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Greg,
I hear ya on the northeast road salt. CDOT used to use a sand/salt mix around here but they have since gone to magnesium chloride (liquid) which collects on your car like nasty white snot. It kills the trees along side the road and is highly conductive so electrical transformers close to the road have a habit of exploding as well.
I've seen tailgates like ours peeled open for restoration purposes. (this was before you could get repops with the lettering). Seems to me they cut down each side and along the bottom on the outside. The guy I saw do this would prime and coat the inside with a thick epoxy-based sealer to kill the rust. It did add a little weight & substantial feel to the tailgate but looked like hella work.
I think if you simply rebuild the hardware, replace the rubber anti-rattle cubes and empty out the debris that has no doubt collected inside you can kill most of the noise. You can also try replacing the bumpstops between the gate and the bedrails. I used to wrap electrical tape around my tailgate hanger 'link assembly' at four points so that it would bind up when I closed the gate and kill those rattles. The majority of my annoying rattles came from the rear lift gate.
Of course, relocating the tailgate handle would be very cool indeed. Post the pics when you're done!
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