5th Wheel Tailgates

Moved to 5th wheel forum from Towing.

I fell into getting a 5er tailgate and haven't had the need to go back. I mounted a camera underneath the tailgate that is integrated into my factory harness for around $50-75. I also have a V insert for the winter and it locks with my tonneau cover. So I have all that was in my factory tailgate (didnt have a step).

We bought our truck used and the tailgate was the poster child for 5th wheel tailgates. He pulled horse trailers and neglected to lower the tailgate once, and once was all it took.

We replaced the badly dented tailgate with a notched tailgate and I'm very happy with it. It means there's one less thing I have to remember to do. And IME Murphy will step in when you least expect it, so the fewer things you have to go wrong, the better. Also we have had to hitch and unhitch at an angle before and we would punch a hole in the front of the fifth wheel if we had to have the tailgate lowered since the trailer is close to the rear of the truck.

Several 'V'/'U' 5th wheel tailgates have lockable inserts.

We FTd as soon as we got the truck/5vr so I sold the OEM tailgate and went with a notched tailgate.
Never missed the OEM gate.
Easy hitch/unhitch ----no hopping in/out to drop/raise tailgate

Not FTng....would stick with OEM

13 years pulling a fifth wheel and never saw a need for one. Lower the tail gate hitch/unhitch, lock the hitch and raise the tail gate. I always had a hard cover on my trucks, so with the stock tailmgate I could always lock the bed for secure storage. No an option with a V notch tail gate.

brianpearce wrote:
Not a full timer, CCLB. I agree about keeping the backup camera. Another reason I won't go the a fifth wheel tailgate is that I have a trifold tonneau cover and the locking tailgate secures the latches to open the cover securing things in my bed when not connected to the fifth wheel.

X2

Not a full timer, '15 CCLB. I agree about keeping the backup camera and the step with the tailgate. Another reason I won't go the a fifth wheel tailgate is that I have a trifold tonneau cover and the locking tailgate secures the latches to open the cover securing things in my bed when not connected to the fifth wheel.

We are full-timers... I have considered a fifth wheel tailgate but have decided against one. There are two things I don't want to give up: 1) the assist step and handle to get up into the truck bed (I'm 65 and not counting backward), and 2) the backup camera. The camera is very handy when parking a CC LB DRW truck in parking lots, etc. There is at least one fifth wheel tailgate that makes provisions for mounting the camera, but the housing is plastic, is prone to breaking, and leaves the camera vulnerable to theft. I've not had any problems associated with the OEM tailgate, so I'll stick with it.

Rob