I've been quite the lurker around here so I thought it was time I tried my hand at a write up. Be forewarned, I used wood in creating this setup. Also, these are cell phone pictures so I apologize for their quality.



When I first bought the Jeep I was very hesitant to do ANYTHING that involved drilling into the body. Also, some of the existing setups used nylon straps sewn onto a nylon backing which has a tendency to sag. By accident, I happened to notice that the vent gaps in the tailgate (most of them) are precisely 1/4" so I came up with an idea using 1/4" nylon bolts based on a MOLLE mounting setup.

Everything came in at about $30 including paint and fabric.

I used the following hardware. Play around with some variations as you like but the nylon bolts MUST be 1/4". They're the trick to avoiding having to drill into the tailgate.

5 - 1/4" - 1" long nylon hex bolts ($.32 ea)
5 - 1/4" nylon flat washers ($.30 ea)
8 - 1/4" - 1" hex bolts ($.18 ea)
8 - 1/4" flat washers ($.10 ea)
8 - 1/4" hex nut ($.11 ea)
8 - 1/2" long x 1/2" OD x .257" ID nylon spacers ($.31 ea)
4 - 24" x 1-1/4" steel flat straps ($1.50 ea)

1 - 24" x 12" x 1/4" project board ($4.50)

13" x 25" black felt fabric to cover board ($2.00 on sale at some craft store)


* First drill the top holes for the mounting bolts.

Here's an attempt at a diagram showing the spacing I used for the mounting holes. This image shows THREE bolts in the bottom vent instead of two like I used.


The top mounting holes will be along a horizontal line. I chose to use three upper holes for better support. Because the bolts will be threading into horizontally elongated openings, you have a little room to maneuver . I spaced them 5-1/4" from the left edge then 5-11/16" and 6-3/4" apart.

They need to line up with the elongated holes pictured here.


* Next, drill the bottom mounting holes.

The important part about the lower mounting holes is getting the space between the upper and lower holes accurate. Since the vent runs horizontally almost the entire length of the tailgate, their horizontal placement is pretty inconsequential. I measured 9-3/4" which put my lower bolts at the center of the three vent slots.

They need to line up with the slots pictured here.


* Now, drill the holes to mount the 24" steel straps.

The type of straps you buy will determine where to drill the holes. Just lay them on the board the mark the drill points with a pencil. I could have used solid aluminum straps and just cut/drilled them but that would have been 4X the cost. The steel straps were convenient because they were already 24" long and they already had two 1/2" holes in them. Leave about a 1-1/2" gap between each strap.

* Next, sand and paint the 24" steel straps.

I used an industrial strength flat black Rustoleum spray paint but I'm not sure how well it will hold up against scratching and chipping. Galvanized metal doesn't paint very easily.

While you're at it, paint the 8 nylon spacers to match.

* Cover the project board

I just used my staple gun and stapled the hell out of the fabric along the edges on the back side. As for the fabric, I bought what was cheap. It just happened to be a black felt fabric that almost exactly matched the carpeting of the Jeep.

Once covered, you'll have to stab holes into the felt for the bolts. I used an ice pick and a screwdriver. In retrospect, a hole puncher would have been nice



* Mount the straps

BEFORE mounting the straps, insert your nylon bolts and washers for mounting the board to the tailgate. Your straps will likely overlap the nylon mounting bolts.

Use the spacers to gap between the project board and the metal straps. 1/2" spacers seemed to be just perfect for this application.

I had to use washers because the head of the hex bolt would have slipped right through the mounting holes on the metal straps. Using a larger bolt would have been impractical because that meant larger nuts on the backside of the project board.

For the backside of the board where the bolts come through, all I had in my toolbox were 1/4" FINE thread nuts. I went ahead and used them with the 1/4" coarse bolts and just cross threaded them which is fine because I have no need to remove them and this way they won't shake loose. Once the back bolts are on and tightened, I just slapped some electrical tape on them so when mounted, they wont scratch up the paint on the tailgate.



* Mount the board

It can be a little tedious to get the nylon bolts to start threading into the tailgate. For some of the nylon bolts, you'll have to use a regular wrench to tighten them because the metal straps sit directly over top of them like pictured below.



Tighten all of your nylon bolts. Make sure they're snug but do not over tighten.


Final Setup

Before Mounting...



Mounted and equipped...



I've been running with this type of set up for a while - 8 months and it has not caused any damage/warping to the tailgate vents. It seems it can hold a decent bit of weight though I won't be mounting a jack or whole toolbox on it... Currently I have my camera bag, a first aid bag, my backup CB radio, my flashlight and a small ratchet set on it. Everything does just fine even on rough trails.

Also, at first, I was bothered by the level of flex in the straps but that bit of flex actually helps a good deal when trying to mount larger packs on them.

And no, this is not where I keep my handgun. I just threw it on there for the picture.

 

Great Idea and great write up. Very detailed!