Tailgate Lift?

[Luis Santos]

Has anyone heard of a tailgate lift? The tailgate is quite heavy and I was searching for a project similar to the Torneau Cover Lift but for the Tailgate. I could not find one, does anyone know if installing some lift system to the tailgate is possible?

 

[Todd Z]

You could do it exactly like a garage door spring setup......

That would take up some of the bed...

You could also hide it in between the bed and the fender, That would be cool....

OR, You could use some type of coil spring or a torsion spring to help....

Todd Z

 

[A1cntrler]

The '07 has a torsion spring in the tailgate to assist in closing I believe.... You could just get an '07!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

This thread is Q-bait, right?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Seriously, though Q, I was thinking the same thing. I never really noticed it as heavy...my 10yo opens and closes it without problem.



But, I'll bite. how would a torsion spring work? Where would it be installed such that it doesn't get in the way?



TJR

 

[EddieS'04]

My tailgate is easy to close..maybe need to oil the pivots, might be binding..

 

[Daniel Park 2]

maybe hes disabled?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Maybe Karma...in which case wouldn't you want a power tailgate lift, not just the assist. I guess that depends on the seriousness of the disability though, right?



And, they are not called disabled anymore. They are now "handi-capable".



And for that matter, guessing someone might be disabled isn't PC, and me not considering that he might be disabled also isn't PC...but I'm not PC, so who cares.



TJR

 

[Richard L]

There are kits that use linear-actuators to open and close the tail gate. They work well but they are expensive.



I designed a unit that uses nitrogen gas springs to help lift the tail gate. The problem is just finding the time to build a prototype and to work out the bugs. The other problem is knowing if there is a market to sell them. I am hoping that if I ever built the unit, I would want it to work on the Sport Trac;s and the F150's since they use the same tailgate design.



...Rich

 

[Luis Santos]

I am not disabled. I am pretty strong too however my wife does not have the strength to hold it and close it without a struggle.