Hi all, finally changed my reliable 2010 XLT SCrew 4x4 for a 2019 Lariat SCrew 4x4, 2.7EB and loving my move so far. My XLT was approaching 280,000 km (173,000 miles) started to rust and... well I felt it was time.
So now that I'm back in a brand new truck I'm looking to protect the top of my tailgate for the odd time that I'm hauling 2x4 and plywood sheet etc. while leaving the tailgate up. But I don't want to change the look or make any permanent mods. . Has anyone found a removable tailgate cover/protector or came up with something or can point me to the right place? I originally posted in a wrong thread. Some said to use a moving blanket or roll on plastic dip which are good ideas. Just curious to see what every else is doing. Kinda scratch the plastic top part of the old tailgate on my old truck pretty quickly and want to avoid doing the same to this one.
Thanks in advance

 

Moving blankets/towels/shirts work just fine.

Personally, I don't care for wood sticking up out the back of my truck at an angle, there's no good way to secure it so it won't go flying in a crash, so I strap it down to the rack.

 

Look up the price on the part before you get too excited. If it hasn't jumped up a bunch like some of the parts prices have recently, it's under $40, which makes me willing to let it be sacrificial in the event I decide it needs to be pristine again.

 

I use a moving blanket from Harbor Freight on sale $4.

 

A moving blanket would work or you could get one of the bike pads for the tailgate from Yakima. Personally I don't care about the plastic piece enough to do any special measures to protect it, although I probably should since I have the integrated step. I've also got a bed cover that covers the edge that gets beat up.

 

I've seen those bike pads and they're not cheap. Leaning towards the moving blanket I guess. And I'll look up the cost of that part next week when I head to the dealer for a back ordered bed extender. For 60 bucks I might just replace it once a year. I guess I'm trying to keep this one new 4ever. Lol it's a new truck until that dreaded first scratch and God forbid a dent.

 

Lol. I understand that. I was super careful with mine for a while, but I'm not real careful with the bed since it's still a truck at the end of the day. Bright side about dents, aluminum is more dent resistant than steel.