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cracked tailgate repair and top-plate shield

my kids took the truck

my kids took the truck

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There's a few discussions on the topic: most end with drilling the crack, stitch weld, and weld a strip of sheetmetal across the inside of the tailgate
* This one from 8 years ago has solid advice to just get a different tailgate https://ck5.com/forums/threads/k5-tailgate-crack.297429/
* repair advice is sheetmetal backing plate, stitch weld, and drill the head of the crack https://ck5.com/forums/threads/best...racks-common-to-k5-blazers-gmc-jimmys.339180/
* this ones worthwhile just for the big thumb typos https://ck5.com/forums/threads/86-k5-blazer-tailgate-windowframe-crake-repair-advice-needed.323378/
* drill and weld https://ck5.com/forums/threads/fix-for-tailgate-cracks.32028/

A welder was out this morning and took a look at the tailgate. He will be back Monday with a strip of prepped sheetmetal and will get to work.

Tailgate top guard: The reason for this post is in the above posts, nobody raised an idea of integrating a tailgate guard into crack repair. I looked online and I see tailgate top guards for pickups. The welder said he could fab one for me out of flatstock and with waterproof gunk squished under it, weld it across the top of the tailgate: I'd then paint it. He could build it so anything hanging out the tailgate isn't resting on the weatherstripping.

Is something like this already available for K5s?

20210617_104026.jpg
 
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I think when the time comes to do mine I'm going to either weld the crack close or cut it out and weld a new piece in and then weld a strip of metal across the entire top of the tailgate adding a second layer for strength and just blend it in so you can't tell it's been done.
 
a welder was out yesterday and spot welded a strip of sheetmetal across the inside of the tailgate: I will post some photos--he set up right there in my apt parking garage and got to work

TF Welding
Travis
408-916-7457
[email protected]
He is out of Boulder Creek (Santa Cruz Mountains--that is over in the mountains by the ocean if you are not from California Bay Area)

he charged me $200 for the first hour and then $125 after that

he will be back out to clean up my cut fender wells
 
For $100 I got a box delivered of all the bondo, sandpaper, paint, primer, etc to cleanup the tailgate after the welding: I just punched in my paint code, and boom, Sunset Gold (PPG 2567) 527 (1974)... a dialog box asked if I wanted all the other stuff to go with the paint and I said sure do!

PaintScratch (Division of Bio Pac, Inc.)
770 Mays Blvd STE 1 #5288
Incline Village, NV 89450
 
Keep me updated. I'm getting a pretty nice gate in September and I'd like to beef it up in it's weak points. Post some pics when you can of the fixes on the inside and out.
 
Interested in updates also. Good luck with it!
 
forest said:
a welder was out yesterday and spot welded a strip of sheetmetal across the inside of the tailgate: I will post some photos--he set up right there in my apt parking garage and got to work

TF Welding
Travis
408-916-7457
[email protected]
He is out of Boulder Creek (Santa Cruz Mountains--that is over in the mountains by the ocean if you are not from California Bay Area)

he charged me $200 for the first hour and then $125 after that

he will be back out to clean up my cut fender wells
Click to expand...
How many hours did he need?
 
here is the end result: you can see where the crack was and the weld--I said let it stay visible with a light grind and let light bondo and paint hide it: I will post the step-by-step photos next

glass guy was out yesterday and told me to wait 24 hours to roll up the glass, so this is the done deal

20211030_184542.jpg
 
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I never got a shot of the actual sheet metal reinforcing... the money shot!

It is just a 64" long by maybe 3.5" piece of sheet metal with a 90 deg bend that is tack welded along the tailgate (it is tacked just above that body line along the top of the gate, which I also used to mask the break between the old and new paint). I sprayed the sheet metal and weld with primer and some leftover color paint.

tomorrow, I will open the tailgate and roll the glass out and get a shot
 
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I waited weeks for a holiday when nobody was in the parking garage: I don't recommend this but it worked (the clutch is out so I'd never have done this otherwise--next step is a tow to shop for transmission rebuild--offroad 32-spline shaft is on the way-- and I wanted the back closed up because the shop is on the main strip)

paint_day.jpg
 
while I had it all apart it made sense to rebuild the guts--there are teflon rollers on those arms and it is four bolts to pull that out--it was easy and for $4 per roller or whatever it was worth the hassle, I bought four rollers in case the glass guy needed to rework and he did: LMC has the parts

I don't have a photo but I got the new rubber and felt weatherstripping: I think these had to be destroyed to get the glass out but what I had were 50-year-old original and didn't function anymore anyway

this all did add up to a few $100 at the end

guts.jpg parts_2.jpg parts_1.jpg
 
from the outside:

there is a shot of the welds at the end of the sheet metal which I think the welder was having trouble reaching in there and didn't get a spot weld other than this edge weld

then you can see the crack left the inside lip open, which didn't affect the weatherstrip: the welder tried not to work the metal too much and that is how it sat when he was done

end_tack.jpg

weld_final.jpg
 
all said and done, I think that tailgate repair and glass just cost me more than I paid total for the Blazer when I was sixteen (it needed engine work but I drove it 3 hours at 50 mph to get home)
 
The welder is open that he'd never welded on a car before. I let him do his work since I'm not a welder, and I wasn't welding this, and I don't tell people how to do their job. He didn't drill the head of the crack as best I could tell but it looks like he welded well past the head: he didn't explain his method so I can only describe what I see. This will be a good test: if the crack reappears, I will post an update. I am 100% happy with the welder's work.

I asked the welder to put a 90 deg bend along the edge of the sheet metal strip to add reinforcement and he did that.

inside_weld_1.jpg

inside_weld_2.jpg
inside_weld_3.jpg
inside_weld_4.jpg
 
While getting photos of the weld: I noticed a cross-threaded bolt (I'd have left it too rather than risk a huge repair). I switched the cross-threaded bolt with the next bolt over (the cross-threaded bolt was fine with clean threads) and after 20x carefully trying I finally got the clean bolt to thread. I'd left that hand wrench sitting next to the bolts the glass guy pulled because earlier when they were out the guy's assistant was going at things with a power drill at an angle to get to those bolts.

not_good.jpg all_good.jpg
 
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forest said:
The welder is open that he'd never welded on a car before. I let him do his work since I'm not a welder, and I wasn't welding this, and I don't tell people how to do their job. He didn't drill the head of the crack as best I could tell but it looks like he welded well past the head: he didn't explain his method so I can only describe what I see. This will be a good test: if the crack reappears, I will post an update. I am 100% happy with the welder's work.

I asked the welder to put a 90 deg bend along the edge of the sheet metal strip to add reinforcement and he did that.

View attachment 394401

View attachment 394402
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Click to expand...
I'm assuming that that light color piece is the reinforcement that you were talking about. One way to check and see if it actually strengthened anything would be to grab the tailgate in the middle on both sides with your hand and see if you can squeeze it. I can move mine by hand when the window is out. Curious to see if this solves the cracking problem that these have so often. When I get to the paint stage I have a crack free tailgate that is ready to go with no cracks so this might be the way I go if it works.
 
jimmyleetn said:
I'm assuming that that light color piece is the reinforcement that you were talking about. One way to check and see if it actually strengthened anything would be to grab the tailgate in the middle on both sides with your hand and see if you can squeeze it. I can move mine by hand when the window is out. Curious to see if this solves the cracking problem that these have so often. When I get to the paint stage I have a crack free tailgate that is ready to go with no cracks so this might be the way I go if it works.
Click to expand...
It is significantly strengthened--by how much is difficult to tell: a lot of the flex is gone.

Correct, that light color piece is the reinforcement: I primered it after the welding
 
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