Raptor Tailgate Hinges installed with Hammerbilt Bracket

[NORCALGXP]

Done for the day, installed Raptor hinges and Hammerbuilt plate all went well. Tomorrow install the tire and license plate. Excellent thread thanks.

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[emulous74]

Well I ordered the Raptor Hinges, hopefully I can get the right Hammerbuilt

 

[broncorik]

I can guarantee that the hinges that Mount to the pillar aren't going anywhere... If they were excessively overloaded they would bend the pillar itself long before they would bend. Truth be told that it isn't even the thinness of the OEM hinge that has me worried...it was the fact that the holes in the OEM hinge are tapered, and all of the aftermarket brackets so far have relied on a shared M8 bolt with spacers to compensate for the arc of the hinge with their plates...and that is the weak link. RC and Hammer Bill use delran spacers underneath the plate in the tapered hole on the OEM and the BAMF plate had huge oversized holes to compensate for not being aligned and then bolted directly to the arc of the That knows how many bolts are only about 18 ft pounds, so there was very little clamping effect. From an engineering standpoint, I think that's a bad idea because you're still going to have movement. The benefit of the Raptor hinges is that you bolt them to your tailgate, and then there's an extra set of threaded holes on the upper and lower hinge that you bolt accessories to. Additionally, they are much more robust than the OEM hinges. From a physics standpoint, I would predict that if any overloading occurs on the tailgate that things like spot welds on the weak aluminum tailgate are what are going to give way first.

 

[NORCALGXP]

The main part of the hinges was black the section that mounts to the body was unpainted I painted it only to match.

 

[NORCALGXP]

I just beat the shit out it today, you don't know till you have tried.

 

[NORCALGXP]

It is painted at least mine were.

 

[NORCALGXP]

37s Mickey Thompsons

 

[broncorik]

We know that Ford is in agreement that the Raptor tire and heavier combination requires a bracket...hence the Raptor reinforcement bracket...and the Raptor hinges. That was Ford solution to the heavier tire so there must be some merit to the hinges and some form of a bracket. They use the same pillar brackets so they must not have believed those were a weak link, but their bracket is very thin and flimsy compared to the hammer belt one... And there is no provision on the overpriced Raptor bracket to mount cool stuff on. The Raptor hinges come with a black factory primer... I had them sandblasted and initially body color matched them, but then because I was not able to get the finish as good as I would have liked, I sandblasted them again and went with black matte finish powder coat. The issue with the Raptor bracket, if that's what you're going to get other than the stupid $600 price tag, Even though it can be had for 400, is that it is meant to bolt only on the outside four bolts of the Raptor tire carrier...and that tire carrier is notched specifically for that flimsy bracket. If you're going to use your OEM carrier, you would have to Dremel it out to make the notch yourself or use spacers on the four driver side bolts. Even so, if you went that route, you'd be left with a flimsy bracket...so the hammer built bracket and the Raptor hinges, are going to be the strongest setup out there without opting for a swing out tire carrier.

 

[broncorik]

We know that Ford is in agreement that the Raptor tire and heavier combination requires a bracket...hence the Raptor reinforcement bracket...and the Raptor hinges. That was Ford solution to the heavier tire so there must be some merit to the hinges and some form of a bracket. They use the same pillar brackets so they must not have believed those were a weak link, but their bracket is very thin and flimsy compared to the hammer belt one... And there is no provision on the overpriced Raptor bracket to mount cool stuff on. The Raptor hinges come with a black factory primer... I had them sandblasted and initially body color matched them, but then because I was not able to get the finish as good as I would have liked, I sandblasted them again and went with black matte finish powder coat. The issue with the Raptor bracket, if that's what you're going to get other than the stupid $600 price tag, Even though it can be had for 400, is that it is meant to bolt only on the outside four bolts of the Raptor tire carrier...and that tire carrier is notched specifically for that flimsy bracket. If you're going to use your OEM carrier, you would have to Dremel it out to make the notch yourself or use spacers on the four driver side bolts. Even so, if you went that route, you'd be left with a flimsy bracket...so the hammer built bracket and the Raptor hinges, are going to be the strongest setup out there without opting for a swing out tire carrier.

And note that in no way am I an expert in tailgate reinforcements, but I am someone who was foolish enough to buy the RC bracket, the BAMF bracket, the RTR bracket, and then had the opportunity to work with Tyson to come up with a better solution for what I was seeking.

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