How do you beat this $16.00 Modification?

[sewlow]

Those torsion bars do work very well.
Dad has one on his '97 F250 4x4 & the tailgate probably has 1/4" - 3/8" of Rhino liner on it. That body style of Ford has a stupid heavy tailgate to begin with. With all that liner on there, it was all that the old man (86 years) could do to open it without it just dropping, or even to close it.
Now with the torsion bar installed, opening & closing it is a piece of cake.
The only prob we've found is that removing & replacing the tailgate is now a major PitA!
It was hard enough without the T-bar, being as heavy as it is.
Now, it takes 3 of us to get it off or on. 2 to lift up the tailgate while another messes with the T-bar.
I've heard similar probs from others that have the T-bar, even with ones that aren't so damn heavy.

 

[Oldblue98]

My question is, does it rub or scrape on paint anywhere to make bare metal spots ? I Looked at the pics on web page but still was not clear on where it makes contact with the tailgate !?

 

[delta_p]

I found some instructions online. From the pictures it appears it will do some rubbing on on the truck bed next to the tailgate pivot and some wallowing of the hole in the gate. I bet some strategic placed heat shrink or some 3/8" rubber grommets could fix some of the rubbing.

https://www.northerntool.com/images/downloads/manuals/29436.pdf

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

My question is, does it rub or scrape on paint anywhere to make bare metal spots ? I Looked at the pics on web page but still was not clear on where it makes contact with the tailgate !?

Watching the install video on Youtube I can't help but believe long term there will be damage to the tailgate and bed. You can't just drill a hole, put a torsion spring in it and expect it won't distort or elongate. Great idea but crappy application IMO

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[Oldblue98]

Watching the install video on Youtube I can't help but believe long term there will be damage to the tailgate and bed. You can't just drill a hole, put a torsion spring in it and expect it won't distort or elongate. Great idea but crappy application IMO

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I agree nice concept, but I don't think much of the mounting either.

 

[billy bee]

I've used these on the past two trucks I've owned, both with good results. Yes, the bar distorts a small area of the bed where it inserts into the sheet metal. If I lived in the mid-west or north-east US, I could certainly see this becoming a rust problem. Not an issue here in SoCal.

I don't think it would ever tear the sheet metal or rip out of the drilled hole. There is a fair bit of leverage on the bar and the torque creates a pulling force on the sheet metal. The small amount of distortion you see here was caused when I first installed the bar. It has not changed since.

The ideal set-up would include an insert or plate to distribute some of the load, but the bed is fairly heavy-duty and mine looks fine.


https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0yJtdOXmJ0y6K2

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[Uncle Ben]

I found these torsion bars at a liquidation store (bianca amores) anyways, paid $2 each. Bought 3. Installed one on a 98’ f150, and one on my 97” Silverado.

They work great. I can literally close my tailgate with a pinky finger.

Yes you will have to drill a couple holes, and you will probably screw up and then have to drill another hole or two to get it fitting perfect. Also taking the tailgate on and off is now a two person job. But besides those two down sides, everything else is great.

I’ll try to post up some pictures of my install, the torsion Rod is a bit of a tight fit behind the hinge, but once it’s in place, it works flawlessly.

 

[Invictus]

Looks like this would install right where my OPT7 60" Redline Triple LED Tailgate Light Bar is installed. Anyone have confirmation of this?

 

[alpinecrick]

Yea my problem on new vehicles isn't that the tailgate is hard to lift/lower it's the fact that I'm scared I will blow the latch out by yanking on it too hard.

And that's the dilemma, the more refined it is the less robust it will be.

Personally, I kinda' like the tailgate on my 65 Chevy--two chains and the original pivots still work fine.......

 

[454cid]

Nevermind

(Why do we not have a delete?)