The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Tailgate Dent Removal

I'm starting the body work on the 52 and discovered a large dent in the bottom of the tailgate. I wouldn't worry about it except it seems to have bowed the bottom of the tailgate. If i lay a staight edge against the bottom the side with the dent bows up about a 1/4".

The problem I'm having is how to remove the dent. it is about an 1 above the bottom and I can't get to the backside because of the way the tailgate is doubled over in that area.

I'm thinking about drilling a hole in the backside and using a punch to bang out the dent. Any and all suggestions are apprieciated.

Thanks,
Gary

Dents in the tailgate are a PITA. I messed with mine for a week and it still looks like crap. If I had it to do all over again I would just buy one from Jim Carter or Mar-K. I did buy the front panel from mar-K and am very pleased with the quality.

My tailgate was bowed in, dented, and pitted so I got a new one from Mar-k. Its nice and heavy, and looks great.

I tried parking my truck on top of the old tailgate to flatten it, it didn't work.

WHen I talked to my bodyman we discussed repair vs replace.

If you repair, he spends countless hours on the old part welding, fitting, filling, sanding, etc. The hours add up to more than the costs of the new part and I still have an old part that has been bent, welded, fitted, sanded, etc. And the original part is still not as perfect as the new replacement part would have been for the same amount of money (if not less).

The body man spends more time fixing your part, and in turn gets less projects done. Maybe yours.

I determined to spend the money on the part instead of the bodyman. He will get done a lot faster too.

If the tail gate has a bow in it, my suggestion is the same as above. Get a new one. It is not worth messing with it.

Yup I agree ..there comes a time when the cost of the labor involved outweighs the cost of replacin...an with a bowed gate you prob. wont be happy after the effort and $ spent to try an fix it.
Tim

Thanks for all the replys.
Since I'm going to try to do all the body work on the truck myuself. I think I may just bang on it awhile. won't cost me anything but time.

Sure can't hurt and maybe I'll learn something. If all else fails I'll buy a new one and chalk this one up as experience gained.

I straightened mine out by putting 3" x 3" steel tubes on each side and then clamping them together with large C clamps. It was bowed mostly on the top and it came out pretty good. I had to put some wooden blocks between the tubes so I could go slightly past straight because it will spring back a little.

Cen Tex, If you bang around on it, make sure you understand how to shrink metal. It probably is already stretched and banging around on it will stretch it eve more.

This will be my first attempt at metal work. I've got all the books, videos, and bookmarks to every forum I can find.

It's time to put see if anything I've read or seen has sunk in. I understand the concept of metal working, now it's test time.

Thanks to all that have responded. I'll let ya'll know how it turns out.