If any of you guys have old trucks with heavy hard-to-close tailgates, you need one of these
https://www.amazon.com/EASYLIFT-Go-Gear-Tailgate-Easylift/dp/B000CMHVJO
I just put one on the 96 F250. Before I could barely lift it from flat with one hand and close it - I had to boost it with my knee and catch it on the way up. Now my wife can close it from flat easily with one hand. I don't normally just post up a recco like this, but this thing is cheap, easy, and works. Only down side is it makes the tailgate a lot harder to remove, but I never do that. When was the last time you bought a $20 auto product and thought "Damn, that thing is really awesome!!"?
I never really thought about the tailgate being a PITA until I closed the one on a buddy's new 250. Sometimes it's the little stuff that makes a vehicle easier to live with. Anyway, for all you old truck guys - you may want to get one before they stop making them. I'd bet that they'll fade away since all the new pickups have something like this from the factory.
Thanks for the idea - you're 100% right about little things making a big difference.
glad to. It's just like magic, even though it's just a torsion spring like every car trunk use din the 70s. I keep opening and closing the tailgate every time I walk by the truck lol.
How does it install? Sure looks like magic!
You drill one 3/8" hole in the bed above the tailgate pivot and one in the tailgate near the center - in the bottom surface if the tailgate is closed. You stick the bed end in and then (with help) work the tailgate over the other end while reinstalling the tailgate. It's awkward but only took me and SWMBO about 15 minutes.
The whole thing lies in the space between the tailgate and bed and is completely out of the way, you'd never notice it unless you looked for it. The packaging it comes in acts as a template for the holes. When the tailgate is closed both ends of the U point up - one inside the bed end and one inside the tailgate. When you lower the tailgate it rotates that end down, loading the spring.
