1986 Tailgate hinge bushings?

[junkpile]

Has anyone had any luck finding these lately?
I just bought a truck which has an aftermarket tailgate installed and they failed to swap over the old bushings. The dealer says their no longer available?
They also don't show a left or right side, which can't be correct since one bushing is slotted.

I have a brand new OEM Ford gate to go on this truck, the china junk is out of here but I can't hang the new gate until I have the bushings. I checked all the local yards and found no trucks with tailgates let alone anything older then the late 90's or so.

I was really surprised to find out how many parts are gone for this year truck. Ford didn't used to obsolete parts like this in the past.

Is there a combo of parts from other years that will work?
Maybe using the 1987-91 style or 1981-83 style tailgate hinges?
I don't have any other years to compare to so I'm only guessing.
The Ford listing also don't show a left or right bushing, just one that fits both sides? (E3TZ-99430B22-B)
The left side hinge pin is round, the right side is a flat pin. Are both bushings slotted?
The gate on the truck has no bushings and rattles around, it also lacks the F-0-R-D letters across the middle.

 

[Beach66Bum]

Only the passenger side is slotted.

 

[junkpile]

How can both bushings be the same if only the passenger side is slotted?
Ford says that both bushings are the same? (no longer available though).
I attached a pic of one that someone sent me, if this uses two of these, it would never fit onto the left hinge pin which is round.

Does anyone have a bushing like this for sale?
The one pictured is from the web.
The gate on my truck now has no bushing on either side.
What holds the bushing in place when the gate is removed?

 

[Beach66Bum]

How can both bushings be the same if only the passenger side is slotted?
Ford says that both bushings are the same? (no longer available though).
I attached a pic of one that someone sent me, if this uses two of these, it would never fit onto the left hinge pin which is round.

Does anyone have a bushing like this for sale?
The one pictured is from the web.
The gate on my truck now has no bushing on either side.
What holds the bushing in place when the gate is removed?

I'll get you a couple of picks of my tailgate so you can see the way it hooks up, and mine has the raised F O R D on it in the steel.

 

[Beach66Bum]

here you go junkpile, this will clear up any confusion

 

[junkpile]

Thanks for the pics, (mine is even the same color).

I found the insert listed at Dennis Carpenter but the shipping is over $12, for such a small item. I still can't believe that none of the local dealers has one in stock.

On my aftermarket tailgate, someone put a black plastic bushing on the left side, its snapped into the center hole.

 

[Beach66Bum]

Shipping can be pricey. When I ordered my replacement cab lights from LMC Truck, the lens's were $40.00 and the shipping $60.00.
Can't believe your gate is orange too !

 

[junkpile]

I found the bushings at a small dealer in WV, the parts guy mailed them to me First class mail for $1.79 postage and $2.15 per bushing. I had to call 100 dealers on the east coast before finding them but I got them. I bought all 4 that he had for future use. Free long distance on the cell phone is a good thing.

My truck looks to be almost the same color, mine may be a bit more red but its hard to tell by pics. My tailgate is a hint more orange then the rest of my truck, but it's not a factory Ford gate.
Something I did notice is that the pin on the bushing is only 1/4" in diameter, yet the hole in the tailgate is 5/16" or more. I just put it in and trapped it for now, I didn't check the hole size on the factory gate. At least the gate works OK now. The old gate stays till I get a chance to paint it properly.

I'm thinking of changing over to a non feedback carb and older distributor, this thing runs on the rich side now, I think a proper adjustable carb will do wonders for it, maybe even save me some gas.
I'm not looking for big hp gains, just some added drive-ability. If the exhaust and front pipe weren't like new, I'd consider an exhaust manifold change to a newer twin manifold, but I can't justify removing good parts.

 

[Beach66Bum]

Glad you were able to track down the bushings.That's the thing with carb's, see my thread Tinker Tinker You need to post some pictures of your truck !! glad to hear of another truck similar to mine.

 

[junkpile]

No pics of mine yet. Mine is a regular cab '86 with an 8' bed in all Canyon Red.
I got a deal on it with only 59,866 miles on it with a 4.9L/4spd OD stick.
Its a pretty basic truck, no frills but it runs good and the body is straight as an arrow. It was a one owner truck owned by a guy that passed away in the late 90's and the truck just sat all this time in a barn.
I actually had a nearly identical truck brand new back in 1986, that one was brown and built early in the model year. This one was built in August of 1986, which makes it one of the very last of this body style I guess.

 

[Beach66Bum]

I've noticed that a quite a few guys on FTF have found great trucks with similar stories. Mine is an ex-airport service truck. Since it was only used around the airport, it has low mileage and was always maintained. The bench seat doesn't even have a rip or tear. The engine is a 351W with a T-18 granny gear 4-speed and crazy geared 4.56 LSD rear differential ! No need for speed on the tarmac,lol. I did put a lot of factory options on since it too was only a base truck. Check out my gallery.

 

[Lost]

Here r aftermarket I used them before

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dorman-Help...:1995|Model:F-150&vxp=mtr&hash=item5891e160fb

 

[Beach66Bum]

Thanks for the link Lost I guess I've been lucky at the wreckers around here since I was able to find good condition parts off trucks. I have used LMC Truck, but shipping stuff to the Island costs a lot and believe it or not, never bought off E-Bay.