Side Swing Tailgate?

WareWolf · Aug 21, 2015

Hey all,

Has anyone seen / done / heard of a way to modify the tailgate so it swings open to the side like on a Honda Ridgeline? I don't really care about swinging down, as all it does is get in between me and the crap I'm hauling around.

I go out target shooting on the weekends so the bed of the truck is both a transportation of my firearms and targets, but also becomes something of a working surface for reloading, swapping around accessories, swapping firearms, etc. When I owned the Ridgeline this was quite a bit easier as the firearms were in the trunk of the bed. I'd get to the area I was shooting, unload the bed's targets and some of the longer firearms, then unload the trunks smaller items, close the trunk and put all the firearms within reach either ontop of the tonneau or in the bed. All of which was easy to reach because of the tailgate being to the side.

Since swapping to the Raptor (Which I'm not trading back!!!) I feel like I've lost quite a bit of working surface since the tailgate down has negated the extra surface area I could reach on the closed tonneau.

I suppose my needs might be solved with something like a Decked product:

Ford F-150 (2004-current) 5' 6" bed length

But I'm not sure I want to drop that kind of money until we know more about the 2016's since I'm likely to trade up.

I'm just shy of 6'4, so it's not something standing on a bucket will fix either

PropDr · Aug 21, 2015

Get a secure bed cover and use the tail gate as your work bench.
Also makes a perfect seating surface for my butt as I enjoy a cold one.

2014RubyRed · Aug 21, 2015

Don't forget the tailgate stripper pole!!!

Can't get that option on no Honda.....

WareWolf · Aug 21, 2015

PropDr said:
Get a secure bed cover and use the tail gate as your work bench.
Also makes a perfect seating surface for my butt as I enjoy a cold one.

I have a revolver x2 that would work, but with the tailgate down, I can reach inches of it rather than feet like with the old setup.

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---------- Post added at 11:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:24 AM ----------

PropDr said:
Get a secure bed cover and use the tail gate as your work bench.
Also makes a perfect seating surface for my butt as I enjoy a cold one.

Just to clarify, I used to use both the bed and tonneau surfaces at once. That's why I feel I have lost so much space.

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raptor_qatar · Aug 21, 2015

Invest in a tire holder type tailgate they make swing types of those but honestly I would stick to the regular tailgate and as Propdr said use is as a work bench

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WareWolf · Aug 21, 2015

raptor_qatar said:
Invest in a tire holder type tailgate they make swing types of those but honestly I would stick to the regular tailgate and as Propdr said use is as a work bench

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A tiregate more or less solves the swing, but it also sremoves the security of a locking tailgate area that I have now with a hard tonneau, which is necessary since there would be dozen or more firearms as well as the accessories in the bed.

With the ridgeline I could swing the tailgate away, putting me right up against the truck so I had access to the rear of the bed as well as the top of the hard tonneau. This provided alot of room, because I had access to two layered planes for spreading out gear that I could reach from the rear of the truck.

This was about 3' deep (arm reach) and roughly 5.5' wide, times 2 layers. Due to the raptors gate being down, I have lost almost 50% of my work space because the tailgate prevents me from getting much if any real use out of the tonneau layer. If I could swing the gate to the side, problem solved.

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gwpfan · Aug 25, 2015

I have both the Decked product and a Tiregate product. I almost bought the rear swing tailgate, figured I could fill it in with metal/other to hide things like a real tailgate, then I realized I'd have to also relocate and re-wire my rear camera (along with the tailgate step going away) and since I was just after a location for 2nd spare tire I went with the rack system in which I can mount it above the cab - ADV Rack System - Ford - WilcoOffroad.comWilcoOffroad.com besides gives me more bed space and more.

You can always sell the Decked to thousands of other F150 owners since it's not sized just for the Raptor, besides, maybe you'll get lucky and it'll fit the new one.

From what you're saying the Decked is the best option. I looked at a number of options and if you think the Decked is too expensive then look at TruckVault - TruckVault for Your Pickup Truck
You'll think the Decked is a hell of a deal!
I also had a custom made diamond plate bed box, very simple 2 drawers, 6" tall and it was double the cost of the Decked. I just wish the decked wasn't so tall.

