New BillieBars Tailgate Cover!

[Tommyswrx]

This is not the only company that makes one of these but they are all roughly the same price (OVERPRICED). But you’re better off going to Target and buying a cheap yoga mat and mark the factory mounting holes cut to fit and end up with the same thing. SNS. Companies use terms like “aircraft grade aluminum”, “CNC”, and “marine grade” to get people’s attention. It’s a piece of metal with foam on top. But if you’re handing out free ones I’d be more than happy to be proved wrong and do a full install and review video.

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[AmishMike]

@HooliganActual take them up on the trial. Make sure to let the dog climb in via tailgate and see how it holds up to his nails.
I am also thinking that if this were ‘quick disconnect’ like only a couple of screws, it would make a great trail creeper when climbing under the truck in the mud or protecting you from rocks.
Too bad it doesn’t have hinged panels for backrests.

 

[Hootbro]

I had a similar tailgate cover made by Mountain Hatch. The problem I had with it is that while it attaches to the inset cover screw points, the load of the cover is bored by the outer perimeter edge and the space under each screw attachment point is not flush with the cover. So when you install the attachment screws for the cover, you never really get sense of it being fully snugged up and run the risk of pulling through trying to tighten the screws. I think that is why the original pictures showing the edge pulled up was the same issue.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

For me, $300 US plus shipping for cup holders isn’t good money well spent. It may be the cost of making plus marketing as was mentioned before but if there’s cutting involved on the tailgate to fit this unit then what I’d like to see is the space utilized better for, let’s say a camp stove or for more storage, not just for holding my favourite beverage.

A quick search on YouTube netted me a couple of guys that tackled their tailgates and solved what I think is a much better solution if you’re pulling the trigger and cutting the door apart.

 

[Minty JL]

Hey @HooliganActual - First and foremost thanks for the engagement. We sincerely appreciate the feedback and candor, and when you sell products on the internet, we realize it comes with the territory. As you well know there is no perfect company out there and anybody who tells you otherwise is full of it. We probably should have waited to launch this until some of the details you pointed out were cleared up (using poor, outdated prototype photos for the post was definitely a mistake!) - but we wanted to bring this to market ASAP because we know that some people will/do love this tailgate cover. By the way your vernacular verbosity and product knowledge is impressive to say the least and to be truthful -we don't stand a chance going back forth here -so with that in mind, any chance you're looking for a job? Or can we send you a tailgate on the house and you can review it in person? Shoot us a message if either of those are of interest

This response is pure gold on so many levels

 

[HooliganActual]

@HooliganActual take them up on the trial. Make sure to let the dog climb in via tailgate and see how it holds up to his nails.
I am also thinking that if this were ‘quick disconnect’ like only a couple of screws, it would make a great trail creeper when climbing under the truck in the mud or protecting you from rocks.
Too bad it doesn’t have hinged panels for backrests.

This response is pure gold on so many levels

It was gold!! I've had a nice talk with Nate @BillieBars and I do have a tailgate cover coming.

I know I'll get grief for this BUT I am paying for it myself (I have a thing about "handouts", not that it would be). With the interwebz being what it is, i know that if I take a freebie and give it a glowing review some troll will say that my review was bought and paid for. However, the offer was nice and only reaffirms to me how they are standing behind their product.

I did tell Nate that I will do a review here and, for the forum members, I won't pull any punches. I'll tell you what I like or don't like and, because I'm an engineer at heart, I'll tell you what I'm going to do to make it better for my use case if it's lacking. Since most folks here don't know who I am "behind the curtain", I retired two years ago as the Director of Maintenance & Reliability for a Fortune 50 company overseeing 70+ manufacturing sites; that doesn't make me an expert on Gladiator Tailgate Covers but I have seen good, bad and ugly fabrications over the last 40 years. So, I'll give you my honest opinion.

I'll certainly do a write up here (in this thread unless someone has a better suggestion) and maybe....MAYBE...I'll enlist my 20 year old college photography son and his ridiculous camera to help with a video. Don't hold me to that...

So unless UPS is lying to me, I should receive the Tailgate Cover on Saturday and I'll install Sunday. Then I'll probably head into the mountains for the week and beat the heck out of it. See you then.

 

[Minty JL]

Love it when adults can have productive conversations and actions!

I know the cup holder thing sounds silly, but like the other member said, I'm always using a tailgate for work and assembly of thing.......have those is slightly more convenient then ensure to pack magnetic cups and so on.

Can't wait to see how this pans out!

