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This tailgate from Stromberg Carlson features an open design that improves your field of vision when driving and is custom fit to your vehicle. Cutout allows for easy towing of 5th-wheel and gooseneck trailers, and aerodynamic design reduces drag.
Features:
Specs:
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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hey guys. Today we're going to take a look at the Stromberg Carlson 100 Series 5th Wheel Tailgate. Now this is going to be a direct replacement for your factory tailgate for most of your late eighties to early nineties Ford model trucks. Now this is a vented tailgate so it's going to give you better vision for when you're driving or backing up, and it's also going to improve your gas mileage. While this cutout is also going to be good for loading any 5th wheel or gooseneck trailers so you won't have to lower the tailgate to get those loaded.Now if you got to tailgate that's broken or damaged or you just don't want to mess with it anymore, a lot of times with these older trucks they'll just be very outdated and just very weathered down. So you can see this one is, it's very hard to pull that handle up to get it open, so it'd be good idea to replace it.
But if you don't want to spend the time or the money to try to find an exact replacement for the tailgate, the Stromberg Carlson is going to do a great job to replace it.It has a heavy duty steel tube construction, which is going to be very durable and have a 100 pound weight capacity and has a black powder coat finish which can be painted to match the surface of your vehicle. And that's what actually Stromberg Carlson recommends to complete the rust resistance. This is going to be custom fit tailgate, so it's going to match the contours of your truck bed. It uses two of these latches to secure to your tailgate while also utilizing the factory pin that your old factory tailgate attached to first. So we just got to pull in on the pins, close it, and the pins are going to lock behind those pins so that you can't unlock it.Now that we've gone over some of those features, let's show you how to install.
And before we install our tailgate there's a bit of pre-assembly we have to do. It doesn't take too much time at all. We already have one side done. Next side we'll just do real quick. First things first.
We're going to take this pin out. We just push in on the sides like so. Pull the pin out. We're not going to need that. Going to take this ring, key ring, and slide that around into the slot.
That's going to be basically your handle. There we go. Just like that. And we're to take this rubber grommet and we're going to put it on the inside of the bracket, face down. We want it to wrap around. Now it is advised to use a type of adhesive so that it stays in place, but for demonstration purposes, we're going to skip that step.Now we can get it in place on our tailgate. You want to make sure that the latch right here is on the outside of this bracket right there. It's going to slide into place just like that. Now we'll take our included hardware. We're going to make sure that the heads of the bolts are on the outside. We'll thread one of our nuts on there. Do the same for the other one. Now you will notice that when it's not tightened down, you do have a lot of adjustability right here. You want to tighten it down so that the latch is level with this rail right here. So just get a flat head screwdriver and then a wrench and then you can tighten that down.Now we're going to remove the factory tailgate. What we need to do first is open it up. Bring it down and we need to get these cables unattached from the truck bed. And how are we going to do that is a tab right here, we're just gonna push in on it and push up just like that. And then do the same for the other side. Now we have both cables and removed and hat we're going to do is pull it off of the passenger side like so, and then the driver's side. And then we can set it aside.Now we can grab our Stromberg Carlson and put it in place. We're going to put that tube on the driver's side first, like so, and then we can get the passenger's side on. So lift up, push it to close it. You may have to pull on the pins just to get her to close for the first time, just so we can adjust. I see over here on our driver's side, our latch is pretty tight. We're not going to mess with that at all. But if you come over to our passenger side, we're going to see that we got a lot of wiggle room, so we're just going to make a few adjustments to our latch and then try it again. So we're going to open it up first, pull both ends and open up the tailgate. And what we're going to do is we're going to hold up with our knee and we're going to come down to the bolt and the nut that we have on the latch system, loosen those up and then push it down towards this base part right here. Let's go ahead and do that.Now we've made that adjustment. Let's go ahead and shut our tailgate. Remember you've got to pull on the pins to get to tailgate to shut. Now you see we did take out a lot of that rattling just by making that minor adjustment. Now at that point, your installation's going to be complete. However if you want to go a step further and attach your factory cables, you can do that as well. Just keep in mind that the hardware is not included, but you can just kind of go around to the shop and maybe find a couple of scrap parts. We just have a basic, a nut and bolt, and then we have a washer around it as well. You cannot use the same hardware that was holding it to the factory tailgate because it was just one screw holding it into the side without a bolt. And another thing you want to keep in mind is this is not a weight bearing tailgate, so I would avoid standing or sitting on it or setting anything dense and heavy on top of it while it's lowered.That's going to do it for our look at the Stromberg Carlson 100 Series 5th Wheel Tailgate.
