Classic Industries Chevy Tailgate Latch Upgrade - Advance Design Tailgate Cleanup

Needless to say, some of the building methods that appeared on the Advance Design Chevy and GMC trucks are a bit archaic. Although several examples come to mind, at this moment in time one particular piece centered on the aesthetic appeal of the rear end comes to the forefront: tailgate chains. And to be honest, when it comes to "curb appeal" tailgate chains are about as attractive as the thought of Rosie O'Donnell sprawled out across the hood of a Corvette like an '80's shop poster!

Although tailgate chains may be purposeful, practical, and simple for their time, let's face it: They have no place in our modern-day truck market. Besides taking away from the look of your ride, there's also the physical damage that they cause. While you're cruising down the road, those chains are swinging and swaying like Austin Powers at a '60's swinger party. Before too long all that movement begins to take a toll on your bed in the form of dents, scratches, or those sweet half-moon-looking markings they create. All around, any Advance Design owner is better off leaving that ball and chain in the past.

For the past few months Classic Industries has been more than knee deep in hacking away at finishing up the newest vehicle in their fleet of silver-and-maroon rolling propaganda: a '53 Chevy 3100 shop truck. Although the truck maintains a mostly stock appearance, they are also polishing several accents on the '53, including cleaning up the tailgate. The center focus around the job will be refining the look of the rear by removing the chains. Although it may sound easy and straightforward, with the chains removed other areas present themselves as focal points that need to be dealt with. For example, the crew at Classic Industries will need to figure out new latches and some sort of bracing to keep the tailgate from folding down like a ramp. Along with the mechanics, they also decided to take things one step further by swapping out the stock bottom hinges for something a little more modern and filling in the chain indentions on the factory tailgate.

In order for the crew to tackle the job, they turned to an inside source: their truck catalog. There they found all the components needed to clean things up and give them a modern and refined look, including a new tailgate with a stamped Chevrolet logo, hidden latches, chain eliminator braces, and hinges. As you'll see, this sweet concoction of parts cleans up the rear end like some miracle goop on a late-night infomercial.