Tailgate Table Project

[jscherb]

There are many tailgate tables on the market and they have a range of different features but none seem to have all the features I'm interested in so I've been working on my own design. My design requirements are:

• Swing-down table as large as possible - some are too small.
• Slide-out table extension/cutting board - many don't have this.
• Molle panel that provides good access to Molle gear whether table is stowed or open - most which have Molle capability have the Molle gear on the underside of the table when the table is open.
• Cutlery/tool storage - very few have this so utensils need to be stored somewhere else.
• Bottle opener - so the opener is always handy .

Here's the result so far:

Swinging down the table reveals a cutlery/tool keeper. It's from Overland Outfitters, intended for a JK, but it fits just fine here (https://www.overland-outfitters.com/store/p7/JK_Cutlery_Keeper_for_the_Outback_Adventures_TRAILGATER*_JK.html#/).

In the photo above, the stuff on the Molle panel isn't easily accessible, so to make access easier so the Molle stuff is usable when the table is deployed, the Molle panel swings down too. Also in this next photo, the slide out cutting board/extension table is deployed.

A bottle opener is mounted on the side. The cup holder isn't specifically a feature of the table, but it's easy to mount them on a metal Molle grid so it put it on there.

In operation:

I've got a little more work to do on it - there are a few details I want to improve before I call it done. The tailgate in the photo is from an early model TJ which doesn't have a way to mount things like this without drilling. Next in my plan is to make a base plate that will bolt to existing holes in the later model tailgate, plus there are a few small details that need refining.

 

[toximus]

A couple of thoughts:

1) Can the cutting board be removed to be cleaned separately or to have someone else cutting up vegetables while the other person cooks?

2) if you wipe down the "table" does all of the gunk end up in that hinge? Can you tuck the hinge under to prevent that?

3) Would implementing a lock on the tailgate be a good idea to prevent someone from bumping into the spare tire and throwing boiling water onto the chef?

Seems useful for camping. I'd buy one for the khaki TJ if it was done right (which it sounds like you're doing).

 

[jscherb]

A couple of thoughts:

1) Can the cutting board be removed to be cleaned separately or to have someone else cutting up vegetables while the other person cooks?

2) if you wipe down the "table" does all of the gunk end up in that hinge? Can you tuck the hinge under to prevent that?

3) Would implementing a lock on the tailgate be a good idea to prevent someone from bumping into the spare tire and throwing boiling water onto the chef?

Seems useful for camping. I'd buy one for the khaki TJ if it was done right (which it sounds like you're doing).

Good thoughts, thanks.

1. The cutting board slides completely out, so yes it can be removed for cleaning or to be used elsewhere by someone else.

2. If I discover that to be a problem in use, I can add an angle to cover the hinge so gunk can be wiped past the hinge. I can't easily move the hinge under the table because the edge of the table is bent in a "u" to form the slide for the cutting board, but adding a simple angle that would be captured behind the hinge and extend out over it (like an extension to the tabletop) would be easy to do.

3. A tailgate lock might be useful for this and for other reasons; because it would be useful even without this table perhaps that should be a separate project that could be used with or without the table? Maybe I'll do that as a next project.

Thanks for the input.
Jeff

 

[jscherb]

A closer view of the Molle panel:

In addition to the oval holes for Molle straps, it has rows of smaller round holes and four sets of square holes. The square holes are for Rotopax mounts and both the small round and the square holes are for things that bolt to the panel, such as Quickfist clamps (https://www.quickfist.com/quick-fist-clamp.html).

I made this image during the design process showing how the holes can be used. The Rotopax mount holes can be used either for one two-gallon or two one-gallon containers (they're white for water because I don't recommend carrying fuel inside the Jeep). The small military shovel is held to the panel with Quickfist clamps. BTW this shows the table on a JL tailgate.

I don't know why all metal Molle panels aren't made with extra holes like these, the holes are very useful.

 

[Plumber1]

Just my 2 cents, looks like you have done your homework and looks great. For me the cutlery/tool keeper everything there would be so dusty I would have to wash them before using them out on the trail. Not sure I would need the bottle opener as I never take glass bottles on the trail or camping just too much trouble. But again looks well done

 

[jscherb]

Just my 2 cents, looks like you have done your homework and looks great. For me the cutlery/tool keeper everything there would be so dusty I would have to wash them before using them out on the trail. Not sure I would need the bottle opener as I never take glass bottles on the trail or camping just too much trouble. But again looks well done

Thanks for the input.

I've actually never brought alcohol on the trail in any kind of container, but I added the bottle opener because I've seen so many installed on Jeeps over the years, including people in this forum...

It's also a feature of at least one commercial tailgate table (Teraflex: https://www.quadratec.com/products/12226_2040_07.htm) and it was very easy to add to this design so I figured if my table ever became a commercial product maybe some people would find it useful.

The Cutlery Keeper isn't strictly a part of this tailgate table design, it's a commercial product and the people at Overland Outfitters tell me it's one of their best selling products - they say it's very popular with the camping/overlanding crowd. Dan Grec, who drove his JKU around Africa, had a DIY cutlery panel behind the Trailgater table on his tailgate for that expedition (http://theroadchoseme.com/diy-tailgate-table-organizer) and told me it was very useful - his cutlery was always ready for use rather than in some container that he'd have to dig out from among the many other things stored in the Jeep:

 

[PCO6]

3. A tailgate lock might be useful for this and for other reasons; because it would be useful even without this table perhaps that should be a separate project that could be used with or without the table? Maybe I'll do that as a next project.

