Tailgate Letter Colors

[Gary Lewis]

They look very good, Alan!  

[ArdWrknTrk]

The tailgates look great!  👍
Do you have a tonneau cover or something for the cleats on your red truck?

My '87 has an aftermarket Taiwan tailgate, so is absolutely smooth.
I had to make a masking tape baseline because there was nothing to go by, but it turned out ok.

[thelastkeg]

No I don’t have a tonneau cover. This truck just came to me with those, the rails, and some deer whistles.  I assumed they were all some JC Whitney type of add-ons from the late 80s or early 90s.  I thought the cleats were just rope tie off points, are they for a tonneau cover?  I removed the whistles the day I got it.  I would remove the cleats but then the bed would have holes.  I don’t mind the rails but I wouldn’t install any if it didn’t already have them.  

The headache rack and rails on the blue truck were made by my Papaw when he first got the truck.   He was a farmer and a welder and always had a rack and rails on his trucks.  I like them a lot, for obvious sentimental reasons.  

[viven44]

Excellent results! I hope to finish up my tailgate one day so this will come in handy.

[thelastkeg]

So about the cleats on my truck.  Are these for a tonneau cover?  I just posted a Copart find over in the Marketplace area.  There's a 1980 F150 with the exact same cleats in the same place.  So are these a Ford option or an aftermarket add-on?  And are they for a cover, for rope tie points, or just some extra bling?

Copart 1980 F150:



My 86:

[ArdWrknTrk]

IDK
Back before ratchet straps were everywhere and people knew how to hitch a horse it was probably the easiest way to keep a load from shifting.

[mat in tn]

the cleats are actually "tie down cleats" they are a place to tie rope.

[C.Jett]

[Gary Lewis]

[C.Jett]

Thanks Gary, Alan, I didn’t mean to hijack your thread. Just wanted to show you what I did. I still need the stripes on bottom of tailgate. CJ

[thelastkeg]

No not at all.  It looks great. I’m glad you posted it here, this thread will be a reference for the future if someone wants to see different tailgate color combos.