Tailgate rib delete/poor man’s Mountain Hatch

Just deleted the ribs on my tailgate. About $60 in material and 30 minutes of work and I’ve got a poor man’s Mountain Hatch.

I can’t find the post I found the link from, but someone had posted a link for eBay for some black marine board so I bought it and just installed this today.

I have to removed the rubber stopper on the bed because it’s a tight close and add some thinner ones but this works great.

 

Why ... well better have some good health insurance when u bust your ass . The oem one is designed for that in mind safety .

 

Unless the tailgate crumples onto my legs and pins me against a rock under the weight of the hamburger and drink I put on it, I think I’ll be fine.

 

unsafe is questionable, but the ridges are their to provide (a tiny bit of) strength to the somewhat weak tailgate. So if the replacement material is stronger than the OEM plastic with ridges, then no problem you’ve added to the strength. If it’s some material that’s weaker over that entire area then yes unsafe to put shit on the tailgate unless you want to bend the tailgate.

 

I wouldn't be worried about the strength. I, however, like the ribs for preventing tools and such from rolling away. But we all use our tailgates in different ways.

 

Think if i sent you money for the stamp, would you mail me one of the stoppers? I lost one.

 

Unless I missed it, what thickness did you use.

 

this is the most helpful, non helpful how-to. with that being said, attach the link from eBay. or whats the thickness/ size?

 

1/4” HDPE works great, you can use your OEM skin to trace out the pattern and transfer the holes. Then you’ll need to thin the 1/4” on the left and right side down to maybe 1/8” so the tailgate will close better. 1/4” is pretty strong given the metal pattern of the tailgate underneath. I added a bunch of cheap foam I had around to quiet down my pop-lock and it worked great. Tony and I are friends and he did a great job on the build here.

Regarding safety I have found that a wet OEM tailgate was slicker than a wet HDPE panel because you have less surface contact with the ribs. Regarding catching tools, yeah the ribs work better for sure. And like you said not every solution is for every problem. I deleted mine because I’m loading gear in and out, setting stuff down that can now balance properly, and my knees are happy. HDPE is tough, impact resistant, and is basically cutting board material if you really wanted to prep food on your tailgate like a Mountain Hatch.

Mine is beat up but has worked great for 2 years

 

Very nice! I just did this over my labor day weekend, except I made mine out of 1/4" aluminum sheeting which is much thicker, stronger, and heavier than the stock tailgate material. My "soft open" tailgate is now a much faster "soft open" tailgate but the thing is bulletproof. I had that same issue with the stoppers being too thick. I actually removed the stoppers and put in some 1.5 inch wide closed cell foam (the stuff used for windows and doors that has an adhesive side) and it is still a tight close but much more doable and waterproof.

 

Does this board warp? when it gets outside? because mine does.. gets hardt o close the tailgate

 

The direct sun does make it expand a little but doesn’t interfere with closing for my build

 

Hi. Sorry. New to TW and got super busy with my kids.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/282628214201

this is the link to the eBay site for the panel. I used a table saw to cut it to size and I’m cutting the stoppers down to help with the closing. I used my tailgate to build a fence and it was so helpful keeping my chop saw level nothing spilling or getting lost. I love it.

 

1/4”

https://www.ebay.com/itm/282628214201

here’s the link to the site I got it from.

 

For her pleasure?

 

Maybe hers....

 

Nice! Simple and looks good. Do you happen to be referencing my post here? https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/mountain-hatch-thread.664540/page-8#post-23541681.

The routered cupholders/silverware holder are really nice when you're prepping some food or hanging out on the tailgate. I'm about 6 months of heavy use into this design, and it's holding up well so far.

 

This.

 

i was looking at cup holders, and I think I want to put in some RV cup holders. I’d cut a hole and set the cup holders in. I’m not sure about them as I haven’t had issues yet with cups and cans going rogue on me.

 

I always thought of cutting a 1/4” aluminum sheet for the tailgate so I could use it as a mounting point for my maxtrax. After being reminded by these posts, maybe it’s time!