 

[HooliganActual]

For me, $300 US plus shipping for cup holders isn’t good money well spent. It may be the cost of making plus marketing as was mentioned before but if there’s cutting involved on the tailgate to fit this unit then what I’d like to see is the space utilized better for, let’s say a camp stove or for more storage, not just for holding my favourite beverage.

A quick search on YouTube netted me a couple of guys that tackled their tailgates and solved what I think is a much better solution if you’re pulling the trigger and cutting the door apart.

FWIW, that's not a Gladiator tailgate in those pictures and not all tailgates are made the same.

Personally, I have looked into something like this and there is a company in Switzerland that currently offers a solution for $1262 USD. But it's deeper than that...quote from their website:
"The stability of the tailgate is not reduced by the conversion and retains the load capacity of the original flap. The original tailgate has to be heavily modified for the conversion. Detailed conversion instructions are included with the set."

"Heavily Modified"...A lot of the structural steel in the tailgate has to be cut out and then reworked.

EDIT: That's $1262 just for the kit, I have no idea what the cost to modify the tailgate would be...

Personally, I just want a flat surface on my tailgate and tailgate covers (whichever brand) are a "cheap" non-invasive way to get there.

Here's the link to the company that makes this if anyone is interested
https://www.blacksheep-innovations.com/jeepgladiator

 

[ShastaJT6]

FWIW, that's not a Gladiator tailgate in those pictures and not all tailgates are made the same.

Personally, I have looked into something like this and there is a company in Switzerland that currently offers a solution for $1262 USD. But it's deeper than that...quote from their website:
"The stability of the tailgate is not reduced by the conversion and retains the load capacity of the original flap. The original tailgate has to be heavily modified for the conversion. Detailed conversion instructions are included with the set."

"Heavily Modified"...A lot of the structural steel in the tailgate has to be cut out and then reworked.

EDIT: That's $1262 just for the kit, I have no idea what the cost to modify the tailgate would be...

Personally, I just want a flat surface on my tailgate and tailgate covers (whichever brand) are a "cheap" non-invasive way to get there.

Here's the link to the company that makes this if anyone is interested
https://www.blacksheep-innovations.com/jeepgladiator

I installed this recently, and put a ton of pictures into a thread here:
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/gladiator-tailgate-modification.53577/page-4

If Billie Bars was providing something similar at a lower price, I would be all for it. The Black Sheep kit was pricey, but I felt the utility it provided made it worth the cost. Its incredibly sturdy, I have my air down kit, ratchet straps, and other bits stuffed in there. Ive added significant weight to it, but havent had any issues with function or deformation, even after wheeling with it.

 

[HooliganActual]

I installed this recently, and put a ton of pictures into a thread here:
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/gladiator-tailgate-modification.53577/page-4

If Billie Bars was providing something similar at a lower price, I would be all for it. The Black Sheep kit was pricey, but I felt the utility it provided made it worth the cost. Its incredibly sturdy, I have my air down kit, ratchet straps, and other bits stuffed in there. Ive added significant weight to it, but havent had any issues with function or deformation, even after wheeling with it.

Nice looking install. I'm glad to see that they accounted for rerouting the latch linkages.

 

[ShastaJT6]

Nice looking install. I'm glad to see that they accounted for rerouting the latch linkages.

Much appreciated! Should have said it earlier, I respect you for paying for the product even though it was offered for free, and Im curious to see how it works out for you.

 

[HooliganActual]

Buckle up!! It's gonna be a big post...

"Brown" dropped off my BillieBars Tailgate Cover last night, so we had a little unboxing ceremony in the kitchen:

All in all, it came well packaged and undamaged. It's at this point I looked over the product and will tell you it is very well made. The 1/8" aluminum is robust enough for what I need it to do and the 1/4" of Marine Grade Foam Padding is nice enough to sit on or to provide a little cushion for my knees as I climb in and out.

Sunday morning. Shall we install it? Pitter Patter.

Before removing anything off of the tailgate I checked the fitment:

Everything seemed to line up well AND, as @BillieBars stated in a previous post, the tailgate cover has been shortened so that it does not rest on the ridge at the bottom of the tailgate (closest to the hinge):

Once I removed the long panel at the top of the tailgate, you can see where the cup holder holes are in relation to the latch release linkages. It's worth noting that the cup holders do not sit down far enough to interfere with the linkages anyway.

