I went to have a Putco light bar installed and they told me they'd have to remove the tailgate guide for it to fit. Has anyone else had that issue, and what exactly is the tailgate guide actually used for?

Thanks

 

Do you have a powered tailgate?

 

Yes, I do. Guy at the truck accessories installation place stated he has seen them on Chevy and Fords in the last few years, regardless of power tailgate or not. Seems unusual they'd spend even $2 to put these things on every truck, that's $1.5M a year they could shave off production costs on 750,000 units sold annually.

 

my understanding is that guide is for step in the tailgate, its for safety and to prevent lateral movement of the tailgate as you use the step to get up or down. I think it only plays a part when you have quite the weight 400+ pounds on the tailgate. There are two bolts to the body of the truck to remove and 2 screws in the tailgate (basically above the area of where the spare tire lock is. Seems simple enough to remove them. Putco also says they have extended clips that will clear the bolts on the truck body, but not sure what the clearance is on the tab on the tailgate, assume should be as also to mount the light to the bottom of the wiring access hole on the truck body (center) but I havent made that purchase yet to test it out.

 

I installed a Putco light bar on my 21 platinum. It does come with extended brackets, but they are not enough. I replaced the bolts with round head alen head bolts. I believe they are 8 mm. Worked great, I don't think it's a good idea to remove them all together. Ford won't spend the money if they don't think it was necessary.

 

I assume the "fin" on the tailgate doesn't interfere with the extended brackets and the lightbar? that was the one area I was still trying to find out before pulling the trigger on the lightbar, Im with your thinking that Ford didnt design that bracket for no reason, I know its only on ones with tailgate step. I saw others replaced the hexbolts on truck with flatter bolt heads as you did.

 

thinking of getting this bar, as I had one on my last truck and liked it. Can you post a pic of how it fits using the extended clips and the new screws you purchased.

 

I will try to post a photo tomorrow. I'm not sure how much you will be able to see.

 

Here are a couple of photos. They don't show much. The








2 bolts are 8mm 1.25 pitch.

 

The light bar will rest against the bolts a little bit, not enough to worry about. Keep the clips 6 inches or more away from the guide bracket.