Since I have owned my T100 there is a crack/dent in the tailgate. Apparently someone backed into something at one point but the bed liner was on it and only the metal was damaged (or maybe they replaced the plastic? IDK). Thus it dented and cracked the metal but the plastic bed liner is ok. I noticed it after having the truck for years (the tailgate was always bowed anyways) and I cleaned up some rust and shot it with some spraypaint (you cant really see the area to well) to prevent further issue.
I decided Id finally fix it. I used some bondo metal filler with pretty dang good results-except the spot where the crack is keeps coming back no matter what. Everything is looking good but that spot. The crack runs over the top of the tailgate about 3 inches long overall and is 1/16" wide at most (if not smaller).
I thought it might have been me going too thick of filler, nope I barely had any on there the last few times I tried and it still comes back.
Friend of mine suggested I use some glazing putty, maybe the metal filler was no good. Still no luck, it fills the crack but when its dry it comes back again.
So Im left with 3 choices:
1. Strip it all back down again (thats gonna SUCK!) and have someone weld it-hopefully not burning thru everything. Then of course I know it should be ok-but the chances or burning thru is high and this will only cost more money cause I gotta pay the guy.
2. Fiberglass it, which I think might work. Looking over bondos website I find they have a fiberglass-hair (as they call it) body filler that claims to be stronger than anything else. They claim it can be used to fill holes, repair rust holes as big as an inch, etc.
3. Epoxy the crack using JB weld or similar, then bondo over that. Not sure how well this would work, I suppose the epoxy would hold the crack together but IDk long term or if the bondo will cover over it without reacting.
So what should I do? I lean towards #2 only b/c its gonna be easier and I think will hold up better. I got an ok pic of it-kinda blurry sorry. The crack extends all the way around the back of the gate about 2 inches as well.