My first concern was that there is a significant gap between the aluminum plate and the tailgate metal into which the bolt will thread and thought about getting some spacers to stabilize things. I could not get a great picture of this, but in the below pic you can see a little "shaft of light" below the aluminum plate in line with the bolt's axis. That little bit of light is basically the gap I'm referring to; maybe an inch(?):

After playing around with it a bit, I think the plate is strong enough to not deform upon tightening and decided to forego spacers. I can always add them later if I see something that indicates they are needed.

I did have a small issue with the bolt hole alignment on the 2 center bolt holes that I addressed with a step reamer; a rat tail file would work as well. I just needed the holes to be maybe 1/16" closer to each other. I don't think this is an issue with the tailgate cover exclusively. I'm sure Jeep isn't terribly meticulous with the placement of these holes at installation. In this pic you can see how one bolt was just a little off and was trying to go in at an angle:

Now the actual install. One thing that I wanted to address was several gaps between the flat aluminum cover and the contoured tailgate. I used butyl tape along the top edge and in the "divots" at the bottom edge:

If you've never used this stuff before...it's awesome!!!

Because it's "squishy", it will fill the gaps and squeeze out the excess. Note that in this next picture, the backing is still on as I was checking placement (the white paper backing does get removed).

A little butyl tape at the bottom of the contours because the plate just reaches the bottom and there is an ever so slight gap. Also note in this pic that I did leave the small panel installed for stability leaving two of the original bolts.

Everything is lined up and looking good:

Time to squish and trim:

All set!

HOWEVER.... I'm not happy with the gap at the bottom of the panel. @Hootbro called this out in an earlier post with regards to the Mountain Hatch Board that he had.

Now this may just be the nature of the beast and as so many people on this site say "Well, it's just a Jeep thing"...but It's not a "HooliganActual thing"!!!

Let's fix it:

Bore out a hole in the surface material to look something like the production holes:

Hard to tell from the next picture, but I've drilled a pilot hole in the tailgate metal for a #10 sheet metal screw.

Et Voilà!

And now my OCD can take a break!!!

If I were to suggest one thing to be different with this product, this would be it: I know a lot of people want to just bolt things in and be done with it. They may not have the gumption, tools, etc. to do that last step. If this tailgate cover had the option for a pair of holes to accommodate that last step, it would be nice. You could have the look of the other holes with a matching sheet metal screw to better hold down those corners.

In Summary:
Is it worth $300? I will tell you without hesitation that there is $300 worth of craftsmanship, materials, etc. in the BillieBars Tailgate cover. No doubt about it!!

Is it worth $300 to me? Absolutely! Based on my use case (and if you've read my previous dissertation on the last page of this thread), this was a nice solution to issues that have pestered me in my overlanding adventures and makes for a nice work surface at the back of my rig:

And just one last thing. @BillieBars needs to get these Koozies out to the world because they are GENIUS!!!!

THEY HAVE MAGNETS!!!! LOL

(That's a full can BTW and it holds the weight just fine. Hopefully your cans aren't always full, though)

 

[JRobes]

@HooliganActual - nice write up, I think I agree with you on the mounting screw spacers but for a different reason; if that 1/8" alum plate has any sort of give/flex, those screws may end up backing out with road vibration over time. Personally I'd probably just put some blue lock-tite on the ends of the screw threads and call it a day since that would help prevent turn-out, but if there were spacers in there we'd be able to properly torque down the screws and not rely on the 1/8" alum not to flex to hold them in.

@BillieBars, send me a sample and you'll get a stove/cooktop analysis and some light scuff testing . Looks like a solid product and I'd personally be more interested in your offering over the HDPE panels other companies provide.

 

[Volksparts]

Great feedback @HooliganActual and thanks for posting. Thinking I might invest in one of these and mate it up with my bedrug. Basically, for me I am interested in having that area as a workspace and a place to set my stove. Have not placed the stove there due to the bedrug but would love the usable space. Again, thanks for the honest feedback.

 

[HooliganActual]

@HooliganActual - nice write up, I think I agree with you on the mounting screw spacers but for a different reason; if that 1/8" alum plate has any sort of give/flex, those screws may end up backing out with road vibration over time. Personally I'd probably just put some blue lock-tite on the ends of the screw threads and call it a day since that would help prevent turn-out, but if there were spacers in there we'd be able to properly torque down the screws and not rely on the 1/8" alum not to flex to hold them in.

Absolutely agree with what you’ve said here. I am going to go out in the field for a few days and put it to use. If I don’t find anything I want to change then I plan to loctite them in as there may not be enough “spring” to keep the fasteners tight.

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