Product Review: The X-Treme-Gate by JES Innovations, Inc.

If you are someone, like myself, who hauls their ATV in the back of a pick-up truck, and who needs to haul other items on your riding trips, like camping gear, coolers, gas cans, ect., and never seem to have quite enough room for all your gear, there is an answer to that problem. The X-treme-Gate is a tail gate boxing device that allows the use your tail gate for extra enclosed bed space.

The X-Treme-Gate package consists of six items in the box; the Gate, a roll of weatherstripping (not used for my truck), an instruction booklet, warranty card, and two hardware bags. The hardware bags are inside the Gate, so do not lose them. The hardware bags include 2) spring loaded latches (simple assembly required), 2) retainer posts, 8) long self-drilling sheet metal screws, 9) short self-drilling sheet metal screws, rubber gasket material, and 3) drill bits. The drill bits are not of the highest quality, so do not attempt to drill steel with them. But they are adequate for the job they need to do, that of drilling the plastic. The Gate itself is fairly heavy-duty plastic, and should be able to secure just about any normal camping and riding gear one might choose to place into it.

During shipping, a small corner of the X-treme gate was damaged.

Even though the Gate was well packaged, shipping damage was seen at one corner, with no damage being evident from the outside of the box. Perhaps JES Innovations needs to modify the packaging just a bit with reinforced corners. Though this damage appears fairly serious, it does not impede function of the Gate at all. Judicious application of a soft faced mallet was able to return it to it's original position, although the crack is still quite apparent.

Installation
 

Bedliner panel was removed to install the X-treme-Gate.

Installation is fairly straight forward and uncomplicated, and the instructions are concise.  Installation took the writer a total of 1.5 hours, and I was in no hurry.

The Gate cannot be installed over a tail gate bed liner panel, so such has to be removed. Be sure to seal up the holes left by the bed liner screws with silicone sealant to prevent rusting of your tail gate. Don't forget to re-install the tail gate latch handle bolts.

The X-Treme-Gate is centered on the tail gate and mounted using 8) long self-drilling sheet metal screw, 4) to each side, and 5) short self-drilling screws into the aluminum taper block. Holes are provided for the long screws, but the holes for the short screws need to be marked at 10-14" intervals, with location being dependent on the design of your tail gate, so pre-drilling is not possible at the factory. The writer recommends marking, punching and pre-drilling the aluminum taper block with a 1/8" high-speed steel drill bit, but do not drill into the tail gate itself. Allow the self-drilling screws to do that job, and be careful not to over-tighten them, as the sheet metal will strip out if the screws are over-torqued. Rubber gasketing is provided to place between the X-Treme-Gate and the tail gate, and between the retaining posts and truck bed, to prevent rust at the drilled holes, and provide vibration dampening.

A template is provided on both side panels for location of the latch and retaining post mounts.

Here is where you use the supplied drill bits.

A mark must be made on the bed post (white tape) with the X-Treme-Gate installed and the tail gate closed, to gauge for proper clearance between the tail gate and the retaining post, insuring the tail gate will close when installation is complete.

After the latch holes are drilled in the side panels, the rear holes are used to mark the position of the retaining posts on the truck bed, and the latches can be installed in the side panels, and the retaining posts installed into the bed, and the installation is finished.

Conclusion
Overall, the alignment and fitments were very good on the X-Treme-Gate. When installed, the Gate itself fit the writers Silverado tail gate perfectly. The latches lined up perfectly with the retaining posts, and all was snug and secure. The spring loaded latches are easily engaged and disengaged, and no problems were encountered with tail gate closure. The only problems seen were a shortage of short self-drilling screws in the hardware bags: in order for the retaining posts to have 4) screws each, the writer had to provide 4) of his own. The latch springs could stand to be a bit stiffer to insure a more positive latching, but no real difficulties are foreseen with the ones provided. One item that might come in handy for the user would be some tie-down points on the X-Treme-Gate, but this might be difficult to implement and retain it's stow-away capabilities. In case it isn't clear from the pictures, the X-Treme-Gate folds up and stows into itself when not needed, making it almost completely unobtrusive when not in use. Loading of an ATV over the Gate will be no problem, as it is less than 3" high when stowed. It appears to be strong enough to take the weight of even the heaviest ATV without damage, and enough of a gap exists between the Gate box and the sliding and fold-out panels to allow the tangs of ramps to be inserted and used just as before the Gate was installed.

A look from the back at the X-treme-Gate

The finished product not only looks good, but provides a great function to one trucks bed.

The writer took it for a test ride for 20 miles at speeds of 65 mph with an empty bed to check for movement, bowing, or latches vibrating loose, and no such problems were seen. I do believe this accessory will accompany me on the next riding trip.

For more information, see their official press release here: X-TREME GATE Slide-Out Truck Bed Extender or visit them on the web at:

JES Innovations Incorporated
P. O. Box 921
Paso Robles, CA 93447-0921
USA
Voice: (805) 239-7790
Fax: (805) 239-7715