Dirt in the tailgate

meckman · 04-24-2007, 06:27 AM

Over the weekend I was hauling some topsoil and noticed when I was unloading small pieces of dirt would roll off the top of the tailgate and into the area where the tailgate latches to the truck. There is a hole that all this dirt was going right into the tailgate. So how can I get this dirt out? Can I remove the plastic cover and get access to the insides of the tailgate enough to get a shop vac in there?

On a side note..... DO NOT EVER USE A LOADHANDLER. I used one to help unload the dirt mentioned above and for one, I had to manually unload half the dirt with a shovel before I could even get the dirt to move with the loadhandler. Then after I'm done, I remove the loadhandler from my tailgate only to find that it scratched the sh!t out of my paint! Putting in a backyard is really costing me some $$$$$.

meckman · 04-24-2007, 08:08 AM

I remembered that power tailgate thread from pciley had some good pics of the tailgate. Looks like I will be able to remove the plastic and get a shop vac hose in there.

One cool thing about the hole experience was seeing the Titan haul 2 yards of topsoil. She was squating pretty good, but I never felt it hit the bump stops.

Yikes, just did a google search and saw that 1 yard or dirt can be somewhere between 900 - 1,800 lbs (depending on moisture content), and I had 2. Just a little over the 1,500 lb bed rating. ooops.

**gadget74** · 04-24-2007, 08:11 AM

Can you not just run some water through it?
If dirt can get in there then water can too...........

meckman · 04-24-2007, 08:14 AM

I thought about that, but I don't think the weep holes at the bottom of the tailgate are large enough to get all that dirt out.

Fox Delta · 04-24-2007, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meckman

I remembered that power tailgate thread from pciley had some good pics of the tailgate. Looks like I will be able to remove the plastic and get a shop vac hose in there.

One cool thing about the hole experience was seeing the Titan haul 2 yards of topsoil. She was squating pretty good, but I never felt it hit the bump stops.

Yikes, just did a google search and saw that 1 yard or dirt can be somewhere between 900 - 1,800 lbs (depending on moisture content), and I had 2. Just a little over the 1,500 lb bed rating. ooops.

if you are talking about the holes in the bottom of the tailgate those are actually the "drains" -- I 4wheel in the mud and just stick the water hose in the hole in the side there until the water runs clear out of the drain - I do have to go from one side to the other the make sure it's all out.

Yeah that would be a bit over the load rating

reminds me of the time I put 300 sq ft of ceramic floor tile in my F250! whoops

**gadget74** · 04-24-2007, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meckman

I thought about that, but I don't think the weep holes at the bottom of the tailgate are large enough to get all that dirt out.

I haven't looked at them, but it was just a thought.
Good luck and let us know your results.

Fox Delta · 04-24-2007, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meckman

I thought about that, but I don't think the weep holes at the bottom of the tailgate are large enough to get all that dirt out.

hmmm - seems like if your tailgate was open then that's where the dirt would have entered?? or did it go in thru the big holes on the side??

QWIKWHIP · 04-26-2007, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fox Delta

Yeah that would be a bit over the load rating

reminds me of the time I put 300 sq ft of ceramic floor tile in my F250! whoops

Do you mean 3000? Cuz I've had over 300 sq plus 4 80lb bags of mortar in my Titan with no problems. I've had 3 yards of mulch in my truck as well. That was a load! I think the yard guy wanted to see how high he could pile it! lol

Fox Delta · 04-30-2007, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QWIKWHIP

Do you mean 3000? Cuz I've had over 300 sq plus 4 80lb bags of mortar in my Titan with no problems. I've had 3 yards of mulch in my truck as well. That was a load! I think the yard guy wanted to see how high he could pile it! lol

I thought he said it was 300 - a guy drove it in on a pallet with a forklift - the back of that Ford P.O.S. just kept saggin'. those were the big 16x16 tiles each one was like 10lbs

3 yards of mulch? yeah that's a load!!

meckman · 05-16-2007, 07:58 AM

I took the tailgate off and washed it all out. The only issue is I wasn't too careful with removing the platic cap on the top of the tailgate and broke off some of the tabs. It went back on OK, but it's a little loose now. Might call up the dealer to get a price on a new plastic top piece. Probably 100 bucks or so..... Other than that, the removal was easy and I got all the dirt out. Had some dirt in the hinges too that I could hear grinding a little when I would close the gate. So got all that out too.

meckman · 05-16-2007, 12:02 PM

Quick update. Just ordered up a new plastic top piece for $32.00 shipped off of Courtesy. Not near as bad as I originally thought.

killcatzforfun · 05-16-2007, 01:12 PM

[quote=Fox Delta]I thought he said it was 300 - a guy drove it in on a pallet with a forklift - the back of that Ford P.O.S. just kept saggin'. those were the big 16x16 tiles each one was like 10lbs

i had 320sq ft of tile in mine last week with no sag at all.. i also had 2 50lb bags and 2 35 lb bags of mix in there with my saw and other stuff i bought to...

Fox Delta · 05-21-2007, 12:43 AM

[quote=killcatzforfun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fox Delta

I thought he said it was 300 - a guy drove it in on a pallet with a forklift - the back of that Ford P.O.S. just kept saggin'. those were the big 16x16 tiles each one was like 10lbs

i had 320sq ft of tile in mine last week with no sag at all.. i also had 2 50lb bags and 2 35 lb bags of mix in there with my saw and other stuff i bought to...

yep that's a good bit !! I am so glad to be rid of that Ford -- whew!!

catitanfan · 05-30-2007, 09:23 PM

I'm Affraid I am going to have this happen when I put my Quad in the back after duck hunting this season. I hope not!

gchu · 06-04-2008, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meckman

I remembered that power tailgate thread from pciley had some good pics of the tailgate. Looks like I will be able to remove the plastic and get a shop vac hose in there.

One cool thing about the hole experience was seeing the Titan haul 2 yards of topsoil. She was squating pretty good, but I never felt it hit the bump stops.

Yikes, just did a google search and saw that 1 yard or dirt can be somewhere between 900 - 1,800 lbs (depending on moisture content), and I had 2. Just a little over the 1,500 lb bed rating. ooops.

I know this is an old thread, but I had the same problem this weekend when I was moving mulch. I had take then piece of the plastic off the tailgate (it's the vertical, when the gate is closed, inside piece that covers the tailgate) but I couldn't get to the inside. I didn't take off the top plastic piece and it looked like there was a "metal" flap on the expose face of the tailgate, but I didn't want to bend it.

How do I get in to clean it out - I'm worried about the mulch holding water in there and causing rust.

Any pics will help!

Thanks,

George