I;ve been trying to figure out a way to make my own set for my truck. The orginal hinges are rotted out, and the tailgate no longer stays up when you open it, and its a two person job to put back on the right way. Is there any kit out there to replace the lower hinges for a Ram? I've so far only found kits for the F150. Thanks.

 

hmmm. how rotted? is it just the studs that are rotted or the whole area (on mine, the hinges are just studs coming from the body and the tailgate sits on them).

if theres enough meat just weld on an inch or so of pipe in place of the stud. otherwise youll have to stitch weld a plate of 18 guage to put some more good metal to tack a stud too. have a buddy with a wet rag to stop the heat ruining the rest of the panel. or you could pop-rivet.

 

Its got two studs, and I think I will have to weld a new peice of metal plate in. Would 1/8" metal work fine?

 

whats that...like 10 or 11 gauge? should be thick enough for sure. as long as there is enough decent steel left to weld too.

 

10 gauge. Yeah I think I may have a bit of cutting and welding ahead of me, theres a bit to replace. I might have to replace the talgate because the loops on it are cooked, its a shame because the rest of its in great shape.

 

maybe try finding actual door-type hinges that could be used instead?

 

Hmmm, you mean mounted on the bottom of the tailgate?

 

I had about the same situation on a friends truck that I helped him fix. We started with 3/16 steel and a vise and slowly formed the new pivots that attach to the side of the bed. However instead of just making them attach right at the bottom we shaved a little off the overall height of it and formed a flange that fit inside the channel at the back of the bed that allowed us a larger area to affix it to, we also had a flange that bent around behind and afixed behind the stake pocket. For the tail gate itself we removed the existing hoops and cut short sections of 1 1/4 pipe I believe it was and welded that to the tail gate, removing the bottom section that would allow the tail gate to be removed.