Ode to the Tailgate,

You don't think much about your trucks tailgate, but try to do without one. On the farm, my tailgate was a workbench, sawhorse and picnic table. I had a vice bolted to it, in the eighties had a tailgate with built in ramps for loading a ATV. That ramp tailgate and the air flow tailgates didn't work well when I needed to haul a load of corn to the hogs. Newer tailgates have the same latching system as your trucks doors. They work so much better than the old thumb tab systems that would stick and then the rods inside the tailgate would bend and you'd have to operate.  Now my tailgate is a bill board covered in decals.

DEBO Step®. My old knees don't like me climbing on my tailgate. I like Debo Step because it's not in the receiver hitch like most aftermarket rear steps. So I can use it with a trailer and with the tailgate down. Rated for 400 lbs, I can walk up my tailgate to retrieve cargo. It slides under the bumper and locks into place. One of my favorite toys, I mean tools. For more,  www.debostep.com

I've hauled large round bales with my pickup truck and of course the tailgate is my extension. Pulled the bale out thinking the tailgate would hold 1600 lbs. And that's how your get your tailgate to smile. Luckily I could bend it back with a post. Most new trucks now also have a tailgate assist hydraulic strut or torsion rod to help left the tailgate. Ford has optional tailgate step and handrail that increases weight but with the strut inside the tailgate, still open and close well. Nissan Titan has the easiest tailgate to lift.

City folk invented tail gate parties for pro football games, but we had tailgate parties at high school football games before pro leagues. And at the county fair, getting together on our tailgates in the parking lot was a social event. My granddaughters have great fun riding my tailgate around the yard and it becomes the diving board for our rubber swimming pool.

The great controversy, do you get better fuel mileage with the gate up or down? Wind tunnel tests show that having the tailgate closed creates an air bubble that allows the air coming over the cab to flow with less resistance than having the tailgate down and stirring up turbulence in the bed. I remember with the sliding rear windows first came out in the seventies. Having that rear window open would suck the dirt and hay into the cab from the truck bed. But I haven't see data on what speeds the wind tunnel tested or if there was a difference at slow speeds and highway speeds.

Another theory is to have the tailgate down part way. Droptail, remotely controls your trucks tailgate in auto mode to adjust the opening for air flow to 50 degrees and close your tailgate when you stop and you can lock it. Now wouldn't that be something to remotely open your tailgate as you back up to the gooseneck/fifth wheel trailer or to see the toddler chasing the cat that just ran behind the truck!.

 Droptail can sense an obstacle stuck in the tailgate and open itself, give you some warning beeps and await your next command. This tailgate has an electric cylinder that would automatically open the tailgate when driving above 40 mph to be more aerodynamic. Then when you stop it closed. That was in the auto mode. In manual mode you pushed a button to lower the tailgate to back up to a trailer and pushed a button to close it and lock it. I can’t say it’s not practical, who would have thought 10 years ago we’d have backup sensors, heated seats, mirrors and power adjustable brake and gas pedals on trucks.  For more, http://droptail.com/