Wagon Gear's Tailgate Storage Door Install 80 Series

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

Part II...The install.

So, yesterday ended with my needing to get a 20 amp AC plug adaptor to operate the plasma cutter. After a quick trip to the hardware store, I bought the correct 20 amp wall socket came home and wired it into the wall. That was after verifying the circuit breaker was also rated at 20 amps.

I finished removing the anti-rattle foam inserts for the tailgate lock bars. There are two of these.

I also removed these two little round rubber inserts. The plasma cutter would have melted these and also the above foam blocks creating a big stinky mess.

Here's the tailgate ready for the cut. You can see the cut lines I traced onto the tailgate with a welders pencil.

Ah! The first cut hurts the most.

Here it is. This is just a test fit to make sure my cuts were in the correct locations. I took these shots pre vacuumed and cleaned with Simple Green because I was losing my light.

Using the standard scientific form of measurement to illustrate how deep the 80 series tailgates are.

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

An observation for the installers out there.

In this pic you can see two support braces (In the top of the frame) or what's left of them. I had to turn up the amperage on the plasma cutter to penetrate them fully. Also be aware of the wire loom for the license plate bracket. I unclipped mine from the sheet metal, then placed a welding glove over it for protection.

Also located in the same general vicinity of those vertical cross braces are a series of a spot welds (I think three or so). They run horizontally across the tailgate from the driver's side to the passenger's side. I made a simple half circle cut around these spot welds keeping my cut pretty tight to the spot welds. If you cut "Below" the spot welds you are left to deal with half of a cross member.

 

[locrwln]

Looking good Jeremy, can't wait to see it first hand.

Jack

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

Looking good Jeremy, can't wait to see it first hand.

Jack

Thanks Jack. Do you need a template perhaps?

 

[spressomon]

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.

J: I have Dynamat Extreme in the hundy and it works fine. But this is the snit: http://www.secondskinaudio.com/

 

[spressomon]

Looking good Jeremy, can't wait to see it first hand.

Jack

Ditto-roonie!

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

J: I have Dynamat Extreme in the hundy and it works fine. But this is the snit: http://www.secondskinaudio.com/

Thanks Dan
Which one of their products would you recommend for this application? I was thinking Dampliflier Pro or LuxuryLiner Pro?

 

[RoundOut]

Is there any reason this would not work in a pickup tailgate, such as a 1Gen Tundra? I would like the ability to have another lockable storage location, although I had planned at some point in the future to ditch the tailgate and rig up a tailgate using PSP that could serve dually as sand ladders in case of need. It would be easy to change my mind and go with a storage solution instead.

.

 

[KMR]

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?

You're getting closer every day! And I would shy away from the LineX for the reasons listed above, the other nice thing about the shiny sound deadeners in addition to protecting from rattles, is that they are shiny. No really, they help light up the inside of the body cavity and make it easy to see what is in there, nothing worse than dark corners to loose stuff in.

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

Thanks for a great product for the 80 Series

No heat, but I did insulate the snot out of it, so I should be good. Thanks for thinking of me. :ylsmoke:

spressomon
Ok...so that begs the question: Anything for Hundy owners?
Yesterday 11:03 AM

They are still listed on my website as "coming soon". Finding an 80 tailgate to cut up was hard enough, still no luck with finding a 100 to slice and dice.

24HOURSOFNEVADA
Also be aware of the wire loom for the license plate bracket. I unclipped mine from the sheet metal, then placed a welding glove over it for protection.

Good point Jeremy, the tailgate I have been playing with was without wiring, didn't think about that. When you put the sound deadener in there I find that it is fine to lay the wire underneath in a nice neat line. This keeps it safe and out of the way, but if you need to pull it out down the line you can run a blade alongside it and pull it out from under the sound deadener.

RoundOut Is there any reason this would not work in a pickup tailgate, such as a 1Gen Tundra? I would like the ability to have another lockable storage location, although I had planned at some point in the future to ditch the tailgate and rig up a tailgate using PSP that could serve dually as sand ladders in case of need. It would be easy to change my mind and go with a storage solution instead.

