Long story short, I swapped in a tailgate in a K5 of mine to replace a rusted out one. Naturally, when putting the new one on the first time, I forgot to install the tailgate springs onto the tailgate first. This didn't hit me before I had gotten the tailgate to align perfectly though - equal gap between both the right and left fenders, and even with the bed rails on both sides. Great!
Alas, I had to take the damn thing off again to put in the springs, and upon reinstall, I can NOT get it to align! It is off to the right with a much bigger gap at the left fender, and it also sits a bit above the bed rail on the right - meaning it's neither horizontally level or centered! I've toyed around with the two hinges to try to align it, but even if it's gotten a little bit better, it hasn't rendered satisfactory results.
Does anybody have any advice on what to do now? Should I buy new springs to try with? Maybe the old ones are a little bit crooked? But remember, the old tailgate lined up just fine with those.
I guess I could also leave the springs off, but that would feel kinda half-assed and not like actually solving the problem. I'd rather get it done like it's supposed to be. Besides, my arms are strong enough as it is, so I don't need the extra exercise a spring-less gate would give me.
Alas, I had to take the damn thing off again to put in the springs, and upon reinstall, I can NOT get it to align! It is off to the right with a much bigger gap at the left fender, and it also sits a bit above the bed rail on the right - meaning it's neither horizontally level or centered! I've toyed around with the two hinges to try to align it, but even if it's gotten a little bit better, it hasn't rendered satisfactory results.
Does anybody have any advice on what to do now? Should I buy new springs to try with? Maybe the old ones are a little bit crooked? But remember, the old tailgate lined up just fine with those.
I guess I could also leave the springs off, but that would feel kinda half-assed and not like actually solving the problem. I'd rather get it done like it's supposed to be. Besides, my arms are strong enough as it is, so I don't need the extra exercise a spring-less gate would give me.
