Tailgate Seal

[rncordy]

With the new tailgate design I am having a terrible time sealing the tailgate. We live at the end of a 4 mile dirt/gravel road. Dust and dirt pour in from the sides, bottom and where the top "Bustle" meets the rear window on the Leer shell. Water intrusion is also a problem, mainly at the intersection of the tailgate sides and the shell. (This was not a problem with my 03 2500. )



I have added lots of fairly large rubber insulation but have only made a minor dent in the problem.



Does anyone have a solution or know of commercial products that might help? Or maybe a shop who is particularly good at this sort of thing. We will be traveling across the country this winter/spring and I'd be willing to go most anywhere to solve this problem.



Thanks for your ideas!

 

[Powder Extreme]

I put in a "Tailgate seal" on my truck which made a huge difference under my Tonneau cover. You remove the rubber stops on the truck and put the seal all around the edges. It's similar to the seal around the doors.

It didn't fit quite as well along the bottom as previous trucks, but seemed to do the trick. I believe Lund is the brand I used. Cost was about $20. Any truck accessory shop should have it.

 

[rncordy]

I put in a "Tailgate seal" on my truck which made a huge difference under my Tonneau cover. You remove the rubber stops on the truck and put the seal all around the edges. It's similar to the seal around the doors.

It didn't fit quite as well along the bottom as previous trucks, but seemed to do the trick. I believe Lund is the brand I used. Cost was about $20. Any truck accessory shop should have it.

Thanks PE! I'll look into that seal. And I had not thought about removing the stops.

Was the seal you used in a single piece that wrapped around the two sides and the bottom? If so, did you remove the stock bottom seal?

Again, many thanks!

 

[Powder Extreme]

The seal comes in one long piece, but I cut it at the bottom corners and mated them up with the bottom running wide and the sides butting into them. My truck didn't have a bottom seal on it so not sure? If it looks like it's going to be in the way, I would remove it. Mine completely filled the area in to the point that I couldn't see any light shining thru using a trouble light. Not sure what kind of a seal your topper has where it hits the tailgate, but no reason why you couldn't use the same stuff along there and on the sides of the topper door as well. I just looked and Lund was the brand I used, I tried a different brand in the past that wasn't as thick and didn't work quite as well.

Make sure you use rubbing alcohol to really clean the area before sticking the seal down, it uses 3m tape so once it's on, it's there for years.

Glad I could help!

 

[rncordy]

The seal comes in one long piece, but I cut it at the bottom corners and mated them up with the bottom running wide and the sides butting into them. My truck didn't have a bottom seal on it so not sure? If it looks like it's going to be in the way, I would remove it. Mine completely filled the area in to the point that I couldn't see any light shining thru using a trouble light. Not sure what kind of a seal your topper has where it hits the tailgate, but no reason why you couldn't use the same stuff along there and on the sides of the topper door as well. I just looked and Lund was the brand I used, I tried a different brand in the past that wasn't as thick and didn't work quite as well.

Make sure you use rubbing alcohol to really clean the area before sticking the seal down, it uses 3m tape so once it's on, it's there for years.

Glad I could help!

Again thanks PE! I'll give it a try. I will probably wait until I get to warmer climes in Feb, it's getting kinda cool around here to be doing this kind of stuff. And not much dust this time of year.