I installed a drop down rear table in my GX, it took about 4 hours and $10 of new parts, plus some some scrap and parts I already had. If you bought all new parts and wood, this would cost about $50. The cheapest table you can buy for the GX is the Front Runner table, which runs about $130.

First, I cut a piece of (nice) scrap plywood down to 40” by 15”. I stained this with a natural stain.

Then I used a 30” piano hinge which I already had to attach it to the bottom of the rear door, using the included screws. This piano hinge lets the table swing up and down while still being attached to the door.

Next, I bought a gate latch from Home Depot to secure the table in the up position. I secured this to the top of the door and the other piece to the table itself, making sure it could latch before I screwed anything together.

Great, now I have a table that can stay in the closed position, but won’t stay level. I fixed that using some old rope, the same rope I used to make the rear door handle. I cut two holes in the outside corners of the table, and kept drilling into the plastic of the door itself. Here, I had to remove the rear door, for like the 10th time since owning the GX, and route the rope behind the plastic rear door cover.

I pushed the rope inside, put a very large washer back there, then tied the rope and covered it in electrical tape. While I was back there, I super glued the back of the piano hinge screws and the gate hardware screws as well.

Once the rope is secure behind the door, I put the door plastic back on, then routed the other side of the rope through the holes I cut in the wood earlier. I put another large washer on the bottom of the table, then tied the rope into a knot. Now you’ve got a finished, functional table.

I showed it to some friends (Kelley is frosted flakes), and they asked why didn’t I stain it. I used a natural stain, but it was pretty light, so I pulled the wood back off and re-stained using a MUCH darker stain. Looks way better! While the wood was off, I rounded the corners where the rope runs through the holes, so that you don’t walk by it and hit yourself on a sharp corner.

Once the stain was dry, I put the table back on the same way as before. The rear door pocket is still pretty functional! I can still store toilet paper, paper towels, and a few other things. The gate hardware has a spot for a lock, which I just put a carabiner in, so that it doesn’t unlatch while driving. I also added some clear plastic bumpers onto the rear door plastic so that the wood doesn’t run against plastic while driving.

I might cut the ends of the rope down a bit under the table, they’re a bit long, but I’m leaving them for now just in case. I’m excited to use this table on road trips with our dogs!