Not sure about the Tundra, but I did look at the Tacoma gate, and there is just not enough room between the body panels to make an expensive door like this worth the money or effort. The Tacoma seemed like it had about 2" of useable space, compare that to the "industry standard measuring device" sitting in the 80 gate above.

 

[spressomon]

Thanks Dan
Which one of their products would you recommend for this application? I was thinking Dampliflier Pro or LuxuryLiner Pro?

I would think Damplifier Pro would be best...but I'd call them and ask. The material will need to be durable enough to not easily be torn by whatever one stores on top of it. I don't know if the LuxuryLiner Pro has a thick enough skin to be used in this application (or not).

 

[spressomon]

You're getting closer every day! And I would shy away from the LineX for the reasons listed above, the other nice thing about the shiny sound deadeners in addition to protecting from rattles, is that they are shiny. No really, they help light up the inside of the body cavity and make it easy to see what is in there, nothing worse than dark corners to loose stuff in.



No heat, but I did insulate the snot out of it, so I should be good. Thanks for thinking of me. :ylsmoke:


They are still listed on my website as "coming soon". Finding an 80 tailgate to cut up was hard enough, still no luck with finding a 100 to slice and dice.


Good point Jeremy, the tailgate I have been playing with was without wiring, didn't think about that. When you put the sound deadener in there I find that it is fine to lay the wire underneath in a nice neat line. This keeps it safe and out of the way, but if you need to pull it out down the line you can run a blade alongside it and pull it out from under the sound deadener.


Not sure about the Tundra, but I did look at the Tacoma gate, and there is just not enough room between the body panels to make an expensive door like this worth the money or effort. The Tacoma seemed like it had about 2" of useable space, compare that to the "industry standard measuring device" sitting in the 80 gate above.

I have a 100 tailgate...PM me.

 

[Willman]

Great idea for storage!!

Can't wait to see the finish product!

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

Part II

I spoke with Anthony at Second Skin Audio. He's an active member on IH8Mud. He seems to be a very cool guy. After our discussion, I decided to go with their Damplifier Pro line of thermal acoustic insulation.

http://www.secondskinaudio.com/

I bought a door kit which consists of 12 sq. ft of Damplifier Pro. I also ordered a wood roller to help with contact bubbles.

Here's how it arrived.

Anthony also included a cool little display of their entire product line. This is going to aid me greatly in future decisions of which product will work best for different applications. It's one thing to see it on line, it's a lot better to be able to hold it in our hands and study it.

A second view to illustrate the different thicknesses of the various products offered.

Now onto the final construction.


I started in the corners and worked my in from there. I used one full sized sheet in each of the corners. I peeled the backing paper about halfway off, so that the entire sheet wouldn't stick at the same time. I then used a heat gun to gain some flexibility only because it was pretty cold this morning (The directions say you do not need to use a heat gun...I'm impatient).

I then used another full sheet to span the small gap leftover by the corner pieces. This was working from the hinge side towards the lift gate side.

For the remaining top portion I cut a full size sheet into thirds and that provided enough coverage for the entire tailgate.

All that's left was a trip to try it out. Before the Damplifier Pro was added there was a "Tin" like sound coupled with rattles every time you drove the truck. After the install, I am very pleased to report that the "Tin" sound and rattles are gone.

Overall I am very pleased and impressed with the Wagon Gear products and the Second Skin products I have received. I can't wait to see what Kevin designs next.

 

[Scott Brady]

That is absolutely fantastic!

So impressed.

Oh, and check out the winter issue of Overland Journal for a little FJ60 Wagon Gear love

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

That is absolutely fantastic!

So impressed.

Oh, and check out the winter issue of Overland Journal for a little FJ60 Wagon Gear love

Thanks Scott. I can't wait to see the winter issue for so many different reasons. In fact the winter, spring, summer and on and on...