If you're handy *and have time* you could build a nice box out of plywood, recommend outdoor/marine grade. The other thing is if you don't need weather proof protection a piece of plywood and a few corner blocks and you could have a covered bed box pretty cheaply. If you store your guns in cases anyways they'll likely be protected and for shells and such, depending on your bedliner you could build a bit of a platform to help ensure water doesn't soak up thru the base.
I built a few smaller boxes and ended up coating them with Plastic Dip. Worked pretty well for my application, but I wasn't sliding a bunch of stuff on them, it was just set up so I could get my dog kennels lined up. I have 4 rear facing dog kennels in the back of my truck, right behind the cab, 2 smaller in the center, 1 large on each outside edge and I had to put the larger ones on stands to get them lock in.
A few fore-warning's:
1. If you go to a non-weather proof box make sure your bedliner drains up near the cab. I was parked nose down and found some of my stuff got quite wet on the downhill side. Ended up drilling a hole thru the bedliner near the cab so it'd couldn't build up like it did.
2. The drop in bedliner is preferred over the spray in. The ribs of the drop in help keep your stuff from soaking up the water. It works even better if you can put a flat surface right on top of the ribs to help keep things dry. I've used melamine, others have used stall mats (rubber sheets) and cut it down so the edges of the melamine/mat were well under the roof of the platfrom.
3. If you don't use drawers get a stick with a grabber/hook long enough to reach the front of the bed for all those things that will find there way up to the front.

Sounds like you have a bed cover for the Raptor already, so a simple plywood setup would be pretty inexpensive....
TRUCK BED DRAWERS

Jobox Aluminum Truck Bed Tool Box Drawers

raptor_qatar · Aug 27, 2015

WareWolf · Aug 29, 2015

gwpfan said:
I have both the Decked product and a Tiregate product. I almost bought the rear swing tailgate, figured I could fill it in with metal/other to hide things like a real tailgate, then I realized I'd have to also relocate and re-wire my rear camera (along with the tailgate step going away) and since I was just after a location for 2nd spare tire I went with the rack system in which I can mount it above the cab - ADV Rack System - Ford - WilcoOffroad.comWilcoOffroad.com besides gives me more bed space and more.

You can always sell the Decked to thousands of other F150 owners since it's not sized just for the Raptor, besides, maybe you'll get lucky and it'll fit the new one.

From what you're saying the Decked is the best option. I looked at a number of options and if you think the Decked is too expensive then look at TruckVault - TruckVault for Your Pickup Truck
You'll think the Decked is a hell of a deal!
I also had a custom made diamond plate bed box, very simple 2 drawers, 6" tall and it was double the cost of the Decked. I just wish the decked wasn't so tall.

If you're handy *and have time* you could build a nice box out of plywood, recommend outdoor/marine grade. The other thing is if you don't need weather proof protection a piece of plywood and a few corner blocks and you could have a covered bed box pretty cheaply. If you store your guns in cases anyways they'll likely be protected and for shells and such, depending on your bedliner you could build a bit of a platform to help ensure water doesn't soak up thru the base.
I built a few smaller boxes and ended up coating them with Plastic Dip. Worked pretty well for my application, but I wasn't sliding a bunch of stuff on them, it was just set up so I could get my dog kennels lined up. I have 4 rear facing dog kennels in the back of my truck, right behind the cab, 2 smaller in the center, 1 large on each outside edge and I had to put the larger ones on stands to get them lock in.
A few fore-warning's:
1. If you go to a non-weather proof box make sure your bedliner drains up near the cab. I was parked nose down and found some of my stuff got quite wet on the downhill side. Ended up drilling a hole thru the bedliner near the cab so it'd couldn't build up like it did.
2. The drop in bedliner is preferred over the spray in. The ribs of the drop in help keep your stuff from soaking up the water. It works even better if you can put a flat surface right on top of the ribs to help keep things dry. I've used melamine, others have used stall mats (rubber sheets) and cut it down so the edges of the melamine/mat were well under the roof of the platfrom.
3. If you don't use drawers get a stick with a grabber/hook long enough to reach the front of the bed for all those things that will find there way up to the front.

Sounds like you have a bed cover for the Raptor already, so a simple plywood setup would be pretty inexpensive....
TRUCK BED DRAWERS

Jobox Aluminum Truck Bed Tool Box Drawers

Thanks for actually taking the time to read and understand what I'm attempting, as well as have such a thorough response.

All of your suggestions seem right on track. Since I'm planning on trading the Raptor in for the new aluminum one next year, I'll probably just figure something simpler out for the next year or so and then get a DECKED solution. I don't see the sense in getting it now since I doubt it will transfer right over.

PropDr · Aug 29, 2015

I'm sorry, but I don't get it...
Honda: tail gate swings out (and from there on it is useless)
Truck: tail gate folds down and by that it is a working surface, seat, table...
Honda: tiny area for storage.
Truck: large area for storage.
Honda with bed cover: tiny surface area.
Truck with bed cover: large surface area.
Honda spare tire: remove it and you have a large secure area...OK
Truck spare tire: you can crank it down and don't have to lift 75Lbs.

I think you should get yourself a Honda... JMTCW

Side Swing Tailgate?

WareWolf

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PropDr

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2014RubyRed

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WareWolf

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raptor_qatar

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WareWolf

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gwpfan

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PropDr

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