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some cosmetic damage to tailgate top edge Completed fix

No Tyme

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As stated above I have some cosmetic damage to tailgate top edge, most likely from the previous owner hauling something that hung out from the bed. I was ready to replace the plastic "spoiler" as I think its call but realized there would still be an edge prone to damage and at $275 for just the painted part I thought there had to be a better way.
Hours of searching did not turn up anything for the AV as a tailgate protector so I started to think outside the box. I finally broke loose with my credit card and ordered an edge guard custom cut from "TheCornerGuardStore", a 60" x 2" x 2", .085" Thick, Textured Vinyl. The cost is way less than replacing the plastic part on the tailgate and will cover the gouged up edges but best of all it should provide protection in days to come.
Has anyone else come up with an alternative? $40 and change is much cheaper that $275 and my labor installing a new piece that will still be prone to damage.
 

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Seems like a good idea and reasonably priced solution too.  (y)

If I transported lots of long pipes or lumber I think I would invest in a cargo rack/ ladder rack for over the bed covers. Otherwise I avoid damage to the whole inside of my bed and tailgate area with a Bedrug setup and a CargoPro bedslide device. The bedslide system will save lots of wear and tear to your whole tailgate including the support cables as a side benefit it saves on your back and other body parts since you no longer have to lean over tailgate or climb in to retrieve items. It works great on small items but also works great on large heavy and bulky items like furniture etc.
Bedrug will  sell just the tailgate mat if you don't want to spend for the entire bed kit :
https://bedrug.com/bedrug-pickup-tailgate-mats

Cargo Pro is no longer made but this company makes a great slide system and accessories:
https://www.bedslide.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy66_ha2o2gIVjrbACh0urgVzEAAYASAAEgIDePD_BwE
 
I'm looking to spend much less money on a fix. I did make my own bed slide in a truck I had 10 years ago. I had a 5/8 thick board and put two strips of carpeting on it. It worked great with a bare metal truck bed for next to nothing.
I have a 7x12 trailer for any long stuff but it just seems that edge is subject to damage easily. For 95 % of what I do the cargo space is sufficient. Its the moving things in and out that concern me.
The corner edge guard that I ordered should cover the damage and protect in the future.
 
I too have a dinged up edge... and was thinking about attaching a piece of stainless steel angle.
 
greatgab said:
I too have a dinged up edge... and was thinking about attaching a piece of stainless steel angle.
That was my first thought. My problem is I don't want to call attention to the top of the tailgate with something shinny. The web site I posted above also has diamond plate and aluminum corner guard but I was leaning towards a stealth look and ended up ordering the black edge guard.
I will post some pics once the piece comes. For me it will not only protect that edge from future damage but it will cover up what damage I already have.
 
Another option even cheaper would be permatex black rtv.  I accidentally got into my old tailgate with a jig saw when I was using it as a workbench for a project.  Permatex black rtv filled it and is just about a 100% color match.  Don't know what kind or how much damage you have, but it works great for small fills provided you are not worried about perfectly matching the texture of the plastic cladding.  Unfortunately this trick is better on 02-06 where you have the cladded tailgate cover.    Permatex black is actually gray when it dries, so not sure how good that would look on my '13 tailgate.  I guess it could always be painted--  I better be more careful with saws... lol

 
Doesn't fix the issue, but to keep it from happening again, you can try protecting that piece. Whenever I haul something long, I lay a towel down between the tailgate and the long board/pipe/door/etc. A cheap $2 black bath towel from Walmart is pretty thick and provides good cushion.

A few weeks ago I had 6 metal fence posts. I laid the towel down, laid the pipes on it, then tied the towel together around the poles so if they rolled/slid, it was all as a single piece and the towel protected the tailgate cap.
A guy in the parking lot was just watching me as I loaded it. From watching his reactions, I imagine his thought process went from "he can't fit those poles in that truck with that topper" to "what is this towel" to "wimp doesn't use his truck like a truck" to "oohhhhhhh, that's smart!"
 
marzahld said:
Another option even cheaper would be permatex black rtv.  I accidentally got into my old tailgate with a jig saw when I was using it as a workbench for a project.  Permatex black rtv filled it and is just about a 100% color match.  Don't know what kind or how much damage you have, but it works great for small fills provided you are not worried about perfectly matching the texture of the plastic cladding.  Unfortunately this trick is better on 02-06 where you have the cladded tailgate cover.    Permatex black is actually gray when it dries, so not sure how good that would look on my '13 tailgate.  I guess it could always be painted--  I better be more careful with saws... lol
My damage is more on the top surface area and that inside edge of the tailgate. The scratched and such is not really visible until you get up close and look at the top of the tailgate. But every time you drop the tailgate and go to load or unload that  inside top edge is vulnerable to damage. That is what I am looking to protect and I think that corner guard may do both, protect and cover my damage.
 
HellHoof said:
Doesn't fix the issue, but to keep it from happening again, you can try protecting that piece. Whenever I haul something long, I lay a towel down between the tailgate and the long board/pipe/door/etc. A cheap $2 black bath towel from Walmart is pretty thick and provides good cushion.

A few weeks ago I had 6 metal fence posts. I laid the towel down, laid the pipes on it, then tied the towel together around the poles so if they rolled/slid, it was all as a single piece and the towel protected the tailgate cap.
A guy in the parking lot was just watching me as I loaded it. From watching his reactions, I imagine his thought process went from "he can't fit those poles in that truck with that topper" to "what is this towel" to "wimp doesn't use his truck like a truck" to "oohhhhhhh, that's smart!"
Thinking about that brought a chuckle to my face, as my 14 Silverado was a garage queen. So most like my AV will fall into that category. I'm the kinda guy who parks way out in an area of the parking lot as to keep others with wildly swinging door away from my truck, but the thought of every time I drop that tailgate and reach in that top surface area on my 13 is subject to damage. It seems a simple fix with something at a 90 degree angle applied to that edge would protect it. I a bit surprised that someone hasn't posted a remedy before me.
 
