I have been wandering has any one else thought of the idea of cranking the torsion bar in the tail gate so it lifts like 80 or 90 percent of the weight of the tail gate. I do believe right now it only lifts about 30 percent of the tail gate weight. I think with a torsion bar there to lift it it would be much better if it lifted 80 or 90 percent of the weight if not 100 percent of it. it seems like they could have designed it so a person could crank it up some.

 

I hang the tailgates all day long, 6 days a week and I can close it with one finger once it is hung so I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

You're a good man Screwbuilder. I'm currently on assignment at DAP to experience ergonomics on the line for three weeks (only working 8s) And it's kicking my butt.

100%? Wouldnt that mean it would always be closed my man?

-ii

 

I could probably close it with one finger too. but it wouldn't be easy. I bet I could close a tailgate on a 02 f150 with one finger if I tried hard enough.
no offence screwbuilder I just think if the torsion bar is there it could be made to lift all or most of the weight. as it is right now it is lighter than a tail gate without a torsion bar. but I think it could be adjusted so instead of lifting 10 lbs or so it could be adjusted so I only have to lift up 1 or 2 lbs. I know you are probably thinking man that guy is lazy. but I think if the torsion bar is there might as well use it to do the work for me.

 

Hey, no offense taken Jason, but I am still not sure what you mean. The tailgate is sooo easy to close now. I don't know how much easier they can make it. If you can close the tailgate on a '02 f-150 with one finger you must be one big strong dude so the new one shouldn't be a problem.

 

If the tailgate is that hard to close for you, maybe you should be driving a paseo or something....

You could always take apart your tailgate and crank it yourself, but don't think Ford didn't leave it at that setting for a reason. Overcrank it and you may end up putting a nice dent in your tailgate metal from the way the pressure is being applied - or - you may have to actually force weight on the gate (80-90% of the weight, umm... right0 - to get ti to stay down, which would be equally annoying.

 

From my understanding the tail gate assist was mainly done to help assist women with closing the tail gate, perhaps the good people at Ford forgot about another group…

 

the way i am thinking about it, if you have it pulling more than 50% of the weight, you will have to push it down to open the tailgate. no one wants that. it is fine the way it is. you could always get a power tailagte if you really want. i think it's about $200. i know what you mean, you want to tweak it since it's there. but i would leave it alone. tweak a cupholder or something. just messing with ya.

 

I don't think the tailgate assist was designed for women. I think it was implemented because Ford made the box 2" deeper so the tailgate was made taller. And if you know anything about torque, that 2" extended the radius of its arch, being the most impacting spot to make it feel heavier.

-ii

 

apparently, the actual tailgate is also heavier in the new truck from the '03 model.

 

Too bad Ford can't design the tailgate so it dissapears when lowered by sliding under the bed. That would give you easier access to the bed. There you go Screwbuilder, submit that one to the eggheads! Maybe you could get a bonus.

 

what about a tailgate that opens in the middle like panel vans? Left side/right side hinges.

Then weight isnt even an issue.

 

If I remember right that is how the talgate on the Lincoln Blackwood worked and it wasn't very popular. You cannot use the tailgate as an extra 2 feet of bed floor if it works like that.

 

I'm a newbie, I'll leave this one alone....

 

Get over it..........it's a tailgate assist, as in assisting you in closing it. One of the first things I did when I was looking the 04 over was open and close the gate. I say nice job. Setting it to 100% now that doesn't make sense. Ok, heres the situation, your at a football game, you lower your gate to put your hamburgers and dogs on the gate along with a beer, you let go of the gate ........and it shoots your lunch and your beer over the top of your pretty supercab onto your hood. Now that's engineering.

Swing out gates wouldn't work for two reasons: One, you loose all that extra room gained when you drop your gate and put a 8' sheet of plywood in a 6-1/2 ft. bed. Two, the center latch would have to not only latch the doors, but be strong enough to keep your bed sides from spreading over time. We have all seen this happen on pick-ups that the owners drove around without the tail gates on for far to long.

Honestly, if you want to complain about heavy tailgates, try lifting up a gate on a fullsized Bronco with an electrical sliding window in it. Now that gate could have used some assist.



-S-