I found this rubber strip in my 15 F150 truck bed by the tailgate on the drivers side and I'm not sure if it goes on the tailgate somewhere or if it came off my tonneau cover (Access Lorado). I can't find a matching strip anywhere on the tailgate or tonneau cover rails. Probably a long shot but hoping someone might know if this strip is part of the tailgate. Thanks in advance.

 

fits on the tailgate on the driver's side. I believe it is to prevent scratches on the tailgate & body when the tailgate is removed & installed.


You can see where it is installed on my truck in the attached picture

 

Thank you tmcolegr! Appreciate the quick reply. Can you confirm it's just on the drivers side. There isn't one for the passenger side?

 

I have only ever seen this item on the driver's side. I believe it is because to remove/install the tailgate, you swing the tailgate away from the passenger's side of the bed. The only place I can see it adding any protection is when you're trying to guide the tailgate onto the driver's side pivot. Keeps you from damaging the paint.

 

That makes perfect sense. Thanks again. Glad to know what purpose it serves. Not fun to finding a random piece in your truck bed and not knowing what it's for. Stuff like that gnaws at me.

Forgot to mention on my last reply. You have a sweet ride there!

 

I forgot to mention I also found mine laying in the bed when I took delivery. Rather than just throw it away, because I didn't know what it was for, I went back to the dealer. Needless to say I got the deer in the headlight look when I asked about it, which is about what I expected. I went out to the lot of new vehicles and started looking around. Probably 50% of the trucks were missing that piece. Sure enough there they were laying in the bed. I am curious to know if they are only used during truck assembly at the factory. Nonetheless I saved mine and put it back on the tailgate. Good thing because I have had my tailgate off twice - once to install the dampener kit and once to install the tailgate lock.


Thanks for the kind words about my ride.

 

Funny you mention that. I did a Google search online and couldn't find pictures of any F150 with that strip on the tailgate. Then I went to my dealers website and searched through pictures of their new inventory and sure enough some of the trucks had it, others didn't. Even found one that had it on both sides. Most had it just on the drivers side or missing all together.

Laughed out loud about your deer in the headlights comment.
I wasn't going to bother asking my dealer for that very reason.

Thanks again.

 

The plant uses them to protect the sides when they install the tail gate. You can of course use them for the same thing but I am sure the dealer should be removing them during PDI.

 

Sweet. I was wondering where that came from. I found it on the ground after installing the tailgate dampener.