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Grill Swing Arm Modification to Table/Cutting Board
I just wanted to share my latest "Mod" as others sharing their Mods always save me time, effort and wasted resources. As much as I love making things more useful and practical for my needs, I see no need to reinvent the wheel when someone else already has suffered through the pain of doing so. I greatly appreciate others sharing their wisdom.
I had searched high and low though for the following and either didn't look in the right place or someone hasn't shared their knowledge yet on the matter. And, trust me, I am an avid Google user and usually can turn up the results at some point I am looking for.
My quest started because I had decided as much as I love my Outdoor Kitchen on our Lacrosse 318BHS, the little grill that mounts on the swing arm assembly that is attached to the rear bumper just didn't do much for me. I love my Coleman Road Trip, which I used religiously with our previous Travel Trailer and continue to use it for about 90-95% of our grilling. With this in mind, I kept thinking what a waste the swinging arm bracket was sitting there and not being utilized.
Seeing fellow campers with the tiny shelves that mount on the grill bracket rail on the side of their units got me to thinking maybe I should use my arm for a table. Of course, I also assumed that someone else had already thought of this and there would be a ready made table/shelf out there like I had in mind. But, my searches all seemed to just turn up the small shelf which is nothing more than a resting place for a beer or two, made of laminated particle board and in no way useful for what i had in mind.
So, my idea morphed into the following and actually became really simple to institute. Seeing as this is my first New Thread on this forum, I hope I don't over do the pictures, but you know the saying about a picture being worth a thousand words and all. Plus, I'm sure some are already thinking I have used up my thousand words.
I decided to use a Cutting Board as my surface so it would be dual purpose and weather resistant. I was able to purchase an 18x24 board that was a 1/2 inch thick for about $23. I wanted to use the bracket/rod setup that hangs on the swinging arm bracket so that I could still easily go back and use the grill if desired without having to undo anything. I concluded the easiest thing to do was bore holes in the cutting board at an angle so I could slip the rods through the board and then allow the board to come down and rest on the rods. There are two tabs welded on top of the rods that keep the grill from sliding too far back, so I just put to dimples in the bottom of the board where they would help keep it in position.
I did use a scrap piece of plywood first to test my hole angle and placement so as not to mess up my cutting board I waited a week for.
As for particulars, in case someone besides me decides this is useful, the holes were bored using a 5/8 paddle bit, they were 18 3/4 inches apart on center, 4 inches from the back of the board, 2 1/2 inches in from the sides and I did have to egg shape the edges of them just a bit with a Dremel to get the board to lay flat on the rods.
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