Adam013085

I am going to pick up a few hundred pounds of 2x4x8s at the lumber yard. I have the 6.5 foot bed and would rather not drive 20 miles with the lumber sticking out of the bed of my truck with the tailgate down. My question is how much weight can the tailgate bear with it in the up position? I am looking at 3-400 lbs I would estimate.

schissler

more than that. youll be fine. i seen people drive with sleds on them all the time

Adam013085

I'm not worried about the weight when down, I know they will hold a lot when down. I meant in the up position? Will that make a difference how much it will hold weight wise or will it be the same as if it were down?

ToughFX4

I use to put a sled on mine when I pulled my sled trailer. I'd imagine it was around 200lbs sitting on top of the tailgate.

ToughFX4

When its down you have all the weight distributed in 4 spots, when up all the weight is on 2 spots.

Adam013085

Ok makes sense, I will probably end up rolling with it down with straps to be on the safe side. Just wondered if anyone had any real world experience. I googled it but came up empty with the gate up.

Crab Balls

I've stacked 30 sheet of 1/2" drywall with the gate up without any problems.

Adam013085

Thanks for everyones help and input. I have changed my mind on how much lumber I will get today anyway. Who knows when I will get to the project with the weather right now.

eng45ine

I strongly advise against keeping the tailgate in the upright position, then stacking lumber in the bed at an angle against the tailgate. I sincerely doubt that the internal structure of the tailgate will keep the tailgate from distorting and if the latches were to "give", the end result would be very ugly.

YoungDiesel

So you are trusting 2 joints instead of 4? And for distortion, he's not carrying that much and if it were to distort those cables arnt going to stop it. You gotta think about bending 2 feet of metal vs 2 inches.