LFD's Tailgate Handle relocation HOW-TO!

[Rokcrln]

LFD's Tailgate Handle Relocation How-To
by Lewis Fabrication Design Inc.

First things first you need to buy your kit. I belive the one I used is produced by Mar-K but I buy all my stuff thru ECE, I have been dealing with these guys since I got into this hobby and will keep doing so. They have great customer service and everyone who works their is as insane as we are about these trucks (blazers and burbs). Other companys may make kits like this but I have not checked any others out so if you go with a different brand things may be different then what I will show. I feel the quality of this kit is outstanding for the price that you pay. I think it was about $80 or so.

Once you get your kit you can start by removing yout gate and set it up on two saw horses or a table. You can leave it on the truck but I found it was easier to do the handle patch with the gate on the flat. Start by removing the handle, latches and rods. I had 1 handle screw come right out and two that were stripped. One trick to get them out is to take a cut off wheel and cut a slot in the head of the screw and use a big Standard screw driver. That worked great on one of the two and the other one I just had to cut the head off to get it out. A third way to go if you ever can not get a bolt or large screw out is to weld a bolt to the head of the screw then use a wrench to try and get it out. The heat from welding it (causes expantion and contraction) will alot of times cause the bolt to loosen up and should come right out.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Once the parts are removed you want to clean the surface before laying out the templet for the access hole. It was very easy to do just follow their instruction and mesure twice cut once. Once you cut out the hole do you self a favor and take the time to file or de-bur the edges of the hole because in the final stages you will be twinsting your fingers down insode their to hook up the rods to the latch.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

This next part was a bit frustrating because things did not work with out having to modify things a bit. Don't get me wrong because like I said for what the kit cost you I don't mind tweaking things a bit but I had to find out the hard way. With these kits at this price you get one of two things, ether a kit that goes together with out a glitch but the patrs are crappy or a kit like this were you might need to tweak a few things but the parts are of very good quality. I would rather tweak then break any time.

Ok so before putting the handle together take a straite edge and check to see if the bracket is flat. As you can see mine was off a bit so I had to tweak things a bit. I also found I had to round off the two corners as shown because they made contact with the latch arms and caused it to bind up some. Then you will want to assemble the latch in the mount and check for clearance problems. What I found was the handle arms hit the mounting bracket before the handle was fully open. It might have ben fine but I did not want to find out later so I marked the bracket on bothe sides were the arms hit and just notched out the bracet a bit. Once the kit is installed you will never see this notch but still do a clean job and don't over clearance it. You can see the small notches in the last pic.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Ok you are almost half way their! Once you have checked to see that you have enough clearance with the handle arms I sugest you pull it apart one last time and use lock tight on all the bolts. This is not in the directions (nor are the modifications I had to do) but I did not want to take the chance fo anything comming loose down the road. Get it down the road Sorry it had to be done.

Now take the assembled plate and set it in the gate opening that you made before and using the corect drill bit size ( or a #8 self tapping screw like I did) drill a few holes just to hold it in place for the next step. Do not drill all the holes untill the very end because you may need to adjust things a bit. Once the plate is secure turn the gate over and check to make sure that nothing is sticking out past the surface of the tail gate it self. Open the handle to the full open position and check it again to make sure things ore clear. Then if you are going to fill in the old handle hole you will want to remove the new handle and set it to the side. If you are going to use a full tailgate skin you can reinstall your latches and the new rods and hook it all up and try it out then drill the rest of your mounting plate screw holes. BUT if you are going to fill the handle hole in like I did just set the new handle aside and flip the gate back over. Now take some time and clean off all the old paint from around the old handle area like shown. Use sand paper or a paint removing disk but try to avoid a grinding disk because it will remove more metal and make thin spots to weld to.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Now the fun part Sheet metal fabrication I started off by taking some stiff tag board and using my sheet metal break I put bends in the board to fit the patch panel needed to fill the hole. If you dont have a sheet metal break in the corner of your garage you can make one using a piece of angle iron, vise grips and the edge of your work bench. (I am sure some one here has a pic of what I am talking about that they will post up or plans to make your own.) Then once the templet fit the angles of the gate perfectly you will want to tape it down well to the gate and then flip the gate over and mark the tag board with a fine point pen. I would cut the templet out a bit big and trim it to fit just right like shown. What you are looking for is that the body lines all line up with the bends you made in the templet. You will use this templet to make you patch and also transfer the lines to the sheet metal for your bends so make it count. A few more minutes spent on this part will make the end result that much nicer.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Now that you are happy with the fitment of the templet you will transfer that to a piece of sheet metal, I used 18ga steel for mine. Also mark the bend lines on to the metal and start bending it to fit. Work slow this is not a race and if you rush this part it will show when you are all done and painted and then you will wish you took a few more minutes or even an hour to get it right. When you start tacking it in the most importand thing is to go slow and make sure the body lines are right. As you can see in my last pic the fitment is off a small amount and this was intended because I new it would be easier to tap it down after the main section was tacked in then it would be to try and pry it back up. I use a simple ruler as a straite edge and a hammer and dolly to tap it into place always making sure the body lines are corect. Now when I say to just tack it into place I meen just that! Don't get carried away because you might find it needs to come out and reset to make sure it is all aligned right.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[greasy68]