I wedge a 12" length of 1"x2" pine into my top Exogate hinge. The length is important as I'm able to put a bit of pressure on the opened hinge and it rebounds to hold the wood tightly into place. As is it also serves as a place to hang items like a towel but I'm thinking of adding some cup hooks or a magnetic bar to it for cooking utensils, etc. I'd like to source a better material but may even go with a piece of hardwood and paint it black. When not in use I store it inside up by the roll bar.

 

[PCO6]

Just my 2 cents, looks like you have done your homework and looks great. For me the cutlery/tool keeper everything there would be so dusty I would have to wash them before using them out on the trail. Not sure I would need the bottle opener as I never take glass bottles on the trail or camping just too much trouble. But again looks well done

I laughed when I read this. Just yesterday my wife asked me why I have a bottle opener on my tailgate and on my trailer. Like you I never take bottles on trails or when camping … cans only. I told her … "it's for the looks and laughs" ... which she did.

 

[Phinney42]

Can you post a link to where you got the molle panel?

 

[DrDmoney]

Front Runner has a tri-food camp kitchen utensil roll, much like a tool roll and it keeps the trail dust out. I’ve hung mine on the tailgate behind the table but I’ve been hanging it off the table when I’m cooking so I’m not reaching over the stove for things.

 

[Midnight LJR]

Love the design. I would buy one for my Jeep, I was just shopping these. I Also think a mechanism to hold the door open could be a cool little product.

 

[jscherb]

Can you post a link to where you got the molle panel?

I made the Molle panel. I'll don't have photos of the construction of the Molle panel for the table so I'll show how with photos from several other Molle panels I've made...

I start by drawing the design on my computer and printing it. I'll verify the fit by trying the printout in place, this photo is of my overhead/swing-down Molle panel that mounts to the roll bar (photo is my JKU but the panel also fits in my LJ).

Using the pattern, I transfer the design to a piece of sheet metal. This photo is of a panel from the Trail Kitchen project, but it shows the detail of the drawing - every hole has center marks on the drawing, and with the drawing laying on the sheet metal I use a center punch to mark each of the holes.

Using those center punch marks, I use a hole saw to make the ends of each slot (you can see the hole saw in the above photo). Then I use a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade to cut the center out of the slot. Here's an overhead Molle panel in progress. One other step, which sometimes I do before I drill the holes and sometimes I di after is to bend a lip around the edges for stiffness, in this photo the lip has aleady been bent. On smaller panels I do the bend at home on a homemade bending brake but a large panel like the one in the photo is too large for my homemade brake so I do the bend at a local metal fab shop where the owner is nice enough to let me use his big tools when I need to.

And this is the finished overhead Molle panel:

A few photos of the finished Molle panels I posted photos of above...

The Overhead/Swing-Down panel in my LJ. Swung down:

Stowed, it's above the bottom of the roll bar so it's in waster space that never gets used for anything else (nothing is mounted to the panel in this photo, it was taken right after I installed it):

The Molle panel that's part of the first prototype Trail Kitchen, there's a photo of this one above:

 

[jscherb]

Love the design. I would buy one for my Jeep, I was just shopping these. I Also think a mechanism to hold the door open could be a cool little product.

I've sketched several different possible designs; I may make one or more of them to test.

 

[Midnight LJR]

Any Idea when this be coming to market? I would like a tailgate table in the near future.

 

[jscherb]

Any Idea when this be coming to market? I would like a tailgate table in the near future.

I don't know if this table will come to market. I don't sell anything, so as with all of the things I design, this table will come to market only if there's a company or person who wants to have it manufactured and market it. I'll be happy to discuss that with anyone interested, but I don't plan to go out looking for a company to pick this up - I've got lots of other design ideas I want to work on and I'd rather work on my next idea than spend time trying to get this or any other product to market.

My hobby is design. I design things I think will be different, creative and useful just because I enjoy the design process. I did this table because I looked at the tables on the market and it seemed to me that a better, more useful design was possible, so I designed this one and built a proof-of-concept prototype. I'm very happy with how the design worked out.

And even though I designed and built this table, I don't have a use for it so I won't be installing it in any of my Jeeps - I've got StoreGates on both my LJ and JKU tailgates and they suit my needs and the times when I need a table in the LJ or more table space in the JKU I throw the Trail Kitchen in the back, which has lots of table space. The StoreGate in the JKU:

The LJ has a version of the StoreGate without a table, but when I need a table I usually have the Trail Kitchen in the LJ, which has lots of table space.

 

[DWR]

Just tell me the price and I’ll buy one today... not joking.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Using those center punch marks, I use a hole saw to make the ends of each slot (you can see the hole saw in the above photo). Then I use a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade to cut the center out of the slot. Here's an overhead Molle panel in progress. One other step, which sometimes I do before I drill the holes and sometimes I di after is to bend a lip around the edges for stiffness, in this photo the lip has aleady been bent. On smaller panels I do the bend at home on a homemade bending brake but a large panel like the one in the photo is too large for my homemade brake so I do the bend at a local metal fab shop where the owner is nice enough to let me use his big tools when I need to.

View attachment 153777

looks like a great excuse for a CNC plasma table.

 

[jscherb]

Just tell me the price and I’ll buy one today... not joking.

I'm sorry, but as I said I don't sell anything... not joking . And besides, I've only built the one prototype so far so I don't have any extras to get rid of.

 

[DWR]

I'm sorry, but as I said I don't sell anything... not joking . And besides, I've only built the one prototype so far so I don't have any extras to get rid of.

I must have missed that... My mistake. Well great job either way!

 

[jjvw]

I'm sorry, but as I said I don't sell anything... not joking . And besides, I've only built the one prototype so far so I don't have any extras to get rid of.

You'll be fending off people wanting to buy your stuff till the end.