Pros/cons of removing tailgate while towing

I remove ours when towing. Makes it easier to walk between the truck and 5'er. Also I don't have to worry about denting it by forgetting it's there. Plus if I need access to the front storage, the tailgates in the way when down. Mostly it's peace of mind knowing I won't accidently dent it.

sclark wrote:
Yes, the tailgate must be lowered before hook up. The pin would hit if not lowered.

Understood, thanks. Time to watch some YouTube ;)

The latch messed up on my tailgate last year so took it off for the season. It did make hooking up easier with not having to let the gate down. I did however have a wooden block made of 3 2x6's a foot long sucked out going down the highway at 65 mph. Back to towing with the gate on. I could not believe that block would come out, but it did.

Yes, the tailgate must be lowered before hook up. The pin would hit if not lowered.

So dumb question. Do you have to lower the tailgate before unhooking/hooking?

In the grand scheme of things, when you are towing there really is no difference in weight or wind resistance with or without it. I mean, look whats tailgating you all the way down the road ;)

- Randy

I do have my eye on a retrax system

It is easier for a new FWer, to not have to deal with a tailgate. It is one less thing to have to watch for, hooking and unhooking.

Like above, I like to keep things in the truck bed when camped. I have a roll up cover, and locking TG. It's handy to throw the chairs, grill, and other outdoor items in over night, or during bad weather.

I've done it both ways, but now prefer to keep TG on the truck.

Jerry

Cons for leaving on - lowering/raising when hitching/unhitching, unless you have a V gate. I would really miss the camera.

Pros for leaving on - helps keep things in the bed, although a V gate will also.

Weight is relatively minimal (compared to all else) so not really a factor.

But I have a hard roll type tonneau locking cover on mine that I use to cover the bed after unhooking and hide things I may have in the bed so a V gate does not work for me. My factory tailgate stays on.

I used to leave mine on, but lately, I've been removing it when I know I'm going to be towing. Every once in a while, I would get into a situation where the wife would have to stand between the tow vehicle and the 5er (really off to the side as I would never ask her to actually stand in a dangerous area) but she would lift the gate when I got past the hitch point to keep the gate from going through the front of the 5er. Now, I don't have to worry about her or the gate. Less worry. The TG definitely gets heavy, but it's not often that it's getting handled.