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What's the best lube to use on the hinges that doesn't discolor the flat and semi-gloss paint? Or should I just forget about it?

Graphite powder??

Okay...somebody will flame me for this, I'm sure, but isn't this just a little on the "overkill" side? If you've had the whole assembly apart and are putting it back together, I can see why you might ask this question if you have painted the tubes that go into the tailgate and the inside of the lower tailgate tube. You would have two painted surfaces rubbing each other and the paint would wear off. These surfaces were usually left unpainted in production, though, and a little dab of whatever grease was handy might have been used to make the ends slide in a little easier, but that was about it. The hinges were then just forgotten about. I seriously doubt that anyone ever disassembled their tailgates just to lube the hinges now and then.

When I bought my truck from a fire dept, it had no tailgate. I am not interested in painting it and I was not going to buy an expensive tailgate, so I built a frame and put four red oak slats on it. It looks sharp. I put whatever zirk grease that was in my gun on the hinge. I have a lot of work and pride involved in the tailgate and any grease worked for me. I do not think any of the paint on the hinge bearing surfaces will last long

Thanks for your comments and Lifer, I probably agree with you. The reason I asked the question was because when I took the tailgate off, there was grease in the center hinge that appeared to be there before it was painted with the "municipal yellow". Maybe someone did it just to make it easier to close since it did have a bend in it. The top square tube had 2 dents on the top and one on the inside that I have pretty well straightened out with a tool that I made, which also took out a lot of the bend in the tailgate. I probably won't lube when I reassemble the bed.

Grease that thing! Maybe it will be around in another 50-60 years and some one else will enjoy it. What is it going to hurt? Not the paint which will wear off anyways.