Tailgate sealing arrangement

In a vehicle having a tailgate and a flexible top with a downwardly extending rear portion wherein said tailgate is mounted for movement between an open position providing access to the interior of the vehicle through a tailgate opening in the rear of the vehicle and a closed position preventing access to the interior through said tailgate opening, said rear portion of said flexible top having a lower section extending substantially horizontally and said tailgate having an upper, substantially flat surface with said flat surface extending substantially horizontally in said closed position, the improvement including:

• an arrangement for sealingly engaging the lower section of the rear portion of said flexible top and the substantially flat, upper surface of said tailgate in said closed position, said arrangement including a substantially rigid, elongated member attached to the lower section of the rear portion of said flexible top, said rigid member having end portions spaced from each other, said arrangement further including a flexible seal mounted to said rigid member and extending therealong substantially between the end portions of said rigid member and means for removably mounting said rigid member to said vehicle in a first position extending across the tailgate opening with said flexible seal extending downwardly and substantially across said tailgate opening and sealingly engaging the horizontally extending, flat, upper surface of said tailgate in said closed position, said arrangement additionally including means for permitting said tailgate to be moved between said closed and opened positions independently of said flexible top without removing said rigid member from said first position mounted across said tailgate opening with the lower section of the rear portion of said flexible top attached thereto.