Stromberg Carlson VGM-99-100 1500 Series Vented Tailgate

After reading many of the reviews - both positive and negative - I bought the Stromberg Carlson VGM-99-100 1500 Series Vented Tailgate. It arrived via UPS on the day promised by Amazon Prime. Overall the box looked to be in good condition, although it did have one 4-inch long gash in the side that I discovered after I opened it. Fortunately it was not in an area where there was any metal. Inside the box some of the cardboard corner padding had come loose and the tailgate had shifted inside the box during shipment. Fortunately the tailgate did not break through the box and it was not damaged. There was a parts bag tie-wrapped to the tailgate, and all of the necessary parts were there. Based on some of the reviews I had expected to have to paint the tailgate, but the black powder coating overall looked very good. I did find one small scrape on one of the vertical side pieces, but it is not in a place that is easily visible. I'll touch it up with some black paint. The welds were not beautiful, but they all looked adequate and nothing was loose. I would have given this product 5 stars, but I had to make a modification to it to make the passenger-side of the tailgate slip down over the factory mounting stub. I had to enlarge the notch in the short mounting tube on the new tailgate . I used a flat file and also used a small pry bar to make the notch a bit wider. I did not use the OEM tailgate straps. I plan to just lower the tailgate down onto a couple of pieces of 2x4 wood on the bumper when I want to use my BBQ grill back there. I don't plan to walk on it or put heavy loads on it. I would recommend this tailgate to anyone who has some mechanical skill and the tools to make it fit right.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this tailgate, the problem I have is with amazon, Stromberg Carlson, the courier and the people that are buying this tailgate gate andretuning it and not putting all the part back...This had been installed before, the box was absolutely beat to hell, but luckily no damage to the tailgate...Most parts were missing...I got (1) tailgate, (2) latches, 2 bolts, one nylock nut...It didn’t matter to me, I wanted stainless steel fasteners anyway, the latches are electro plated so you should getmany years out of them...install would of taken about a minute and 45 seconds “IF ALL THE PARTS WERE THERE...“People”...if you don’t know what body style truck you have, go down to your local dealership and find out...This tailgate absolutely fits the classic body style as stated...I myself was not sure what I had so I wentTo the local Chevrolet/gmc dealership and was was told “classic”and guess what” IT FIT...Also: The partsguy told me these 5th wheel tailgates for the classic body style are getting hard and hard to find so I wouldRecommend to you amazon’rs you better order soon... 2004 gmc 2500HD “classic body style”...lol

Purchased back in December but only this week was able to install. Overall as advertised and easily installed. Instructions were photocopy so had to go to the website to see the few pictures. Unfortunately, quality control is lacking. Out of the box, the bottom tubing was broken off. Upon examination, it was clear the three spot welds holding it were faulty. There was no weld penetration at all. The remaining tubing appears to be well attached so not that big of a deal. Being the bottom piece, hardly noticeable. Still...

I was concerned that it would not be as good as it looked on line but it was exactly as pictured. It went together easily and fit perfectly. I recommend it to anyone wanting as air flow tail gate.

I bought this as a used like new item. It did not include the latching hardware and this was not stated in the listing. I purchased the hardware kit from the manufacturer and it now works great. Problem is after making both purchases, I would have been financially better off to just purchase a brand new complete unit. Poor details in the description of listing.

Don't be fooled by the photo—this is a solid, well-built tailgate. Some assembly required, but it's easy. And I like the see-through bar design MUCH better than I thought I would.

Ordered and rec in 2 days, put on very easy, was nice and sturdy, 2004 silverado 2500hd, looks good!

Just as I wrote for my review of a headache rack, the same thing applies here:I did not have high expectations of this because of its low price - I was wrong. It's a nice piece of kit and finishes off my '05 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 project nicely. I dry fitted it first, then three coated it with Herculiner bedliner and finish coated it in a Woodland Camo pattern using Rustoleum's Camo line of rattle can paints. I like it. A lot.