Tailgate hinge/trunnion rot

[Elliot W]

My tailgate hangs has been very loose, especially when I’m the down position. When I looked into it, the bolts that hold the bed side trunnion in place had significant corrosion and the nut welded to the back of the interior bed panel for these bolts had fully rotted off the panel, giving the trunnion plenty of movement play. It looks like this area is where two body panels overlap and is going to be tricky to repair. I bought the tail light backing body panel from LMC 38-7658 as it looks like that is the piece that has the welded nuts on it. Figured I could cut that piece out and weld it where it’s rotted on my truck. Has anyone ever dealt with this before and have any tips or tricks on how to do it well? Here are some photos of my truck on both sides. Drivers side is what I’m planning to replace as the passenger side are still holding.

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[Chevy 88]

Good pics and description.

I always look for the cheapest, easiest solution:

 

[TotalyHucked]

Yikes, the easiest thing would be to replace the bedsides completely but that's def not the cheapest. You could always find a donor bed and cut that area out to weld into yours

 

[Camar068]

The above and rust holes over the tires got me to get complete bedsides.

 

[Elliot W]

Well I’m not proud of it but it’s better than how it was. I bought the inner tail light panel from LMC and cut out what I needed. The bed panels were replaced by the previous owner, so my booger welds seemed to match theirs. The alignment wasn’t much of an issue since I could match contour lines on the new panel and the outer bed panel. The tough parts were finding good metal to weld to and getting the cutting wheel access to remove the bad section. The bumper with mounts and plates had to be removed for the job.

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[YakkoWarner]

My welds are never "pretty" either so the grinder is my best friend - but if its welded solid thats what counts and with the tailgate on no one is going to be seeing/inspecting that area anyway. And if they do, hand them the tools and tell them let me see you do better.

 

[waterpirate]

That's exactly how I fixed mine. Pain in the arse, but worth the time for the result.
Eric