cj-5 tailgates

What year did jeep stop putting tailgates on cj-5s. I have a 74 with a tailgate ,and was looking at Big Ron's 74 and it doesn"t have a tailgate. I was under the impression that 76 was the year change. I previously had a 80 cj-5without a tailgate and was a pain to load stuff out back.Thanks for any info.

 

All cj5's had the tailgate as standard but a huge number of them were opted with the solid panel. Where I live you very rarely see a Cj5 after 75 with a tailgate. Heck I was 20 years old before I had ever seen a cj5 later than about 74 with a tailgate.

 

First year for the solid back panel on the regular option list was 1973. You could get it as part of the Renegade package before then, on the Ren II and '72 Renegade. As Mike points out, the tailgate was standard and the solid back panel with rear mounted spare was optional.

I presume the panel is just M38A1 parts, applied to the CJ.

 

Thanks for the replies

 

My 74 was a renegade w/o a tailgate from the factory. We added one when we did the semi resto. Around here we see all alot fo the pre 75 w/o tailgates

 

The tailgate was/is too weak to support any larger-sized spare tires with any banging around. A lot of the older tailgates will have cracks right down the middle of the tailgate behind the spare tire carrier.

I'm going to leave mine in-tact as I work forward on my project. But, I will be moving the spare tire duties to the rear draw hitch.

 

My '80 has no tailgate but I sure would love to have one,,, how hard would it be to install/fab one?

 

Classic Enterprises sells the tailgate surround. http://www.classicent.com/jeep.php

Seems pretty straightforward to me. Remove the old panel, weld in the new surround and put on the tailgate.