Wagon Gear's Tailgate Storage Door Install 80 Series

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

While anxiously awaiting my turn in line to receive one of Wagon Gear's cool tailgate storage compartments, I noticed that he was offering a few of his 80 series prototypes for sale. My OCD kicked in and I talked myself into believing that I could no longer wait for the production models to arrive and that I needed this now!

After a few e-mails to Kevin a deal was made, (Which I also seized the opportunity for him to include one of his new hinge relocation sets for my ARB fridge) but only if he included a few of his Logo stickers. I think he has nailed the logo and name of his company.

Fast forward a few days. I returned home from a trip to be greeted by a heavily protected package from Kevin with some Land Cruiser love inside. The tailgate door was shipped well protected from damage. It looks like I picked it up in person, which is no small feat considering the size and weight to it.

The construction along with the hardware used are both top notch. The seams/gaps are matched and aligned well. The door is well constructed with a full length hinge. The wrinkle finish appears to be durable. The supplied hardware consists of stainless button head bolts and washers. The nuts feature a locking ring fixed at the base. The rubber weatherstripping is nicely matched in size and also fits well complementing the overall quality of the product.

The package also included a cardboard template for proper positioning and cutting of the door.

I know we all like pictures, so I'll shut up and post some.

Overall detail with the cardboard template.

ARB Freezer/Fridge hinge relocation kit with the supplied hardware for both projects.

Detail of the kit without the stickers and template.

Latch detail.

Door awaiting installation.

The virgin tailgate with the carpet removed awaiting the Plasma Cutter (This is as far as I got today due to the fact that I just noticed my father took the AC adapter for the Plasma with him to SoCal). I'll try and finish tomorrow when I get another adapter.

 

[adrenaline503]

That looks very nice. Wouldnt storing items in your tailgate make it very heavy to open and close? I guess you could use those gas assist shocks.

 

[Desertdude]

...very envious. I am still in line waiting my turn. Kevin does very fine work. Thanks for posting photos

 

[spressomon]

Nice J! Can't wait to see the final results.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Sweet those look great...

 

[MoGas]

I have been hoping to find some real world feedback on these. What kind of items do you plan to store in there?

Dave

 

[Desertdude]

Product not out yet, to new for RWF.

I plan to store soft goods and trail spares like hoses belts and such

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

That looks very nice. Wouldnt storing items in your tailgate make it very heavy to open and close? I guess you could use those gas assist shocks.

Thank you. Kevin does make a quality product. As with anything, I'm sure you could stuff quite a bit of heavy items in there (After all, the available space appears to be cavernous). I will not be doing that, nor will I be adding any struts to assist in the operation of the tailgate.

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

I have been hoping to find some real world feedback on these. What kind of items do you plan to store in there?

Dave

Thanks Dave. They have been out for the 60 series for some time now. I'm sure many have been abused. He also sells rear side doors for the 60 series.

Here's a link to his site. He is also active on this forum;

http://www.wagongear.com/Home.html

I'm trying to talk him into making side doors for the 80 series as well. This is the first set (That I know of) sold for the 80 series. I'll let you know how they hold up after a month or so of RWT.

I plan on storing all kinds of different items in there. Ranging from extra hoses and belts to a custom jumper cable kit ala NLXTCY's design on Ih8Mud (Here's the link).

http://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/234460-how-worlds-most-expensive-jumper-cables.html

The available space is very large. I imagine it will store a few of the above mentioned items all the time as they are pretty light. Then the items will vary from trip to trip depending as to what is needed for that specific trip.


It really is a great use of "Dead space" and Kevin outdid himself on the quality and construction of the item. The use of the space is limited only to your imagination and in reality, it is quickly becoming one of my favorite mods to my 80.

 

[KMR]

I have been hoping to find some real world feedback on these.

Me Too! :chowtime:
I know the 60s inside and out and developed the original tailgate lid to meet my own needs. The development of the 80 lid has been a little more stressful since I don't have the thousands of miles of real word/trip testing like with the 60.
So I am very interested to see how they work out. The 80 tailgate has considerably more room that the 60 so users will need to be a bit more judicious when loading it up. I try to tell folks to store light stuff in there and luckily the 60 does not have enough room for much more than light stuff. With the 80, you could easily find yourself with 100lbs of crap inside your tailgate and no way to comfortably close the door!

Thanks for the kind words though guys, and keep the pics coming Jereme!
Looks like you are on the right track with the install, and as long as the holes in the cardboard cut guide line up, you should be golden.

 

[MoGas]

I like the idea a lot and had thought of something similar, albeit a bit more ghetto fabbed. Basically a big piece of aluminum Diamond Plate. I may hold off till the production comes on line.

 

[Andrew Walcker]

Can't wait to see the install! I'm patiently (not!) waiting for one for the 62 and have been thinking about how to treat the inside of the tailgate. My thought was to LineX the inside of the tailgate and the underside of the door to keep rattles to a minimum and protect the sheetmetal. What are your thoughts?

 

[Desertdude]

Hope you have heat in your shop... :elkgrin: Looking forward to giving you those real world experiances on video unk03:

Thanks for a great product for the 80 Series :wavey:

Me Too! :chowtime:
I know the 60s inside and out and developed the original tailgate lid to meet my own needs. The development of the 80 lid has been a little more stressful since I don't have the thousands of miles of real word/trip testing like with the 60.
So I am very interested to see how they work out. The 80 tailgate has considerably more room that the 60 so users will need to be a bit more judicious when loading it up. I try to tell folks to store light stuff in there and luckily the 60 does not have enough room for much more than light stuff. With the 80, you could easily find yourself with 100lbs of crap inside your tailgate and no way to comfortably close the door!

Thanks for the kind words though guys, and keep the pics coming Jereme!
Looks like you are on the right track with the install, and as long as the holes in the cardboard cut guide line up, you should be golden.

 

[spressomon]

Me Too! :chowtime:
I know the 60s inside and out and developed the original tailgate lid to meet my own needs. The development of the 80 lid has been a little more stressful since I don't have the thousands of miles of real word/trip testing like with the 60.
So I am very interested to see how they work out. The 80 tailgate has considerably more room that the 60 so users will need to be a bit more judicious when loading it up. I try to tell folks to store light stuff in there and luckily the 60 does not have enough room for much more than light stuff. With the 80, you could easily find yourself with 100lbs of crap inside your tailgate and no way to comfortably close the door!

Thanks for the kind words though guys, and keep the pics coming Jereme!
Looks like you are on the right track with the install, and as long as the holes in the cardboard cut guide line up, you should be golden.

Ok...so that begs the question: Anything for Hundy owners?

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

Can't wait to see the install! I'm patiently (not!) waiting for one for the 62 and have been thinking about how to treat the inside of the tailgate. My thought was to LineX the inside of the tailgate and the underside of the door to keep rattles to a minimum and protect the sheetmetal. What are your thoughts?

I'm going to be adding a sound deadener product such as Dynamat. They (Dynamat) offer numerous products of varying thicknesses. I think getting the spray gun of a Line-X type product into the corners would be hard and somewhat cumbersome. I also think it would also be hard for a nice smooth, even surface.