Tailgate tie down anchors / hooks that work with Tailgate Assist strut -- installed pics

[NickyB]

I decided on this instead of the D ring idea, and since he wasnt making them anymore, I used his pix as a guide and fabricated my own duplicate of his idea out of 11 gage steel sheet stock in my shop. Its a great idea.

Interested in making another for a fair price?

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[Call sign "Slick"]

Guys, in my humble opine....for $23 delivered to my door by Amazon, this door assist strut is a no-brainer???? Only slightly cheaper than
It’s just a nice refined way for the tailgate to open. Instead of just falling, it glides down. You open it and let it do its thing. Certainly worth it to me. Since I had to sacrifice the bottle opener/tie down, I recently replaced it with the tie down ring from Amazon. So now I have both the assist and functionality. Do you NEED it ??? No, but it’s a nice inexpensive mod that will be appreciated every time you open your tailgate.
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[Barracuda340]

Interested in making another for a fair price?

This was a bit of a pain to make. One and done. Sorry.

 

[unclerunkle]

I decided on this instead of the D ring idea, and since he wasnt making them anymore, I used his pix as a guide and fabricated my own duplicate of his idea out of 11 gage steel sheet stock in my shop. Its a great idea.

Can you share some general instructions on how you made it? Looks like you were able to use one piece of steel stock and just cut the thickness in half to make the two sides? Not sure how you got the nice round edges or the oblong hole. Looks really really nice.

 

[JBEN110]

Don't waste your time. The tailgate weighs nothing. The assist is pointless IMO. It can literally be lowered with two fingers.

thats true but if you have your hands full its nice to just have to pull the handle and let go

 

[Barracuda340]

thats true but if you have your hands full its nice to just have to pull the handle and let go

I disagree. I love this. I just pull and let go. Its handy. Plus my young son can open it without letting it slam down. My 94 chevy C1500 doesnt have this, and it almost hurt him when he opened it.

 

[Barracuda340]

Can you share some general instructions on how you made it? Looks like you were able to use one piece of steel stock and just cut the thickness in half to make the two sides? Not sure how you got the nice round edges or the oblong hole. Looks really really nice.

2 pieces of 14 gage sheet steel that I bent. Then welded together around the perimeter and ground smooth. I used a hole saw to cut two 1/2" circles, then connected them in the middle to make the slot.

 

[Barracuda340]

Can you share some general instructions on how you made it? Looks like you were able to use one piece of steel stock and just cut the thickness in half to make the two sides? Not sure how you got the nice round edges or the oblong hole. Looks really really nice.

See my build thread, specifically post #33

 

[unclerunkle]

Direct link to @Barracuda340 's tie down anchors build process https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...w-tos-on-my-maverick.23559/page-3#post-449625

 

[JBEN110]

I disagree. I love this. I just pull and let go. Its handy. Plus my young son can open it without letting it slam down. My 94 chevy C1500 doesnt have this, and it almost hurt him when he opened it.

yea thats what im saying, im agreeing with you

 

[Barracuda340]

yea thats what im saying, im agreeing with you

I know, but I could not find the original post to use as a quote.

I love the assist strut. I think it's great, and I use my Maverick for truck stuff. I wish my 94 Chevy Silverado had one of these. As I stated before, i pull the handle and let go. Then I turn around to start on whatever I am going to load in the back. It's more of a convienence type of thing.

Additionally I remember back in 1994 when I got my silverado brand new, i put a bed cover on it. Well I was at a buddies place, and his older neighbor wanted to look in the bed and instead of asking, he just pulled the tailgate handle. The bed cover fit pretty tight against the tailgate, so he gave it a pretty hard tug, and when the tailgate came down he wasnt ready for it. His metal wristwatch band made 5 equally spaced scratches in the top edge dead center on the tailgate as it slipped out of his hands and slammed down. I didnt notice until a day or 2 later and was pissed. I learned my lesson that day and call me anal, but after that I didnt let anybody open the tailgate anymore. That's been 29 years ago. My thought process has not changed.

 

[Lonnie gee]

Don't waste your time. The tailgate weighs nothing. The assist is pointless IMO. It can literally be lowered with two fingers.

I agree I haven’t got the truck yet ,but I tried it at a dealer , I thought what is This ,it’s pointless ,some the sell ,I guess

 

[PRH]

Don't waste your time. The tailgate weighs nothing. The assist is pointless IMO. It can literally be lowered with two fingers.

I think you're missing the point ... it's for when your hands are full (primarily).

 

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I decided on this instead of the D ring idea, and since he wasnt making them anymore, I used his pix as a guide and fabricated my own duplicate of his idea out of 11 gage steel sheet stock in my shop. Its a great idea.

I have one of those too.

 

[gp1200x]

I have those smae tie downs as the OP but a word of caution...hit those bolts with some spray paint or they will be rusting within a week. I also put black silicon on each of the joints to stop them from slopping aroung....I could hear them in my truck over bumps....nice and quiet now. I used them in every screw hole along both sides of the bed.....perfect tie downs.

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