

[RecklessWOT]

Hello?? Who the hell is it with the smart mouth acting full of himself? Who is it that said I shouldn't be playing with tools?




So let me get this straight.. You can be a smart ass and mock others, but they're not allowed to call ya out on it???? Nice!

Back atcha bitch... You were of zero help to me.. All you offered was mockery...
But it's obvious the only thing bigger than your mouth is your ego..
Pha-Q-II

You can dish it out, but can't take it...
What the hell is it with you millennials, anyway?
Snowflake!

There are plenty here that are serious and helpful... You? You've been of zero value to me... "Reckless" is a good username for you... At least you know yourself.. Aggravation/stress is everywhere in life... I don't need people who go out of their way to increase it...


I'm done pretending you matter...

Should have just wrote you off as a ******** from the get go and ignored you... I did for a few days, thinking "WTF? Well, maybe I'm just reading this wrong? I'll come back in a few days and read it again.. So this time, I read through the whole thread first to make sure I was getting your 'point'" I did... and your response to my calling you out on it, proves it...

But ignore you from here on I shall..

OOoooh, sorry I wasn't here to hold your hand and be "valuable" to you, I don't come equipped with crayons to draw tailgate diagrams for idiots.

Calm down Nancy

There's no "dishing it out" or "taking it" going on here. You apparently figured out how to work on your tailgate on your own, so that just goes even further to show how unnecessary your first post was. Call me a snowflake yet you're the one who gets mad when I call you out on looking for someone to show you how to the simplest thing to your truck. You say you've been turning wrenches since the 1950s at least, yet you can't figure out how the tailgate linkage on a 30+ year old pickup truck works? It's two bent rods, a handle, and a couple of latches for Christ's sake. Then you even go so far as to say you sprayed some WD-40 on it and worked it around a bit and that fixed it? That would have been the FIRST thing I tried without so much as a second thought, wayyy before coming online looking for advice. I'm real sorry for any poor soul who has to fly on a plane that your feeble old ass built.

Also, I never claimed to be a part of the millennial movement, I'm Gen Y. One is a lame cultural choice which I take no part in, the other is based on what year I was born in which I can't help. Don't be jealous that I'm physically younger than you (mentally is a different story, you seem to have stopped at 19, sorry you have to try so hard to feel like a big boy by talking **** even though you're the ******* moron here).

Either way you're still a ******* loser who couldn't figure out how to work on a tailgate, so yeah cram it up your ass. Please do ignore me, can only make my life easier. I make one half-hearted joking comment poking a little fun (that's what men do) and you ******* melt down over it? Jesus, please stay in the republic of California with that kind of attitude, the real people here don't have time for your nonsense. Grow some thicker skin and learn to take a joke without taking it personally, or feel free to **** as far off as you possibly can.


Oh and I'm glad you spent a few days thinking about me though, probably the last time you'll have anything in your senior brain that matters. Just try not to yank it while you envision how dominant I am over you or something, I don't appreciate being involved in your sick role play fantasy.

 

[Octane]

I know of a certain truck maker that has not yet mastered that age old technology of tailgate engineering.As the tailgates have been falling open going down the road.Lol