OTT 4Runner Tailgate

[WarDamnEagle]

Like many of my "winter" threads, I didn't intend to post this until sometime around August when I am actually in the US and have the time to complete the "plan". However, the "plan" is more or less finalized and my Brother-in-law was kind enough to take a few photos for me, so what the hell.

Here is my 1985 4Runner tailgate in its current state and a close up of the plastic insert under the vinyl cover that the screws go into.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I happen to peruse the 80 forum often and I got this great idea courtesy of CDan: throw that vinyl *** away and get some 1/4" aluminum plate to replace it with. Well that sounds great but you have to cut the plate, etc. but I took measurements last August anyway.

I then drew the dimensions up on Google SketchUp and started asking for quotes via the internet on a cut piece to fit. Now if you want to do the cutting yourself, all you need is a piece of 12" x 48" sheet as the outside dimensions are 12" x 47.25". I'm kind of lazy and didn't want to fool with the radius cuts. Anyway, I found this great place which would cut to my specs and deliver for a very reasonable price:

Great Western Metals - Water Jet Cutting Specialists

For about $85 (plus around $20 for shipping from Houston to Alabama), they redrew my sketch in Autocad and cut the 6061 Aluminum plate with a waterjet.

The first photo is their Autocad drawing and the others are the "test" fit that my brother-in-law was kind enough to perform.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Here are a couple of more photos:

 

[WarDamnEagle]

So in what OTT manner do I intend to attach this plate? Well the plastic insert sits in a 1/4" square hole. I intend to remove the plastic inserts and to drill the square holes out to 11mm diameter and then install an 8mm nutsert in the hole. I will then use 8mm stainless countersunk screws (11 total) to screw the plate down and of course I intend to countersink them into the Aluminum plate. The photos are of the screw and nutsert cut sheets. According to my calculations, 30mm should be the correct length for the screws.

If you use these metric screws, you need to use a 90 degree countersink. Most American thread type countersinks are less than 90 degrees. Also it looks like I will need about 1/4" of washers between the plate and the nutsert. I intend to use delrin or some equivalent, relatively hard plastic.

I also plan on using a 1/16" radius carbide router bit to radius the top edge all the way around. That way I won't have to worry about sharp edges. If you do this, please wear hearing protection and a face shield. Aluminum can get quite nasty and routers are also nasty little tools at times!

I'm sure 6mm or 1/4" screws or anything around that size would work equally well.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I am not affiliated with Great Western Metals in Houston in any way but if anyone wants one of these then all you have to do is call and reference their drawing number and they will cut one for you. I recommend the 6061 plate, it's very rigid aluminum alloy but they do carry other alloys. I believe the salesperson that I dealt with is named Carol. She was excellent to deal with, especially since I only wanted one of these!


Apologies that I don't have final photos and won't until the summer but I think you get the general idea. I thought it worth prematurely posting just in case someone between now and then decides (perhaps after perusing the 80 forum) that they need an aluminum tailgate plate.

 

[cruisertom911]

Very cool write up. I live in Houston and may use them for my 80 or even the Hilux tailgate. The later of the 2 could use a new skin for the gate. Thanks.

You may even consider a thin single sided rubber weather strip or silicone to help prevent rattling or vibirations.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Very cool write up. I live in Houston and may use them for my 80 or even the Hilux tailgate. The later of the 2 could use a new skin for the gate. Thanks.

You may even consider a thin single sided rubber weather strip or silicone to help prevent rattling or vibirations.

That's a good idea on the weather strip. I don't think I will have any vibrations but will keep it in mind if I do.

If you do this to either, especially the 80, please let us know how it went and maybe you can post their Autocad drawing in the 80 section. Quite a few of the guys have done this to their 80's but no one has posted the dimensions or a good source for the material. My carpet is still in good shape on the 80 so I don't think I'm headed this route anytime soon with mine.

Google Sketchup was a great tool to use to sketch the plate dimensions with. You can choose 2D and any units that you want for the drawing. It also allows you to export as a jpg so you can email the drawing to anyone with a PC. That helped when I was trying to get quotes via the internet.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Thought I would post a pic of the final product. I used a drill press to drill and countersink the plate and then drilled through the holes with an 8mm bit into the tailgate before enlarging the holes to install the nutserts. You have to make sure with the nutserts that they are perfectly aligned with the holes in the plate as 1/4" aluminum has no give. You can't see the detail in the photo but the 1/16" round-over router bit really put a nice smooth edge on the top edge of the plate.

While I was at it, I installed some smaller nutserts under the plastic trim piece that goes across the back of the cargo bay and screwed it down using some stainless, allen-head cap screws. I always had trouble getting that piece to stay put with the factory plastic inserts.

For some reason the server keeps bombing on my attempts to load the pic. I'll come back later and insert the pic.

Edit: Got the pic loaded. Had to reset my wireless modem.

 

[KLF]

I did the same thing on my '92 4Runner many years ago, mostly to protect the pristine carpeted insert when we would go camping, except I used 1/2" AC plywood. I would pop off the carpeted piece before starting to load the truck and put the wood piece on, no worries about screwing up the nice tailgate while standing on it to get to the box on the roof, or cooking on it. After we got back home and the truck was all unloaded, I would swap the carpet back on.

The carpet piece in the 2nd gens actually snaps on, no screws, so I had to install Nutserts, it took awhile to find the optimal locations to put them then get them transferred to the wood piece. Yes, I put some stick-on foam weatherstripping on the wood just to make it more solid and rattle-free. I think I put 3 or 4 coats of poly on the wood, it looked really nice. If I was doing it again I would probably use 1/2" birch ply, but I had the scrap AC in the garage from another project, so the cost was almost nothing.

The guy that has that truck now still uses it occasionally. Digging up this picture from the archives... gaad I still miss that truck. I should go visit it.

 

[NorCalBorn]

*and here I hoped you were gonna cut-n-chop a little and see if there was any usable space available
to integrate a tailgate storage box ala Kevin style.

FWIW it needs a good polish or some buff swirly things on it.


**As for the insulation to cut down on vibration, a simpler solution is to use o-rings around the nuts (*insert erotic wise crack here) or combine a c-clip style nut with an o-ring. Kind of like a dzus fastener uses. It'll self insulate from vibration and also act as a nut keeper so you don't drop them after loosening things up.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I drilled the original plastic inserts with an 8mm drill and used them between the aluminum plate and the nutsert. I also put a fine bead of Toyota orange FIPG around the edge and let it set up a little before I pulled it down tight. No vibration whatsoever.

It does need a good polish but I guess the deer blood would just stain it anyway. Actually, I would like to have it anodized but everyone I called either couldn't handle the size or wanted $200+ just to touch it.

The storage is a good idea and there is a bit of room between the access plate and the glass but that would be a lot of trouble for a little bit of storage. I was more interested in having a nice smooth, waterproof work surface.

 

[KLF]

Just DON'T do what the PO of my FJ62 did: put speakers in the tailgate.

Stoopid stoopid stoopid. Hacked holes in the carpet & steel panels, cut away the stiffener ribs, totally compromised the structure of the tailgate. It was all bent when I got it, I took the speakers out, tossed the carpet panel in the trash, and used a HiLift to bend it back kinda straight. Then gave it the same plywood panel treatment.

(those Quarts got installed in the front doors, and are now in the back of my Xcab)