Great work as usual. The end product looks awesome.

[Hart_Rod]

Nice job! Wish I could find a nice OEM gate like that for my CrewCab.

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by Hart_Rod

Nice job! Wish I could find a nice OEM gate like that for my CrewCab.

Get this I had some guy trade me this one (flawless) for a total piece GMC gate that he just had to have! The out side was ok but dented and bowed and the inside was cr@p. I even asked him if he was sure and pointed out the danage but he wanted it that bad. The only reason I had not trashed it yet was it was keeping the cats out

Thanks for the feed back I hope it is helpfull for those wanting to convert!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Hart_Rod]

That figures! I've found 2 pretty nice GMC tailgates, but no Chevys, . Keep an eye out for me, .

[slammed1]

I wished I was closer Kevin,we could really do some damage on a ton of trucks. I really like your work,very clean/meticulous and just like I do myself. I plan on a bunch of picture and how to's myself once the truck gets back in the garage and gets blown apart once more.

Props top you Kevin for the help you provide on the board.

[LUV2XCLR8]

Very Nice Work

[CHYNSPR]

Outstanding, as always!

[ChevLoRay]

Thanks very, very much for taking the time to document the process. I just got the same kit from Mar-K, and was taking a chance on not having to skin the tailgate. Sir Michael's says you HAVE to skin it if you put a flip kit on the tailgate. ECE says no, that he (Stan) has done several. Mar-K said the weren't sure. Talked to a guy who put a Sir Michaels on his truck, which he skinned, but also said it didn't have to be so.

Seeing your pictures is the proof I needed to see that everything is good!!

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by ChevLoRay

Thanks very, very much for taking the time to document the process. I just got the same kit from Mar-K, and was taking a chance on not having to skin the tailgate. Sir Michael's says you HAVE to skin it if you put a flip kit on the tailgate. ECE says no, that he (Stan) has done several. Mar-K said the weren't sure. Talked to a guy who put a Sir Michaels on his truck, which he skinned, but also said it didn't have to be so.

Seeing your pictures is the proof I needed to see that everything is good!!

I am not sure why they all say it has to be skined as well. Might be because they all sell Skins but they do not sell handle patches! These kits are designed for skins in the fact that the linkage is set up to be put together from the out side but as you can see it can be done from the inside with a bit of time.
When I called Stan at ECE and he told me it can be done I ordered my kit right then. I figure if Chip Foose trusts him to do it then that is good enough for me.
Plus I like a chalange!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[lolife99]

Another great write-up. I might have to save one of my "junk" tailgates,... just to make a "handle hole" patch. Would the angles be the same,... if I just moved to the right or left of the hole,... and cut a piece of patch material out? Thanks for taking the time to document this mod.

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Another great write-up. I might have to save one of my "junk" tailgates,... just to make a "handle hole" patch. Would the angles be the same,... if I just moved to the right or left of the hole,... and cut a piece of patch material out? Thanks for taking the time to document this mod.

Yes it would and you should be able to get about 4 patches out of one gate! I feel a patch would be worth $25 or so and it might help pay for your kit

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[BigSky71]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Yes it would and you should be able to get about 4 patches out of one gate!

That is how I did mine, cut a piece from my old tailgate.

[crakarjax]

How do you open the gate when your bed is full of gravel?

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by crakarjax

How do you open the gate when your bed is full of gravel?

Simple have your wife shovel out enough so you can get to the handle

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[kev2809]

wow...this was 2 years old lol

[68shortwide]

Bringin this one back from the dead, the relocation patch on the bed side of the gate? can you take out that big of a hole and just sink the handle relocator patch in? or is the difference in metal thickness too great? just curious. I just think itd be cleaner welded in.