Tailgate Delete Option?

Was there a tailgate delete option ever offered from the factory? My tub doesn't have a tailgate and is one solid piece of steel in the back. Every other early CJ5 I've seen has a tailgate which leads me to believe that my tub has something strange going on.

 

M38AI has "no tailgate" tub, otherwise very similar to CJ.

 

Check for body filler and a patch panel. The tailgate opening probably rotted out, so they most likely replaced it with a flat panel.

 

Sure you don't have an M38A1?

 

The solid back panel was used in M38A1s, and Renegades, as mentioned by Sparky above. In 1973, it was added to the regular option list, and after that any CJ could be delivered with a solid back panel.

Not so surprising - lots of possibilities ... since the body panels were available for a solid back panel from Jeep, someone could have removed your tailgate and replaced it with the solid back panel. A PO could have wanted the custom look, and filled the tailgate opening with a solid panel. Or you might have an M38A1 tub, or a later Jeep tub that came from the factory with the solid back panel. A few close-up pictures migh shed some light on how you lost your tailgate.

 

These are the only photos I have right now. They're from about a year ago right before I painted it. I didn't notice any patch panels and copious amounts of bondo near the tailgate area. Also, I noticed I have small tabs near the windshield hinges on the cowl. You can see them in the first pic. Are those used for anything?

 

I know the Renegades came with no tailgate, and at one time believed they were the first, until a old jeeper told me that there were some no tailgate jeeps before that and said that a few military tubs had been sold on CJs. I have never seen any but he swore by it and has been in the jeep aftermarket business for 30 plus years.
My personal opinion is it is either a Military tub, or a aftermarket tub as I have seen very few early CJ5s without modifications. It seems that vehicles over 40 years old have had to take a swap out here and there to survive.

 

Your Jeep isn't a CJ5, it's an M38A1. The "battery box lid" on the cowl (pass. side) is a dead giveaway.

 

Can't see well in the pic, but the "battery box" doesn't look hinged to me. Better pic of the fuel filler and the dash would help nail it down. Looks like an early '5 with a load of mud in it's a** to me.

 

The lid on the cowl isn't hinged. I can't get any more pics because I'm at school which is 3 and a half hours from the Jeep. I can get some more on Friday though. I have a pic of the dash. It's definitely an ECJ5 dash and I know the front clip is from an ECJ5.

Compared to the other "body work" that had been done by the previous owners, that back panel just seems too clean to be a patch job. The least amount of filler on the whole jeep was on the back panel. I suppose it's possible they did something right but I have my doubts.

 

That steering column setup looks like an intermediate, not an early. The picture is not real clear in that area so I'm not sure.

 

Battery box lid spot welded on, small filler neck fuel tank and indention, no mirror where the mirror mount would be on the cowl, no shackle reversal in front all point to early CJ-5 with the back filled in.

 

If you get a chance, please take a picture of the inside of the tailgate area for us?
And the passenger side.

After almost 60 years of running around it is entirely possible that the tub has been changed for one of those San Juan models, or even whatever the ones were that JCWhitney carried in the '70s and early '80s

 

I stand corrected!

 

The seam between the filler panel and side panels is covered with bondo, I would say someone patched in a filler panel to get rid of the tailgate.