Tailgate for a truck camper

[ThomasELee]

Do you have to remove the tailgate for a truck camper?

[stevenal]

My camper doesn't extend down, but it does extend out. The tailgate cables would interfere. If your camper has taillights and your tailgate has cables, you'll need to remove the tailgate.

[Grit_dog]

Motorcycle wheel is akin to a point load. Camper is not.
But some of you are missing the actual point. If a camper is designed to hold its own weight, fairly rigidly, cantilevered off the back of the bed, then it’s not really relying on the tailgate if the tailgate surface is on the same plane as the truck bed.
Seems like the obvious “no” answers here are from those who don’t conceptually understand what they’re looking at.

[StirCrazy]

deltabravo wrote:

Optimistic Paranoid wrote:
There are some exceptions to this. The 10 foot Alaskan Truck Campers are designed to be used in 8 foot beds with the tailgate down and supporting the last couple of feet.

There's an exception to this exception. A lot of newer trucks have a tailgate that is not meant to be a weight carrying support.

I've seen bent tailgates on shortbed trucks where people haul motorcycles that the rear wheel rests on the bed.

yup and thoes guys are gambling with wrecking there tailgate and there bike. a lot of them though are not realy on the tailgate but just on the end of the bed. if you ever are out driving and you wondered what some one did to put that curve in there tail gate, its usaly from the motorcycle sitting to far back and they hit a bump.

I seem to remember 500lbs sticking out for what most tailgates are rated for weight wise. some could be more, older classic truck ones were definatly less but check the owners manual it usaly tells you.

[ppine]

It is usually in the way.

[Grit_dog]

deltabravo wrote:

Optimistic Paranoid wrote:
There are some exceptions to this. The 10 foot Alaskan Truck Campers are designed to be used in 8 foot beds with the tailgate down and supporting the last couple of feet.

There's an exception to this exception. A lot of newer trucks have a tailgate that is not meant to be a weight carrying support.

I've seen bent tailgates on shortbed trucks where people haul motorcycles that the rear wheel rests on the bed.

I’ll have to call shenanigans on this.
Can’t speak for Toyoders or Nippons, but I’ve had virtually every model of Big 3 trucks from the last 40 years, save for the latest F150 and Superduty chassis trucks and your statement is false. Not to say I haven’t bent or seen bent, many tailgates, but never from anything that wouldn’t just be considered severe abuse.
And to my point, newer trucks tailgates are significantly thicker, heavier and better built than the 70s-80s models of trucks.

[Grit_dog]

If the tailgate surface isn’t “raised” where it’s taking more load by holding the camper off the truck bed, it won’t hold too much weight with a camper that can be run without any support beyond the truck bed.
And if the camper fits with tailgate down, if both of these conditions are acceptable then it’s not a problem.
Regarding rock chips, I was concerned about that and after driving our camper to Alaska and hundreds of miles of dirt roads up there, there were zero rock chips. Also never experienced tailgates getting chipped in many miles of hauling many things with tailgate down.
Granted most trucks I have had have had mudflaps. So that probably helps.

[deltabravo]

Optimistic Paranoid wrote:
There are some exceptions to this. The 10 foot Alaskan Truck Campers are designed to be used in 8 foot beds with the tailgate down and supporting the last couple of feet.

There's an exception to this exception. A lot of newer trucks have a tailgate that is not meant to be a weight carrying support.

I've seen bent tailgates on shortbed trucks where people haul motorcycles where the rear wheel rests on the tailgate instead of the truck bed.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I have carried my 8' bed camper on my 6-1/2' truck with the tailgate down - but I cover the tailgate with "crash wrap" to protect from stone chips.

[mkirsch]

ThomasELee wrote:
Do you have to remove the tailgate for a truck camper?

You don't HAVE to, but generally it is a good idea.

[Lwiddis]

"The fact that camper is designed to be supported by tailgate does not mean the tailgate is designed to carry weight."

x2

[BurbMan]

JRscooby wrote:
The fact that camper is designed to be supported by tailgate does not mean the tailgate is designed to carry weight.

Beat me to it!

[Geo_Boy]

Yes.

[JRscooby]

Optimistic Paranoid wrote:

joerg68 wrote:
But the tailgate is not designed to carry any of the camper weight. The tailgate itself is also dead weight behind your rear axle, which you usually want to get rid of when you carry a camper.

There are some exceptions to this. The 10 foot Alaskan Truck Campers are designed to be used in 8 foot beds with the tailgate down and supporting the last couple of feet.

The fact that camper is designed to be supported by tailgate does not mean the tailgate is designed to carry weight.

[StirCrazy]

my tailgate had a raised inner portion for the step assist handle so it isnt flat with the bed so it would come off unless I had a 8 foot or shorter camper. with my 10.5 foot it comes off every time.

[Optimistic_Para]

joerg68 wrote:
But the tailgate is not designed to carry any of the camper weight. The tailgate itself is also dead weight behind your rear axle, which you usually want to get rid of when you carry a camper.

There are some exceptions to this. The 10 foot Alaskan Truck Campers are designed to be used in 8 foot beds with the tailgate down and supporting the last couple of feet.