Before You Start
If your truck has metal tailgate straps, you’ll need to remove the driver side strap and rely on the passenger strap to support the weight of the tailgate — use your discretion on the weight capability of one strap, since the gate saver itself does not support any weight. If your truck has cables instead, keep both straps; the gate saver has room for the flexible cable.
Install Steps
- Remove the driver side taillight. Drill a 5/16″ hole 2.5″ down and 5/8″ away from the inside box panel.
- Install the ball stud. Install the longer ball stud through the hole with a flat washer between the base of the ball stud and box panel, and a shallow jam nut inside the taillight opening. Apply blue thread locker (Loctite).
- Reinstall the taillight.
- Install the short ball stud. Remove the 13mm tailgate hinge bolt from the tailgate and install the short ball stud with blue thread locker.
- Install the gate saver with the shaft pointed down.
- Check clearances. Before using your gate saver, check clearances on all moving parts.
If your tailgate is on metal straps, cables are usually the next upgrade. Both, plus the billet hood hinges and hidden taillight fuel filler for these trucks, are in our 88-98 OBS truck parts collection.
For any questions or concerns with your install, don’t hesitate to email us at info@lsfab.com
Great kit! Tailgate comes down super smooth and pretty easy install. I highly recommend it to anyone with a 88-98 OBS.
Ordered mine, installed it today and im very pleased. Its a pity we can’t add pictures. It will help others and your sales
Just finished installing on my 1997 K1500. It takes about 5 minutes from start to finish. So far it seems to fit and work great. I’ll come back in 90 days to give an update.
After the drillings the hole and installing the ball studs, I’d advise customers to first install the shaft (bottom) to the ball stud in the tailgate and then install the top part. The angles are a little tricky the other way around. You will have to lift the gate a little bit to finish the install. The tailgate saver provides a full range of motion and you have no trouble lifting the tailgate as there is no resistance when closing. The drop is nice, slow, and smooth. Definitely worth the money and the install time.
Good quality product works perfect not hard at all to install