1997 Tailgate hinge completely rotted off body

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ryanjcin

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The tailgate hinges on my 97 2 door completely rotted off the body recently. The tailgate now doesn’t line up and I have to mess with it for a few minutes to get it to close. I doubt there’s any way I could salvage the remaining metal, so any ideas on how I could add some new hinges? My first though was to try to use pickup hinges but I’m not sure they’d work.f4623bab5ce9d2134db3e919062be8d9.jpg
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Joseph Garcia

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My 97 (RIP) had a similar situation, though I did have more remaining metal, where the hinge separated. I recommend that you go to a welding shop, as those folks will be able to add metal as needed, and put the hinge back together for you, while still maintaining the proper alignment of the tailgate.
 

YukonGTmaster

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The hinges will be salvageable if the mounting face is ground flat down to bare metal. The truck body section may have to be cut out, sandblasted, and new sections welded in, primed and painted.
 

exp500

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LMC may have that piece. Got one for my old Blazer long ago.
 

97YukonNZ

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Can you find a replacement from a wreck?
The hinge tabs look in good condition.
I agree that you could get a body shop to fabricate a piece for the inside of the tailgate, realign and weld the tabs back on.

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