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So after what has seemed like an unending process I got a call from the shipping company that the Tiregate was in the area on Friaday. Managed to get them to release it to me that day instead of having to wait until today or Tuesday.
Initial Impressions:
In a word, beefy. I mean it comes as pretty much 4 main pieces (the right and left uprights, the bar the connects left to right, and the actual swing out gate) with bolts and such mixed in. All of it is powdercoated and just damn sexy looking. Haha.
Install:
Doesn't get much more simple than this. Removed a couple parts that woud normally hold the tailgate on. Put the gate off the side and using the bolts, connect the left and right uprights. Leave a little room for tightening the bolts. Then line up the left and right uprights to the factory holes and do the same thing, tighten, but leave a little bit of room. Then, put the plasctic bushing on the pivot side(right side) of the gate and slide it into place. A couple of bolts to secure it to the frame. Then tighten to various bolts to the ft/lbs on the instructions and that's about it. The instructions also mention checking the bolts after about a week of driving and tightening where needed. I have some pics, but they're not the best quality so I will retake some and post them to this writeup soon.
So far:
Like I said, pretty easy install. And it looks and is beefy! Clocks in at about 100lbs. So double what the acutal tailgate weighs. Sometime soon I'm going to do a couple things which I think are key. I'm going to weld the bolts that hold the spare on. Also going to mount a hi-lift jack on it. And I will keep an eye on the pins that lock it into place. Right now it is a little bit of a process to line them both up. As for ride qaulity, there is absolutely no movement, the gate is solid and the same applies to the spare. There was no discernable noise (wnd or rattling) that I could hear. Anyway, I'll throw up some pics soon and get around to a follow up write in 6 months or so.
Afterthought:
I gotta say, I am torn on my experience with Wilco. On the one side, I ordered this thing back in early Jan. when I was told they "had one left in stock". That tuned into it was getting fabricated, which turned into the wrong Tiregate, which turned what should have been a two week wait into a 2 month wait. I had to keep tabs on them pretty regularly. Calls and e-mails were more often than not left without a return call or e-mail from Wilco. So that did start to get to be a pain.
On the other side, I got a pretty good deal on this thing. Didn't pay tax, didn't pay shipping (although came to find out that's not saying much as they buld the price into the initial price) and when they made the wrong Tiregate, they did knock off another $50. And there were a number of times when they did get back to me promptly and one time when the guy I dealt with acutally called his production guy at home to get to the bottom of an issue and called me after hours to let me know what was up.
All in all, I wasn't on a particular time frame and I have it now so I'm happy. And for the hassle to get it, Wilco does make one hell of an impressive product!
Initial Impressions:
In a word, beefy. I mean it comes as pretty much 4 main pieces (the right and left uprights, the bar the connects left to right, and the actual swing out gate) with bolts and such mixed in. All of it is powdercoated and just damn sexy looking. Haha.
Install:
Doesn't get much more simple than this. Removed a couple parts that woud normally hold the tailgate on. Put the gate off the side and using the bolts, connect the left and right uprights. Leave a little room for tightening the bolts. Then line up the left and right uprights to the factory holes and do the same thing, tighten, but leave a little bit of room. Then, put the plasctic bushing on the pivot side(right side) of the gate and slide it into place. A couple of bolts to secure it to the frame. Then tighten to various bolts to the ft/lbs on the instructions and that's about it. The instructions also mention checking the bolts after about a week of driving and tightening where needed. I have some pics, but they're not the best quality so I will retake some and post them to this writeup soon.
So far:
Like I said, pretty easy install. And it looks and is beefy! Clocks in at about 100lbs. So double what the acutal tailgate weighs. Sometime soon I'm going to do a couple things which I think are key. I'm going to weld the bolts that hold the spare on. Also going to mount a hi-lift jack on it. And I will keep an eye on the pins that lock it into place. Right now it is a little bit of a process to line them both up. As for ride qaulity, there is absolutely no movement, the gate is solid and the same applies to the spare. There was no discernable noise (wnd or rattling) that I could hear. Anyway, I'll throw up some pics soon and get around to a follow up write in 6 months or so.
Afterthought:
I gotta say, I am torn on my experience with Wilco. On the one side, I ordered this thing back in early Jan. when I was told they "had one left in stock". That tuned into it was getting fabricated, which turned into the wrong Tiregate, which turned what should have been a two week wait into a 2 month wait. I had to keep tabs on them pretty regularly. Calls and e-mails were more often than not left without a return call or e-mail from Wilco. So that did start to get to be a pain.
On the other side, I got a pretty good deal on this thing. Didn't pay tax, didn't pay shipping (although came to find out that's not saying much as they buld the price into the initial price) and when they made the wrong Tiregate, they did knock off another $50. And there were a number of times when they did get back to me promptly and one time when the guy I dealt with acutally called his production guy at home to get to the bottom of an issue and called me after hours to let me know what was up.
All in all, I wasn't on a particular time frame and I have it now so I'm happy. And for the hassle to get it, Wilco does make one hell of an impressive product!
