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quote:are there any real benefits?
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I started with a stock gate and will stay with the stock gate. I am in the "habit" of always raising and lowering the gate when needed and in over 4 years of full timing I have never forgotten. There are no pin box marks on my gate.
When down you don't want to put any amount of weight on them. I can sit 3 men on my stock gate without damaging it. Not so on a louvered gate.
They say you don't have to lower a louvered gate to hitch or unhitch. Well than I would like to know why I see so many dented louvered gates. More often than not the dent was caused by the pin itself. Guess they weren't in the "habit" of raising the pin box enough to clear the "V". It was not a lot of damage but damage just the same.
As a full timer, I traded TVs while on the road. When I mentioned that I do pull a 5th wheel one of the first questions asked was "Do you have the stock tailgate?" When I replied in the affirmative the salesman was relieved as it is tougher to sell a used truck with a louvered gate and therefore he would have to add the cost of a new gate to the deal.
As a full timer, where do I store the stock gate? I don't have the room nor do I care to carry an extra gate all over the country in the Monty.
If you use any type tonneau cover you can not totally secure your load from prying eyes as I know of no tonneau cover made with the "V". The old safety adage of "Out of sight, Out of mind" doesn't apply with a "V" gate. With the "V" portion still open, people can still see what you have back there and on a rainy day it will get wet through the "V". With the stock gate and a fully enclosed tonneau cover, on a rainy day, I can put the groceries or any other packages back there without fear of them getting wet and they are out of sight of them prying eyes.
You have to pay extra for a louvered gate. Stock gates are FREE and with the better fuel mileage of a stock gate and even better MPG when the tonneau is in place you will be a lot further ahead down the road.
IMHO, I would highly suggest keeping the stock gate and get yourself into the
HABIT of raising and lowering when needed.
You asked for pro's and con's. I gave you all the con's of a louvered gate that I could think of and I cannot honestly think of any pro's.