I wonder how the texture and thickness of the strip will affect the weather strip seal on the bed cover?
 
Vaeagleav said:
I wonder how the texture and thickness of the strip will affect the weather strip seal on the bed cover?
Ditto! I won't actually secure it on the tailgate until I fully check it out, but the corner guard is only .085. They did have some diamond plate but I opted away from it due to the shiny appearance would call notice to it. I was hoping for a more stealth look. I suppose I could have had the diamond plate painted or power coated. May be my next rout if the PVC doesn't work out.
 
Any idea how adding additional thickness would impact the seal of the bed panel? I would think diamond plate would cause leaks. Something smooth might be just fine though.
 
HellHoof I agree that diamond plate would allow more water infiltration then a smooth finish.
The reason I mentioned it is the gap between the strip and the tailgate may not be water tight especially at the ends and allow water inside. Also I couldn't tell from the small photo if the trim had a pebble grain or textured finish which could allow water in as well. As far as thickness I was just wondering if the bed seal was made to work at XYZ thickness of gap then maybe it would be over stressed and cause trouble shutting the tailgate or cause cracking of the bed seal which would then cause a water leak. On a fresh new bed seal it probably wouldn't be an issue but if original seal it may be dry and brittle All may never happen but should be at least thought about in my opinion.
 
The corner guard that I ordered is here. The thickness does not concern me, as it is less that I was thinking it would be.

Ekw0kX8.jpg


Here is the actual texture of the corner guard.

yj7VYcu.jpg


I will have to do some thinking on how I want to trim the edge of the corner guard as this is a 60" piece. This would be the top edge of the tailgate. My thinking is this will save me from buying a new tailgate spoiler and not only protect in the future, but will hide the damage already there.

nj3y1GE.jpg


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Here is a quick shot of the top of the tailgate without the corner guard and one with the corner guard in place. This is not installed yet just a quick look at it in place.

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That looks pretty good!  I'm wondering now if that your mod could also double as an alternative fix to when "bed panel #3" seal starts leaking at the tailgate seal...    may be worth a shot.
 
I really like this project.

Well done.

It got me to thinking, do the second generation Avalanches (and perhaps the second generation EXT's, as well) with the body colored upper cladding not have any sort of shielding across the top of the tailgate piece?

If not, that explains a lot to me as to why so many complain about scratching the painted cladding.

I have been able to keep that problem to a minimum, but not through any special effort on my part.

This picture shows the textured plastic piece on top of my tailgate spoiler on my first generation EXT, as it came when I bought it.

It looks to be the same material as the rest of the interior bed walls and tailgate.



While it does not cover the entire length of the spoiler piece, it does extend the width of the bed opening and should protect fairly well the inner edge from items loaded into the bed and extending over the tailgate.

Here is another angle.



Forgive me if other trucks come with this piece.

I never really bothered to notice before.

I do not know if these parts are available anywhere, but I thought I would toss up a couple of pictures to show what the first generation EXT solution was for this, and if you wanted to, you would have something to pattern your project after.

Great job, regardless.

(y)
 
In the process of installing this corner guard I took the opportunity to remove the rubber mat and clean out the bed. Looks like it has been a while since it was done. I ended up getting involved in removing the panels and wiping them down, wiping the water control channels out etc. I also applied some 'Gummi Pflege Stift' on the panel rubber and top of the bed where the panels rest. That led me to removing the tailgate and... well you get the picture.
I had the tailgate on a set of saw horses so I decided to clean up the inside panel and that led to some black spray paint. Looks better, LOL.
Now on to the corner guard install. I did cut the wings to match the contour of the tailgate spoiler but how to apply the corner guard was the most troublesome part. I chose an adhesive, E6000 Multi-Purpose Adhesive Industrial Strength Glue since I had a unopened tube in the shop. This stuff started setting up before I was finished applying so I had to work fast. I use some bar clamps to secure the corner guard in place. My wife helped out spreading the glue onto the inside edge of the corner guard allowing me to get the bar clamps ready to place.

kSU12Gk.jpg
 
Well so far the corner guard is being held on pretty good with the E6000 Multi-Purpose Adhesive. I will enlist a helping hand today to install the tailgate and take some pics of the result.

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I just saw an eBay ad for a 2002-2006 EXT tailgate and the picture showed the same plastic piece I was showing in the post above.

So, I guess that was actually a thing back then.

(y)
 
Outstanding job!

It really looks top shelf.

(y)
 
greatgab said:
We need to research the Cadillac part number for that tailgate protector...  ???

I went to GMPartsDirect and checked 2011 & 2007 and did not see any addition to the tailgate like that.
 
EXT4ME said:
I just saw an eBay ad for a 2002-2006 EXT tailgate and the picture showed the same plastic piece I was showing in the post above.

So, I guess that was actually a thing back then.

(y)

Thanks, but I did not find anything on the GMPartsDirect web site for the 05 or the 06. Actually not much of anything for those years on the tailgate.
 
No Tyme said:
Thanks, but I did not find anything on the GMPartsDirect web site for the 05 or the 06. Actually not much of anything for those years on the tailgate.

Probably one of those odd-ball model specific parts that never show up on any parts list.

Most likely should have been a standard item on any of the painted tailgates, truth be known.
 
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