Installed Ford's Tailgate Table yesterday

[Ford Motor Company]

I installed the same one about a month ago or so. I was impressed with the whole package overall. I didn't have any issues with the jack nuts, but I was concerned with them maybe turning. Overall, very satisfied with it.

Nice addition Keith!

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[wjtinfwb]

I installed mine but overall was not impressed. The table and frame itself seems well made, the limiting cables and attachment hardware however is garbage. I ended up replacing all the fasteners and the straps with aftermarket or high quality SS components which added about 30 bucks to my cost. There's some nice and more flexible ones in the aftermarket, some don't require drilling 4 holes into your tailgate. Recommend you check out the aftermarket.

 

[RHeinz]

I plan to upgrade the cable limit straps soon, which should allow me to increase the weight limit to around 50 lbs. I suspect the thin cable and pin are the weak points. I may also relocate the cable attachment point to the door or higher up on the frame to improve durability.

Be careful with the weight that you put on it. I put a 5 gallon water bottle on the outer end of my Ford table and ended up putting a small flex dent in my tailgate above the lower hinge. I had forgotten that the spare tire weight plus the two 2 gallon ROTOPAX fuel containers and mount attached to it (stock Sasquatch) and along with the water jug ~ 41 lbs., stove, and the half gallon of Bourbon was way past the published weight limit for the tailgate.

There is no need to beef up the table support cables. The tailgate is the weakest link.

 

[Mossback]

Be careful with the weight that you put on it. I put a 5 gallon water bottle on the outer end of my Ford table and ended up putting a small flex dent in my tailgate above the lower hinge. I had forgotten that the spare tire weight plus the two 2 gallon ROTOPAX fuel containers and mount attached to it (stock Sasquatch) and along with the water jug ~ 41 lbs., stove, and the half gallon of Bourbon was way past the published weight limit for the tailgate.

There is no need to beef up the table support cables. The tailgate is the weakest link.

Can you post a pic of that dent? The dent is on the outside of the rig?

I thought beefing up the limit straps would prevent more extensive damage to the table if one of the OE straps failed and taco top. I have just ordered some black 1.5mm and 3mm Dyneema paracord; I will fab attachment points.

 

[Mossback]

I installed mine but overall was not impressed. The table and frame itself seems well made, the limiting cables and attachment hardware however is garbage. I ended up replacing all the fasteners and the straps with aftermarket or high quality SS components which added about 30 bucks to my cost. There's some nice and more flexible ones in the aftermarket, some don't require drilling 4 holes into your tailgate. Recommend you check out the aftermarket.

Yeah, I saw them too late, but for what I am going to use it for this will fine, once I upgrade the straps.

 

[B_Wagon136]

Would you be able to share a picture of the location? I want to do this instead of drilling a hole in the swinggate?

Pics attached. The little black piece flush to the tailgate is the rubber washer/spacer I added myself.

 

[RNC]

This is what I need to get hubby to go back and yell at the stealership about - it is on his window sticker as a dealer installed item, and it aint on. They have ignored calls and emails. I think a visit to the sales floor during a busy afternoon would be more effective

I purchased one as a DIO as well. They finally did the install a few months after I took delivery. No hassles, really. It was just done on my schedule. One snag was that they had to paint the inside of the tailgate. The paint was thin under the plastic tailgate panel, and that was exposed by the table. Otherwise, I don't really care for Ford's table. At the time of purchase there wasn't much to choose from. Much better options now. Most don't require any drilling.

 

[OrangecrushBronco]

The dealer gave me a few trinkets to compensate for my dissatisfaction with how they handled the sale. The kit was nicely packaged and seemed straightforward to install. (They offered to install it for me, but I, as a seasoned mechanic, chose to do it myself.) Everything was going well until I started tightening the Jack nuts. One began spinning without gripping correctly, and another did the same. I managed to seat two fully but wasn't satisfied with the overall result.

I removed them and used stainless steel nut-serts (aka Rivnut) instead. I highly recommend getting one if you don’t already have a Rivnut tool. I should have started with that initially and skipped the cheap steel versions they provided. The hole I drilled was the perfect size for an M8 bolt Rivnut, and I had 4 Torx-head aluminum cap bolts of the ideal length. You’ll need to slightly enlarge the holes in the table to allow some wiggle room for alignment, but it worked perfectly in the end.

That table looks great, but take it from me it is NOT Ford tough. You'll want to replace the spaghetti cables it comes with. A mere 2.5 gallon water jug broke mine.

 

[Mad Martigan]

Pics attached. The little black piece flush to the tailgate is the rubber washer/spacer I added myself.

Thank you!

 

[jqgil]

I plan to upgrade the cable limit straps soon, which should allow me to increase the weight limit to around 50 lbs. I suspect the thin cable and pin are the weak points. I may also relocate the cable attachment point to the door or higher up on the frame to improve durability.

My strap broke first day. I’d like to ipgrade them with stronger ones. Eager to see how you do it!

 

[Mossback]

My strap broke first day. I’d like to ipgrade them with stronger ones. Eager to see how you do it!

I just received my cord; I will fab something up and post the results later this week, possibly.

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