a buddy of mine gave me a tailgate for my truck that was rust and bondo free. the latch is busted so i need to open it up and take a look. my problem is that it will close and lock without the support bars on it but when i put them on. it wont close. is the tailgate from a different year of truck or something?

 

check the bars they are marked if you put then on wrong the tail gate wont close Ken

 

theyre in the right way i read the intructions lol

 

It says "body side" and "gate side" Not only does it have to face the right way, but the "body side" has to be up and "gate side" down.

 

You've got the support bars on wrong. I've done that before. Usually, you can flip them around and they will work fine then.