Trail Tailor storage lid install

[CharlieS]

I was recently surfing 'mud and saw @Eric Sarjeant recommend the @TRAIL TAILOR rear storage lid. He recommended it, so I figured that it must be awesome. I reached out to Jason at Trail Tailor and he had one in stock, ready to ship, so I pulled the trigger.

I just got around to installing it today, and it is indeed awesome.

Fair warning, this is not a mod you can easily reverse - you'd need to replace the lower lift gate to get back to stock.

The instructions are good, but a bit vague in spots. The biggest one I ran into was what to do once the perimeter is cut. Turns out you need to keep cutting until you have the entire inner structure removed.

I used a air cutoff tool, but a grinder with a cutting disk would work too. I just happened to have metal cutting disks for my air tool, so that's what I used.

Getting started:

I switched tools (I forgot I had another one that I preferred)

 

[CharlieS]

Once I cut things out, cleaned up the edges with an angle grinder, vaccumed, painted all bare metal, installed sound deadening, followed by contact adhesive, then automotive carpet.

I've never installed sound deadening before. I got Ballistic brand off Amazon, since that was what I saw in Eric's video. I used a roller that they sell to ensure good contact. This stuff is heavy! I bought a "trunk kit" which was probably twice the amount I needed.

I got extra carpet so I can carpet my drawer system... Also off Amazon.

 

[CharlieS]

And then the lid itself. Three main parts.

Note that the rounded part of the hinge goes up, not down.

Also, a little trick for putting the nuts on in the confined space - a little bit of electrical tape... maybe agricultural, but gets the job done.

 

[CharlieS]

And then the latches - each held on by one bolt from below. I have the latch bolts backed off as far as they can go.

I still need to whiz these off

There are three downsides to be aware of, if you are considering this:

1) You lose your tailgate lift assist spring
2) The lower tailgate is now very heavy (probably a lot to do with the sound deadener, but you also lose the spring assist - so double whammy)
3) The plastic piece that bridges the gap from the cargo area to the tailgate catches on the latch when closing

If anyone can help with #3, I'd be grateful. I know Eric's team came up with a solution and Wagongear has something they do with their 100 series kits to solve for this. I am at a bit of a loss for what to use though.

 

[CharlieS]

One more quick post: @Eric Sarjeant thank you for all of the ideas, information and generosity. Your builds have been an inspiration, and you've been more than generous. Thank you!

 

[Eric Sarjeant]

If anyone can help with #3, I'd be grateful. I know Eric's team came up with a solution and Wagongear has something they do with their 100 series kids to solve for this. I am at a bit of a loss for what to use though.

Killer job!
We use a foam/rubber molding. PM and I can mail you what you need.

 

[The Crowbar]

To follow up on the OP's post.
I did much of the same but with the help of a local fabricator I developed these two brackets to keep the lift assist. To be honest they help a little but not much after I put my recovery kit and some tools in the lift gate.
I also had it coated with a rhino lining like substance and found it to be durable but needed some sanding down to make it fit due to the tolerance of TT. In hindsight, I would go with the powder coating and carpet like Eric Sarjent and his people did. Using the bed liner also necessitated ordering longer bolts due to the added thickness of the coating.
Then I used Dynamats superlite sound deadening material to keep weight down.

 

[CharlieS]

That's cool how you preserved your lift spring functionality. Did you fabricate those brackets that they hook into? Clever!

 

[The Crowbar]

Then I too laid some carpet down. Another thing I did which to the weight was that I needed to get some bar stock to support the lid at the piano hinge point to keep it true. When tightening the bolts I started to get a compression of the steel because there is a depression in the tailgate where they meet and are anchored to, this also increased the weight of the tailgate. I was also able to work around the spring bars and get everything in from ARB recovery kit plus some extras.

 

[The Crowbar]

Thanks, I used JB weld to secure it and I used Kentner Fabrication here in Oceanside CA to do the fabrication.