The hinge in the left side broke. You can move it anywhere you what when the tailgate is open. How hard is it to replace the hinge? Does ford sell just the hinge?

 

If it broke on the t/gate side i believe you will need a new t/gate. If it is the body side part of the hinge you can get a new one. You may be able to weld the broken hinge back onto the t/gate but i dont know how well it would hold.

 

Maybe you could take the tailgate apart and run a bolt through it to hold it on if you cant weld. Ide just weld it though, how did it break I put mine through hell and back and it hasn't done that, kinda weird.

 

It's kinda hard to tell from the pics, but I think that the "cup" has just popped its weld off the gate bracket. If that's all it is, drill a couple holes through the cup, grind both sides and plug weld it back on. If you brought it drilled and ground to pretty much any shop, they would weld it for pretty much nothing. It would take me between 30 and 40 seconnds including unwinding the welding cables. Either way, take the gate off the truck. It's only going to cause damage swinging around back there.

 

I don't know how it broke. I will try to take better pics in a few days.

 

I took the tailgate off

 

Bummer.... The plastic insert that is in that cup obviously need to go through the hole to grab ahold. Without it the gate will flop around, and close rough, and rattle, and.....

Something to try, and in all reality should work perfectly for this specific case is JB Weld. Make sure you get the "for metal" one, as they have a plastics line too. Should be available at your local parts store. Grind the rust off the mating surfaces, mix the 2 parts of JB Weld together, Set the "cup" in place and find a way to clamp it in place so it won't move. Let it sit for 24 hours to get good and hard, and you should be golden.

http://jbweld.net/products/jbweld.php

 

Can someone post a pic of want it should look like?

 

This Exact same thing happend to my 2000 Ford 150. That cup and the insert piece on the Gate rusted and rusted and over time of putting my tailgate up and down over and over it must have got stuck and when i put it down the last time, the rust made it stick and when it went down it just ripped and broke the piece right off!

 

Its a shame that it is such a tiny inexpensive piece, yet you cant buy the tailgate piece and have to weld a new one on.

I suggest going to a junk yard with a grinder and grinding one off and having a buddy weld it on. Such a pain for such a small job

 

Yes, for about $ 20

 

They did not sell it when mine broke. I had to make a piece.

 

see if you can get a dented tailgate at a junk yard for parts only