Leaning into the back of the truck I put some pressure on the tailgate and noticed it creaking. Bounced it a bit with my weight and the entire bottom seam was flexing. The entire bottom seam was rusted out.
That cannot stand!
First I ground away all the bad metal. And the sealant. And then it was really true that there was no bottom seam at all.
I welded in a bunch of tiny scrap pieces. Went well, took a few hours.
Then noticed nasty stuff on the outside. Oh well, might as well fix it.
Finally back on the truck with mismatched paint:
CanadianBJ 