Classic Industries Chevy Tailgate Latch Upgrade - Advance Design Tailgate Cleanup

Next, they shimmed the gate to make sure the gate was squared in place.

Originally these tailgates were held in place by inserting the loer hinge into the bottom rail of the gate. The new hinges work in the samestyle, only their appearance is much clener. the way the new hinges work is the hinge tab is welded to the bed, and then the gate is bolted to the lower half of the hinge tab. In order to determine the mounting position of the new hinge tab, Edgar bolted the new hinge to the bottom of the gate.

Once both hinges were in their exact opposing places, they were tacked into place.

Instead of chains, this new setup uses braces, or chain eliminators, like a late-model truck. IN order to determine the mounting location of the upper hinge, the kit is supplied with this metal template. By placing the template in the correct position, the "eye" in the template locates the mounting spot. Use a punch through the eye on the template to pinpoint placement.

Next, Edgar drlled the correct size hole.

The upper hinge is then bolted to the bedside.

With both hinge points in place the tailgate could now be installed. However, Edgar decided to clean up the look of the tailgate first. Because this tailgate will no longer use chains, there is no need for the indentation in the upper side of the gate. Therefore, Edgar cut out the indentation.

He then made this filler piece and welded it into place. The finished result is a much cleaner look.

Also, due to the fact the bed no longer uses chains, an opening slot has to be made on the backside of the gate in order for the hinge braces to fold up into. Once again, this part is made easy thanks to the provided template. Place the template in the correct location, and then cut out the highlighted section. Here you can see how the majority of the metal has been removed. All that's left is for the small tab to be removed, which is for the rivet on the braces to slide into.

With the material cut, the brace can then be mounted in place. The brace is held to the gate by drilling a couple o fholes in the side of the gate and screwing it on.

Along with new hinges and no chains, the crew at Classic is also going to clean up the latches as well. The new latches are these spring-loaded locking pins, which look similar to giant-sized bullets and mount inside of the tailgate. first, the crew must layout the measurements of the latch on the backside of the gate.

The two 5/8-inch holes are drilled according to the instructions.