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Tailgate hinge bolt size

Old Jun 14, 2025 | 02:46 PM
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Default Tailgate hinge bolt size

To my surprise these are 5/16‐18 on a '98. I expected M8x1.25, but no. I checked with a thread pitch gauge. Just posting for future reference for somebody. One of ours inexplicably went missing
 
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Old Jun 14, 2025 | 11:40 PM
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2nd gen Dodge trucks seems to have been slow to fully adopt the use of metric fasteners in several areas during this period. I recently installed a fully ported throttle body and the fasteners to bolt down the throttle body were also 5/16-18 threads...
 
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Old Jun 15, 2025 | 08:28 AM
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Wonder if the hardware used on American cars where made in the USA(standard or metric)? Never quite understood using metric hardware on a American car. I remember when I was in grade school they were pushing us to learn the metric system. They said the US was going to change to it which never happened.I still can buy a gallon of milk rather than 3.7 liters.
 
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Old Jun 15, 2025 | 09:36 AM
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Originally Posted by AtomicDog
2nd gen Dodge trucks seems to have been slow to fully adopt the use of metric fasteners in several areas during this period. I recently installed a fully ported throttle body and the fasteners to bolt down the throttle body were also 5/16-18 threads...
The engine and even transmission don't surprise me because a lot of it's legacy, but with the redesigned body I figured they'd go metric on tailgate stuff
 
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Old Jun 15, 2025 | 09:43 AM
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Originally Posted by Moparite
Wonder if the hardware used on American cars where made in the USA(standard or metric)? Never quite understood using metric hardware on a American car. I remember when I was in grade school they were pushing us to learn the metric system. They said the US was going to change to it which never happened.I still can buy a gallon of milk rather than 3.7 liters.
Indeed. What really annoyed me though, was the "partial" conversion.... having a mixture of standard and metric fasteners on the same vehicle..... So, you had to have both sets of tools to work on anything.
 
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