Built a wooden tailgate using flexbed

[Jeffd]

New Years Day I was hauling a Christmas tree to be recycled with the tailgate down and I backed myself into a tree(FYI backup camera is in the tailgate). My truck with 500 miles on it needed a repair. I have been waiting for a new top cap for the tailgate from Ford for 3 months now. Rather than renting a new truck I decided to use the flex bed and build a temporary replacement. I recently took the Maverick on a 1500 mile road trip with my rigged up tailgate through Oregon and the Redwoods. I piled 4 people into the truck. The cab comfortably fit my wife, myself, and my 2 kids. We carried 4 suitcases in the bed along with a large cooler and a few crates of food. It was plenty powerful on the highway, mountains, and did great off-road and even on some small river crossings. I put new gator back flaps on before the trip which has reduced the amount of mud splashed onto the truck considerably.

Mileage has been very disappointing with BFG K02’s. I was averaging 23-25 hwy and regularly get 17mpg city on a very stop and go urban commute. I’m torn on selling it and getting the hybrid, but I worry that I will miss the power, softer ride, and look of the FX4. Either decision will leave me with some regrets. This has been my favorite vehicle ever. Upgraded tires are 17/245

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[Samus L. Jackson]

Milage has been very disappointing with BFG K02’s.

What are those and what do they have to do with gas mileage?

 

[Snax]

What are those and what do they have to do with gas mileage?

Tires. Shop All Terrain T/A KO2 Tires | BFGoodrich Tires

 

[Jeffd]

What are those and what do they have to do with gas mileage?

Larger beefy off road tires will reduce your mileage in comparison to a more road focused tire due to increased rolling resistance. It’s a trade off for more off road capabilities.

 

[Samus L. Jackson]

Oh I see. Thank you both for clarifying.

 

[bombast]

For reference, those tires are, rough estimate, 66% heavier than the Continentals that come on the stock Maverick. About 17 pounds if I'm looking at the right ones.

That's a pretty significant increase in weight, and the heavier the tire is the more energy needs to be expended to get it to spin.

 

[CSmith]

It looks pretty good @Jeffd but why not just use a tailgate net? Was weather an issue for your trip?

 

[Jeffd]

It looks pretty good @Jeffd but why not just use a tailgate net? Was weather an issue for your trip?

Raining weather is always a possibility in Oregon but more so It was actually security. On our travels we had stops along the way at beaches etc. I didn’t want our luggage visible to other people. In order to “lock” the bed I screwed a 2x4 to the top of the plywood and you couldn’t see inside or access the tonneau cover pulls without a drill which I kept in the cab.

 

[dbmurray]

A little spray paint and no one would even notice!

 

[TheGriffin1313]

New Years Day I was hauling a Christmas tree to be recycled with the tailgate down and I backed myself into a tree(FYI backup camera is in the tailgate). My truck with 500 miles on it needed a repair. I have been waiting for a new top cap for the tailgate from Ford for 3 months now. Rather than renting a new truck I decided to use the flex bed and build a temporary replacement. I recently took the Maverick on a 1500 mile road trip with my rigged up tailgate through Oregon and the Redwoods. I piled 4 people into the truck. The cab comfortably fit my wife, myself, and my 2 kids. We carried 4 suitcases in the bed along with a large cooler and a few crates of food. It was plenty powerful on the highway, mountains, and did great off-road and even on some small river crossings. I put new gator back flaps on before the trip which has reduced the amount of mud splashed onto the truck considerably.

Mileage has been very disappointing with BFG K02’s. I was averaging 23-25 hwy and regularly get 17mpg city on a very stop and go urban commute. I’m torn on selling it and getting the hybrid, but I worry that I will miss the power, softer ride, and look of the FX4. Either decision will leave me with some regrets. This has been my favorite vehicle ever. Upgraded tires are 17/245

Sick.
Burn a longhorn emblem on that wood. Or Maverick
Or stain and add buckles to make it look like a chest!

 

[Jeffd]

Without the tailgate badges it’s like mystery truck to most people. People keep asking what it is. I thought about just having fun and putting maverick in sharpie on the wood, but my wife would have been mortified.

 

[Maverickman74]

Been there done that. Backed into a tree on the farm with my comanche while hauling logs a couple years ago. Comanche tailgates are about as hard to come by as a Maverick. So I got a piece of plywood with a couple holes in it and ball bungees wrapped around my racks that rests against a flange built into the bed. Been working on the farm like that ever since.

Nice mod. Seems like you could use those pre dilled holes and a couple small L brackets to secure the hinge board instead of all the rest of it.

 

[Enchalada]

Guess you don't miss those tailgate bottle openers.

 

[Sivart]

Picked up my Mav last Saturday. Monday backed the truck with tailgate down into my privacy fence gate. smashed the top in. Body guys say they cant fix it, will need replacing. Call Ford no parts available yet. Luckily body guy found salvaged tailgate in A1 condition. Just hope it comes with the top molding or body guy will try and use mine that's smashed.

OP... were you able to find a replacement tailgate?

 

[perfectlyfrank]

Are you guys talking about this piece? I scraped mine up pretty bad. I ordered one from Fairway Ford and received it a couple weeks ago.

https://www.fairwayfordparts.net/oem-parts/ford-molding-nz6z6041018a

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