Most Bronco owners have had to deal with this at some point due to the swingaway spare. The only lasting repair I've ever heard of is replacing the tailgate skin, which is prohibitively expensive for a truck like mine. So I've decided to try something different...

I've come up with 3 fixes that should stop this tear, allowing the gap to be permanently filled & painted. One only applies to t/gs that have already torn, like this one, and mine. The others apply to all t/gs, even if they have no visible tear yet.

The factory side reinforcing plate is boxed in the front corner, and the rear reinforcement is spot-welded onto it, beside the slot for the glass. It's this rear reinforcement's tab that breaks off right at the spot welds, resulting in the split down the R side of the t/g.

Even though this t/g was never wrecked, and never had a large spare (31" at most), it has started to split, probably due to my aggressive style of wheeling.

I'm not so concerned with how it looks, but the noise is annoying, and the spare is getting looser as the tear gets lower.

Even without the spare pulling on it, there's obviously more gap than there should be.

This is about how it SHOULD look.

The tab is torn along the rear of the 2 spot welds, leaving little of the side plate exposed. So there's no point in attempting to reattach the remaining tab; it would just tear off again.

After forcing the rear skin forward into position, I crimped the lip along the top hold it in place temporarily while I drilled a hole thru the outer skin & side skin. I'm using a black STEEL (also called steel/steel; not Aluminum/steel) 1/4" pop rivet.

If your t/g isn't torn yet (even if the tab is broken), you can skip this, but it won't hurt to do it as a preventative measure on tailgates without any damage yet.

This heavy black pop rivet should provide enough strength to do the main repair. When the t/g is closed, this rivet will be hidden under the corner of the camper shell.

If your t/g isn't torn yet (even if the tab is broken), you can skip this, but it won't hurt to do it as a preventative measure on tailgates without any damage yet.

The rivet doesn't interfere with anything, and I doubt anyone ever grips the t/g here, so the sharp edges shouldn't be a problem. I may still apply some liquid rubber to cover them, though.

If your t/g isn't torn yet (even if the tab is broken), you can skip this, but it won't hurt to do it as a preventative measure on tailgates without any damage yet.

The break is now aligned so I can continue with the main repair. I removed as much of the old tab from the side reinforcement as I could with a cold chisel. A 4 1/2" angle grinder with a 1/4" grinding wheel might do a better job.

When I built this t/g, I painted the inside white for exactly this reason: so I could see what I was doing when working on it later (now). I've also removed the window track from this side for access.

Even though both reinforcements are cracked (note the rust lines top & bottom), I think it'll take a LONG time for it to fail again.

I quickly fabricated this brace from some scrap steel. I predrilled the holes to be riveted inside, but not those that will be riveted from outside.

I have begun producing these tabs, and they're for sale with the matching rivets. See:

Using the predrilled holes as a guide, I installed three 3/16" rivets. The reinforcement where the brace rests isn't flat, but it should still work. It would be better to scuff everything to bare metal & add panel adhesive (like the rain gutter TSB or JBWeld).

I'd prefer to use steel rivets, but I didn't have any handy.

The red brace is now attached to the rear (lower, inner) reinforcement, and it lies just under (forward of) the side reinforcement (rusty, upper).

With vise-grips holding it up, I drilled & riveted the side reinforcement to the new brace. I used three 3/16" rivets here, as before.

The 3 rivet heads are directly under this end seal, but they're flat enough not to interfere with it.

The fine lines along the outboard edge are from the pliers I used to crimp the lip tight before installing the black rivet. I'll touch them up after I seal the torn edge. Rubber-faced bar clamps (like Irwin QuickGrips) wouldn't have made any marks, and might have held the skins tighter.

The black rivet is totally hidden, and the new brace should last longer than the truck (or at least longer than the t/g).

Since this t/g isn't broken yet, I'm just riveting the skins together. After clamping the skins carefully with Irwin QuickGrips, I drilled a 1/4" hole where it won't be visible, but where it's still in the inner (lower) skin enough for strength. Then I popped a rivet that I had already sandblasted so that it will hold matching white paint better.
IF THE IMAGE IS TOO SMALL, click it.

These plates (which have since been sandblasted & painted) can be riveted (& JBWelded if desired) across the break in the outer skin of any '78-96 Bronco tailgate with the typical right-side split from the swingaway spare tire carrier. It's even-more-effective to install this plate BEFORE the split begins. Email me through my profile here or on many discussion forums related to these trucks or F-series. My username is usually Steve83. On eBay, it's untod. Include your shipping location (ZIP?), email, truck description, & list of parts you need.

The NEXT several pics show its installation.

This skin is torn badly, so it's getting the most-thorough treatment. The spot welds are ground away so the useless tab can be removed. Then a reinforcement plate is vise-gripped in-place.
IF THE IMAGE IS TOO SMALL, click it.

Continue to the NEXT pic...

The reinforcement is drilled & riveted to the front (inner) skin's thick corner plate. The front hole is riveted from inside. I chose not to add JBWeld to this side of the plate because I don't think it's necessary.
IF THE IMAGE IS TOO SMALL, click it.

Continue to the NEXT pic...

Once the reinforcement is secure to the front skin, the exposed rivet is drilled, but NOT set. It & the Irwin QuickGrips are removed to spread the skins at the tear, and add JBWeld to the top corner of the outer skin.
IF THE IMAGE IS TOO SMALL, click it.

Continue to the NEXT pic...

With the tailgate standing on-end, the skins are spread to allow the JBWeld to flow in, and then quickly re-clamped and riveted. After curing for several hours, the Irwin QuickGrips can be removed. I haven't decided yet if I'll weld up the tear.
IF THE IMAGE IS TOO SMALL, click it.

Even on tailgates that have no damage yet, filling this area with JBWeld should prevent any damage from ever appearing.