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (1253 Customer Reviews)
This tailgate from Stromberg Carlson features an open design that improves your field of vision when driving and is custom fit to your vehicle. Cutout allows for easy towing of 5th-wheel and gooseneck trailers, and aerodynamic design reduces drag.Tailgate fits perfectly for our 2002 Dodge 3500. Written instructions were a bit confusing for a visual learner. But found a great YouTube video that was perfect. Great value and price. Nice heavy gate
Fast shipping w/tailgate arriving well packaged. Easy install, okay instructions but product came with no bolts for mounting bottom brackets that allow you to attach tailgate to truck. Per spec sheet, none were to be included which I find odd. Also, just an FYI, it also does not include the tailgate support cables (not supposed to). So just be aware that if you don't want to take the ones off your current tailgate you will need to order a set of these. Overall pleased with purchase and would recommend.
Assembly was easy, after I provided additional nuts/bolts to attach pivot rings. None were provided, nor was it listed as inventory. Why are these not provided? As noted in other reviews, packaging was minimal. Result, slightly bent interior panel (see pic), does not affect external view. Next step is to add side support cables with additional hardware needed.
Very happy with the tailgate. will recommend to other people
Apologies for the belated review. Out-of-state for several days. After promptly helping me fix my mistake in ordering the wrong item, etrailer was very good in getting me the right tailgate. The only thing missing was the hardware to attach the two metal extenders to the bottom of the tailgate where it slips over the pivot point in the assembly. A quick trip to the hardware store and a 98 cent purchase of 4 nuts and 4 bolts completed the task. The tailgate fits and works as advertised and I would willingly use etrailer again for any needed supplies. Thank you for your help in fixing my truck. Yours, Terrill Birkner
This is a great tail gate. This is my third version of this gate. The two previous ones were on trucks that aren't compatible with my current truck. It's a great product. It has to be for me to buy three of them. Air flows through, helping fuel mileage, and still keeps stuff from rolling out of the truck bed. Great service from eTrailer and fast delivery.
Tom M.
9/10/2015
Great
Product received in great shape. All parts accounted for and assembled in less than 30 min. Thank you
The tailgate arrived pretty quickly, but I was disapointed to find the box mostly open sitting there on my porch. The cardboard had pulled thru the staples on the 'lid' side, leaving both the tailgate and the rest of the box contents exposed. UPS usually does a pretty good job handling packages so I don't know where the problem originated.
I feared the worst as I opened the box the rest of the way and found loose hardware everywhere. Fortunately, the tailgate didn't receive any dents/damage and when I was able to install the gate later in the week I had all of the hardware I was supposed to have.
Installation was pretty easy, and the fit of the gate on my '01 Dodge is just great and this should make hitching my goosneck and 5th wheel trailers easier. But there's several places on it along the edges where the black powder coating either didn't 'take' 100% at the factory or it was wore off during shipping/handling. The bare metal areas will now need to be re-sprayed and I'll do that as soon as the weather breaks here.
The only reasons I can't give this product an Excellent rating are because of the shipping/missing paint problems.
Second time I've replaced the original tailgate with this product. The welds that hold the pockets that fit over the studs on either side of the bed are prone to failure. Additionally, it never comes with enough screws and/or self locking nuts so you have to reuse these items from the old tailgate. First time buyers have to go to the hardware store.
The product was delivered damaged inside the box. Made the repairs to the left side latch mounting plate before install. Other than the damaged area the product performs as expected once assembled.
Jenny N.
4/18/2022
I will have our Customer Service team reach out to you.
The instructions are terrible... there was not ANY Bolts & Lock Nuts to fasten the drivers & passengers side pivot ring. The product included ONLY 4 BOLTS & 4 LOCK NUTS for the latch assembly only, there should have been 8. We didn't have any lock nuts, so I have fear that the nuts we used will vibrate loose or even off.
Also, the tailgate was just short of fitting (to small), so my husband had to put spacers between the nuts to make it fit.
The tailgate does not have cables to keep it from hitting the bumper when opening, as well as no protection when it does hit the bumper from scratching the tailgate & bumper.
Would I recommend this product... ABSOLUTELY NOT.
If you want me to take a picture of the spacers between the nuts & bolts, I will be glad too.
Product arrived in tack, but parts bag was torn so nut/bolts all loose in carton. All accounted for with detail sheet. Although I had to purchase bolts to complete the install of the hinge parts that pivot the tailgate, none were included or mentioned in the instructions. Once installed it fit well, looks and functions well, latches work well. It will do the job and I’d recommend it for use with 5th wheel towing. Good price though etrailer, they always do good, only limited by the quality of manufacturers products.
