Tailgate chain covers?

[HeyJoe!]

I took off my old tailgate chains, cut off the cracked dirty plastic covers, and cleaned em' up.  Probably the first time they've been cleaned in 43 years! Now I'm trying to find something to replace the old plastic covers. Something that looks a little nicer than a piece of garden hose. What do you guys use?

 

[DatWifey]

My husband and I were talking about this the other day, and he recommended that we look into clear heat-shrink tubing.... It's at least an interesting idea and is bound to look far better than any generic colored hose. 

 

I'd be interested to see what you go with in the end..... so keep us posted ;)

[bonvo]

go down to ace hardware and find some clear tubing that the chain fits in 

[Rocket Dog]

I'm going to try some of this.  It's black, not clear, but goes better with the black bed liner coating (also black).

 

 

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-cable-sleeving/=lr66el

[thisismatt]

Bicycle innertube....

[Radim]

Call me weird, but i love the sound of the chains clanking around.
Home Depot sells chain links with plastic/rubber chain guards by the way.

[DatWifey]

In case anyone actually gives a shit, this is what I ended up doing.  Thanks to Jrock for powdercoating them first.

 

Found this 1" heat-shrink tubing at Fry's Electronics.  It was a little bit of a tight fit getting it on, but it's a perfect fit now.  I measured how long I wanted them to be, and then used a rotary cutter to cut it cleanly.

 

 

 

 

 

Looks a whole hell of a lot nicer than this old shit

[jrock4224]

that heat shrink looks legit .......i could barely tell it was there after u heated it.... nice work

[Tristin]

That looks fantastic Jenn!

[DatWifey]

Thanks guys :D   I finally put them on the truck yesterday.  Now I just need to paint the whole damn thing to look as good as those :lol:

[KFunk740]

Bicycle innertube....

 

That's what is on mine.  Looks original. :)

[highdesertdatsun]

That's what is on mine. Looks original. :)

Mine too. Inner tube works. I'd go shrink if I could

find it green tinted. Member that stuff maybe it was

The old chevys that had it. I could ck LKQ but I

would have to give up a kidney. There too proud.

Dawifey those look great!! Got me thinking now.

[HeyJoe!]

Thanks Datwifey,

 

I did the same thing, it took me forever to find the stuff at

fry's.  Worked good! Looks good!  :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oldskoolvws]

MOST EXCELLENT WORK!

[mrbigtanker]

I agree with him ^^^^^

[highdesertdatsun]

One my chains vanished today.

I was a dumb ass and had tail gate down

When I got to work one was gone. Bummed

I jumped back in a retraced route. Fuck its

gone. No one at home gets it. Poor Niki.

I have e spare but.I'm gonna wire em on

Like I've seen here.

[laotsu]

I keep a giant speaker magnet stuck to the bed of my truck right by the chains and just leave 'em stuck to that until I need 'em.

[oldskoolvws]

My chains are sleeping in the garage. I have threaded loops on an older set of chains now. No hooks.

[zed1]

After 2+ years of researching and planning, here are my refinished chains:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/53116286@N07/17747303035

 

Keith

[Eccles]

 

 

 

i used boiling water and clear tube used for fish tank stuff,  chain and tube cost me $8

[gene knight]

i used the same stuff that datwifey used

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

How about cables, like from a Tacoma or Dodge? Simple and effective.

[5t341tH]

Just picked up the same heat shrink from frys. I got mine in black though