Off Road.com

Project Gone Titan - Part 5

"The Good, the Bad , the Ugly"

Dec 1, 2006
By: Sam Knight
Nissan at Off-Road.com

“THE GOOD”

Being in need of a spare tire carrier and a way to store my Hi-Lift Jack, Bob of Wilco Products came to the rescue. After telling Bob of my dilemma, I had a freshly coated TireGate shipped to me in a matter of days. This innovative company, based out of Santa Ana, Ca, has been in the aftermarket industry for over twenty years. I have been eyeing their top product, the TireGate, for over a year now. A very creative style of tire carrier that replaces your existing tail gate, but keeps the tire in a more accessible location in case a flat on/off the trail. Wilco’s first design is the prerunner style.

I held off getting the TireGate because I always wanted some sort of shell or canopy covering the truck bed. I randomly check Wilco’s website and discover two new designs: the Vertical Series and Horizontal Series.

The VT SERIES was the perfect choice.

Once again, this completely replaces the tailgate of the truck. The tailgate comes off easily by disconnecting the tether cables on both sides and then lifting the gate at 45 degree angle and slide out of the joints on both sides. Laying out all components to get a visual pre-install. This helps during install when looking for proper pieces during stages. Like they say in the restaurant business, MIS EN PLAS!

Now assemble the right and left support brackets with the lower center connector tube. Make sure you follow the provided instructions and use the proper bolts assigned to each stage.

The versatility of the other two series is the option of flipping the gate. The tires can be inside the bed or outside. The VT, however, keeps the tire outside, especially that it can hold up to a size 40”. So, make sure you install the rubber inserts on the proper sides of the actual gate. The oval slotted grommets (ORANGE PULL PINS) go on the left and the circled holes for the assembling bolts on the right.

Tap in your plastic end caps and check gate for easy operation.

Install the jack carrier assembly. Be sure to line up holes of the jack with brackets. Here, the brackets are best close in the center, if you opt to carry the jack on top of the gate. The spare tire will have trouble sliding on to it’s support if jack brackets are any wider. I later desired to have the jack in a vertical stance. When placing the jack brackets on the left support tube of the gate, keep the bottom bracket low. This will assure, in combination of inserting that bolt with lowest hole of the jack, the gate can close without the jack clearing the rear bumper of the truck.

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