I got this tailgate for two reasons. My original was pretty much trashed and I needed this for our 5th wheel trailer. Serves my purpose perfectly. Like most things, there was a bit of workarounds involved to make it fit. In the end, works perfect for my application.
Excellent tailgate, very strong very easy to open
The product was well-constructed, but incomplete. Packaging was only marginally adequate for an item of this price, though it DID suffice. I was disappointed (therefore only rated it 'good') in Stromberg's tailgate for the following reasons:
1) No provision for attaching the support cables for open tailgate.
2) I had to 'manufacture' shims for the hinges to prevent rattles.
3) They could have installed the split rings on the latches instead of leaving that to the customer.
4) The 'powder coat paint' seems very fragile, and even Stromberg recommends you paint over it to discourage rust. Why could they not provide an adequate finish on their product rather than leavign that to the customer?
Mark me 2 1/2 stars and a bit disappointed rather than totally satisfied with my purchase.
E trainer's service was great. The basic tailgate piece seems great. Good workmanship, powder coating is good, fit is good to the truck. However, how many bad reviews does it take to add the four quarter inch by half inch bolts with lock washers and nuts to mount the hinge pieces on with? There were several reviews from more than two years ago that mentioned this inadequacy. Also for this type application the slotted machine screws supplied should be changed to hex bolts with lock nuts or nuts with lock washers. I also had to grind open the slot in the supplied right hinge piece for it to slide over the original hinge pin in my Dodge truck. 2 each 5/16 nuts would have made my original cable straps work after removing them from the original tailgate. The installation video says that the rubber grommets (bumpers) should be installed with an adhesive to keep them in place. There is no adhesive in the world that will hold these in place. I think these will eventually fall out and make the tailgate rattle. In closing, no one likes to run to the store for $0.50 worth of hardware. So I think even if they added $1 to the price and supplied the necessary hardware, they would make a whole lot more customers really happy with his product.
I received my VGD-94-101 5th wheel tailgate very promptly. The price was very good. The service I have received from etrailer has been outstanding. My package arrived in perfect condition. I installed it on my 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 and it fit perfectly. The instructions were good and it took me about 30 minutes to get it done. A great product. Thank you for your great service etrailer !
The bag holding the mounting hardware was split open on the end and all the mounting hardware was rattling around inside the shipping carton. This resulted in several small scratches in the paint. I could only find 5 of the 8 self locking nuts. Fortunately I was replacing an existing Stromberg tailgate so I used the nuts off the old one.
When I got it delivered the box looked in good shape but when I opened it the bottom left corner was bent like it had been dropped on that corner. The bottom left hand hinge would not set level and straight. A couple of boards and a hammer straightened it out easy. All the hardware was in a plastic bag but the 8 bolts needed to mount it, they were just loose in the box and was short one 1/4 X 1/2 bolt and nut. It went together in about 1/2 hour and fit real nice, looks nice, a little light weight built but it will work for what I wanted it to do.
The Quality of the tailgate is Great. Each weld joint is well done and the finish is Super. I haven't installed yet, but it measures out perfectly and the hardware kit appears to have everything required . The packaging was Also noteworthy since I have to mention It was double boxed. At first I thought that I was just lucky that the shipper had not abused the box, but when I opened and seen the second box enclosed I was Impressed. Shipping was as promised despite the continuing inclement weather and the tracking was even better than the shipper provided. Thanks for the Great Transaction in every way
I have an older 1997 Dodge Ram and had hard time finding a competitively priced 5th wheel tail gate to fit. etrailer had and it fits perfectly. I would recommend using etrailer to find your hard to find rv supplies. Their pricing is very competitive and ordering is easy.
The gate arrived sooner than I expected and was in great shape. The only reason I did not mark excellent is because of the excess play at the tube mount area. I found the perfect size PVC pipe and made bushings so the gate hinges perfectly. Also I attached the right side mount after installing, so as to make it more theft resistant. Instead of just lifting the gate off, the mount must be removed. It looks great and since my OEM gate is damaged, I will leave it on. I also used hot glue on the rubber pieces to keep them in place. I am very happy with it!
Price at RV sales, I check ,at, was 300.00$ wasn't in stock, they ,just. A wooden. Display, lol I am happy, knowing. I found,a close, trailer,camper, supply, we, have 2 campers, frist one ,was pull, behind, 30,ft, then got a 36 ft, 5 th wheel, ,no I am not, nuts, we are selling, 30, ft, shipping and packing, was super, I will ,reorder, other parts, from them, p.s. Pice of cake to install,
Over all nice product. Only issue. Not enough hardware to install
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Don B.
1/22/2021
My tailgate is still alive and well and in service. Thanks again for your help.