Tailgate protector...

Smitty00Z71 · January 2, 2006

I have a 05 CC Z71 with a drop in rubber mat in the bed. I'm looking for a diamond plate piece to put on the back of the tailgate.... dont have any protection there. Does anyone have an idea where I can find this?

pm26 · January 2, 2006

You can do what I did. I have a heavy duty rubber mat in the bed and for the tailgate I bought a bedliner tailgate protector from a GM dealer - believe it or not, it is cheaper from them than from aftermarket dealers and fits better. It retails for $ 39 and change. You can attach it with supplied screws (requires drilling) or secure with the 2 tailgate handle screws and 3M moulding tape applied along the outer edges, which is what I did. (got the tape from AutoZone for about $ 6 . It was a 1/2 inch wide by 15 ft roll). Then I used 1/2 inch body plastic plugs to plug the 10 screw holes on the tailgage protector piece. Even if the tape came loose (highly unlikely), the protector is still attached with two tailgate handle bolts, so it will not come off.

Note: the screws supplied with the GM tailgate bedliner protector are self tapping and coated with wax, so there should be no corrosion problems. I still did not like the idea of drilling into the tailgate on a new truck.

Tucson_02Silverado · January 2, 2006

You sure you want that extra weight of diamondplate on the tailgate? It's not that it won't hold up, it's the extra weight when dropping or putting up the tailgate.

Duplicolor do it yourself bedliner "paint"

or have Line-X or Rhino local dealer only do the tailgate.

Since I have a full Line-X, I had them also replace the rail cap piece of the tailgate with Line-X

pm26 · January 3, 2006

I had the rubber bed mat/bedliner tailgate protector set-up on my previous truck for ten years and it worked great! I actually got this idea from a truck accessory shop owner who did this to his truck too.

The bedliner tailgate protector is very light and practically indestructible.

They also sell rubber mats for the tailgate, but it is comparatively heavy and has to be attached with numerous screws, which I tried to avoid.