How to make the tailgate relativively water/dust tight on multi-use trailer?

[climber8483]

Since one of the PO's has hacked up the tailgate on my T3 I figured I would look at making it more dust/water tight. I am going to be keeping this as a multi-use trailer so the seals have to be protected. The sides seem to be an easier thing, its the bottom seal that I am more worried about. I am planning on keeping this as a bottom hinged tailgate so I can use it as a cooking platform.

Any suggestions? Pics are preferred.

Thanks,
Brittain

 

[Chris Cordes]

Im interested in this as well since the tailgates the only part that lets in any dust on my trailer

 

[cwadej]

I'm using the bed from an old Ford Courier as my trailer. A recent 3 day trek trhough ranch roads of south texas revealed the gaps around the tailgate let in much more dust than I thought they would. I had a tarp tightly covering the top, which will eventually have a Cascadia tent on it.

For under the tailgate I used a 1" wide, .125" thick closed cell foam tape from the hardware store. Closes that gap nicely. I look at McMaster-Carr for the side seals next. They have a lot of different seals to choose from. I settled on a P shape, bulb type silicone. I'll be able to rivet it to the tailgat and still get the sealing from the P when it closes. For the top, I'm waiting until I have the RTT on it. Then it will probably get another P type seal.

Here's my go-to page for the seals
http://www.mcmaster.com/#bulb-seals/=kj7rt7