Welding up tailgate

is there a way to weld up the tailgate without buying a skin?? I am on a small budget and need something to do to the truck that will take a while except baggin it.. I gotta do any shave work or bodywork I can now since it is sitting up any help would be great.. oh and thanks in advance

You don't wanna weld the actual tailgate shut because its to rigid. Meaning the bed will flex the tailgate won't there for your welds will only crack and break and if theres any mud over it it will crack and break also. If your gonna try anything would be to unskin the tailgate and try just using the skin without the tailgate structure and just weld some cross bars in behind it but still I would recomend just doing it right the first time around you will be much happier with a skin from grant.

i'm not say'n Nate is wrong... but i have welded up a tailgate or two for trucks the dont (or at least didnt) make a skin for, gusseted them in well and skinned over the corners to kinds spread the load, crack free after a few years so far.
doing it the "right way" is always a good way to go, but some times a man has to do what a man has to do!

I did what Nate said with my s10 It has never seen the road but I would think that would be better.

But Shawn is proof that either way will work.

so what if I was to leave it like it is and put some bracing in behind it from side to side up against the gate and the weld it up?? My thing is do I need to put something in between the gate and the side or just run some fat beads?

well if your gonna do it that way cut some thin strips of steel to fill the gaps. if you try to weld it without filling them first your at a higher risk of warping it.

i have never had a tailgate crack out because it was a tailgate and not a skin. its a matter of making sure the seam is supported. a skin is much easier because its the proper size, usually you have to add a strip of metal between the tailgate and bed to fill the gap.

ok if I dont have any strips of metal would Welding rods work or would it better to find some thin strips that are about the right size?

Use metal to fill the gap bro, for sure

And i know guys who have welded their gates up and are crack free after more than a couple years...It's all about doing it right

And if you were to run "fat beads", oh my god, theres no high risk of warping there; simply a guarantee

def grab some scrap strips. if you try to bridge it with weld, you WILL warp the piss out of everything. ive seen gates welded for years with no cracking so you should be fine. i think if i were to do it id unskin the tailgate and just use that with some 1x1 bracing behind it. but do what you like. if you use the whole tailgate, be sure to weld up the inside edges too, probably reinforce it with some small angle iron or something. you dont want the outside to be fully welded and the inside trying to flex.