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Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: August 30, 2013, 8:33 am
by dmsmith6
Anybody had any recent experience with Unibody Tailgates from Dennis Carpenter? Just wondering what the quality is like now.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: August 31, 2013, 2:10 pm
by Uncle Skip
I don't personally know anybody who's used a uni tailgate from Dennis, but if its like the rest of his products its going to be pretty good.
All of his Ford products are made under license from Ford Motor Company and as a rule, he does not sell junk.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: August 31, 2013, 8:58 pm
by 62bigwindow
I would definately call and ask alot of questions.I bought an aftermarket tailgate from a private individual and was dissapointed to say the least.Real thin(22 gauge) and poor fit and finish.Also the FORD stamping was so shallow that it was hard to see straight on with the light grey primer.Took it to a local body shop and had it worked over and still not happy.I ended up finding a rebuildable original.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: August 31, 2013, 9:06 pm
by totten
I was happy with 66 styleside tailgate i bought from DC :2cents: Tony

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 1, 2013, 6:45 am
by DV65CustomCab
Uni gates are made in China. The later bump gates are made by Carpenter in NC. It's really your only choice when wanting new. Unless you plan on hauling stuff, a thinner gate is better than a bent, rusty one.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 1, 2013, 9:15 am
by unibody madness
I disagree... a thin uni repop is only better than no tailgate.
I have had one fold in half with 170 lbs on it before I learned how to make the second gate hanger rod. Fit and finish is really poor and in my opinion not worth the price! A fixable original gate is well worth the effort if you have any choice

I have no personal knowledge if DC sells a better product than the poor example I ran across. Looking at the online catalog,the uni gate is not marked as imported, Shows it as ford licensed and the pic shows it in raw steel not the import black. a quick call to ask about metal thickness might help. I am not sure what the 19/32 stands for,66 is the body style

http://dennis-carpenter.com/unibody-tai ... 6640702-c/
John

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 1, 2013, 10:25 am
by mercman64
I bought a uni gate from DC and sent it back. DC has lots of good products but those gates are not one of them. Thin and many areas are not formed like the original, but pieces are lapped and welded....not pretty...you have to keep looking, I bought one off of e bay for $400 as soon as I saw it and it is in great shape....keep looking and good luck !....dave

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 1, 2013, 7:28 pm
by dmsmith6
Called them and they say that the new gates are the same guage as the original (find it hard to believe but we'll see). They also say that they have almost no returns on them and that the quality has been improved since the first gates came out. They are made in Argentina (don't know if thats any better than China), but suppossedly with the original Ford dies. Shipping was only $15. Went ahead and ordered one. If its junk I'll be out the shipping to get it back to them. When it gets here I will let all of you know if they are feeding me a line or not.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 1, 2013, 7:45 pm
by ken_b
I am not sure what the 19/32 stands for,66 is the body style


I wonder if that's (the 66-19/32) not the width of the gate.

I measured mine and its 66-9/16 wide with paint on it.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 1, 2013, 9:59 pm
by foodstick
If its from Argentina it might be all right, they kept making split unis from Fords molds into the late 70's or even 80's !!!

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 2, 2013, 4:20 pm
by 6166 Junkyard Dog
The tailgates always came from Argentina,, cause that where in raw steel,,,, if its in raw steel IT DOES NOT COme from China or Tawain if it did it would be rusted before it got here,, last uni gate I got Dennis told me himself to sell it for what they had in it since it was a piece of xxxx bad welding at the bottom thickness way toooooooo thin

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 2, 2013, 5:23 pm
by JOSHF100
Please report back when you get to look it over....I may be in the market also
Thanks
Randall
dmsmith6 wrote:Called them and they say that the new gates are the same guage as the original (find it hard to believe but we'll see). They also say that they have almost no returns on them and that the quality has been improved since the first gates came out. They are made in Argentina (don't know if thats any better than China), but suppossedly with the original Ford dies. Shipping was only $15. Went ahead and ordered one. If its junk I'll be out the shipping to get it back to them. When it gets here I will let all of you know if they are feeding me a line or not.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 2, 2013, 6:41 pm
by dmsmith6
I should have it in the next couple of days. I will definetely let you guys know what the quality is like. Thanks for all the replies! As always you guys come through!!!

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 4, 2013, 6:32 pm
by dmsmith6
Tailgate arrived today. Overall I am pleased. It is not perfect but for a total investment of $415 I'm happy. It is not as thick as the originals that I have, but it is not paper thin. The Ford lettering is not as deep as the original but looks good and is very crisp. There are some grind marks where the side panels were welded to the top and then ground down, but nothing that a skim coat of filler wont fix. Overall looks very good and the lines are very close to the original. It is not a perfect show quality piece out of the box, but its not junk. I'm going to fit the gate tomorrow, but just holding it up to the body it looks good.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 6, 2013, 1:59 pm
by dmsmith6
I have the gate on the truck and it fits well. It took some minor (metal file and dremel) grinding to get the latches to work properly, but nothing major.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 6, 2013, 4:09 pm
by JOSHF100
Thanks for the follow up. I was thinking about picking one up this fall at Moultrie swap but for 15.00 shipping I may not wait. :)

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 6, 2013, 4:54 pm
by 69supercj
Pics man, post some pics of the tailgate please!!

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 6, 2013, 11:04 pm
by ezernut9mm
they are advertised as needing body work to complete. i had one and didn't really like it, but the originals weren't all that great either.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: September 7, 2013, 7:46 pm
by dmsmith6
Sorry guys I don't even own a digital camera, and all I have is a dumb phone so no pics. ezernut9mm hit the nail on the head, these gates will need some work to be perfect but the originals fit and looked rough too. My opinion is: if you don't have one or yours is too far gone these are a fair deal but will need a little work.

Re: Dennis Carpenter Unibody Tailgates

Posted: January 21, 2018, 6:56 pm
by claybreaker 144
Old thread but on topic...I'm not impressed with the tailgate but I am with DC service. I ordered the tailgate during a promotion and it sat for in the box for a couple of months and when I opened it had a dent in the top. I called customer service and they said it was on the shipper but they sent a replacement out without much discussion. I purchased the hinges to go with the tailgate and when I finally got around to mounting, it binds on then rear cross-member. I've had both quarters off my truck so there could be other issues with alignment. I assume I can elongate some holes to move the hinges up to fix this. Looks like it will take much work to make a nice fit. Should have jumped on the NOS one that was linked to on this site to Craigslist a couple of months ago.