This morning while backing into a parking space, I bumped a tree and now have a nice dent in the center of my tailgate.

Is there a way to take the back panel of the tailgate off so that I can gently pound the dent out from the backside?

or

Is there some sort of tool I can rent to pop that dent back out? If so , where would I get one?

What a way to start the day!!!!

Thanks in advance

 

Socal,
Sorry to hear about the dent.
Although I can't help you with tailgate advice, I can give you some advice on dent removal .
A friend of mine had a similar dent in his car door, and went to a local Ford dealer, and found the name of a guy who comes to the dealership twice a month to do dent removal and scratch repairing on their used cars.
He contacted the guy, and had the dent fixed for 50.00, and you can't see the dent at all.
I think most dealers use these people, and I would try one of them before trying it myself.

Just a suggestion!

 

Call a body shop and see if they can recommend a good "paintless dent repair" business. I've used a dent repair guy before--did an excellent job taking out a door dent for only $45. Sometimes they'll even travel to your home/work and do it on the spot. The dent I had repaired took like 15-20 minutes. Good Luck.