towing tt without tailgate on tv

[challrv]

does anybody do this? i did it years ago with 5th wheel but now have a tt. i cant open the tailgate all the way when hitched up (not enough room between electric jack and gate) im using my wd hitch. it cleared on my chevy but now got a dodge. seems like im always geting stuff out of the back when hitched up. just afraid going to hit the truck sides with stuff (wood,kids bikes,camping gear) will this work or will all the stuff try to blow out ?

[PNWGirl]

You could always use a heavy-duty cargo net. That way you don't have to worry about the gate but the net will keep things from sliding out.............

Sheila

[Route 66]

Google "tailgate net".

$18.99 and up.

[wa8yxm]

I would be very careful towing without a tail gate.. (Or at least a tail net)

I seem to recall some folks being ticketed for not haveing a tail gate on a pick up truck, Now the truck was empty, nothing in the bed that could fall onto the road, But still tickets were issued.. as I recall. Since I'm neither the issuing officer nor the ticketed driver (I was a police dispatcher) I can not be sure of that.

[AZgl1500]

Half the trucks in Arizona do not have tailgates.
I have left mine off for two or more years and no one ever even suggested the topic.

[wingnut60]

You will lose the support the tailgate gives the bed sides. But I see a lot of pickups without the tailgates. If I did this with my own pickup, I would make a brace that fits across the rear from side to side and fits in a stake pocket.
Joe

[RVhauler]

Never heard or have read of any law preventing tailgate removal. Now if the taigate was removed while truck was loaded and load not secured then there might be a possibility (thin line ther IMO). However I have a fifth wheel cut out tail gate on my truck and am thinking that would clear the jack on a TT

[Ray,IN]

I once read a post about TX requiring a tailgate of some sort, but have no personal knowledge. The net-gate sounds like a workable solution.

[wingnut60]

RVHauler has the solution--a fifth wheel tailgate that has the pinbox cutout--the ones I have see are made of bar steel or fiberglass (ventilated). The cutout should allow the tailgate to drop down fully.
Joe

[John H...]

When I had a 5th wheel, I took my tailgate off and used a 5th wheel tailgate .

[rzak1963]

We don't have the tailgate on because we have a motorized motorcycle ramp in the bed of the truck and it restricts the use of the tailgate, (a wench pulls the motorcycle up into the truck without having to drive it up...it's great) and we have never had any problems without a tailgate, with or without the motorcycle being in there!!

[LadyFitz...]

One of the big problems with our country is the way laws vary from State to State. I see pickups in AZ all the time without tailgates. Around 15 years ago, I drove a Ranger in CA sans tailgate without problems (I took it off before leaving home in AZ due to a rash of tailgate thefts going on back then).

I very seriously doubt a pickup bed receives (or needs) any support from a tailgate.

[dwhite1031]

From online article:

The tailgate myth

No doubt you have witnessed pickups driving around in Texas with their tailgates down, or with no tailgate at all. The idea behind this behavior is that when the tailgate is up, it is creating drag, which lowers fuel economy. Unfortunately, removing or lowering the tailgate merely transfers that drag to the area directly behind the cab, and can in fact increase the amount of drag which the truck must fight against - raising the fuel consumption of the truck.

[StarGazer-1]

Mythbusters did a show just about tailgate up tailgate down and fuel savings.

YouTube - ‪Insert from MythBusters - Tailgate Up or Down 2 (from More Myths Revisited) fuel consumption test‬‏

Enjoy.