ABOUT THE RINSEKIT TAILGATE SHOWER
The RinseKit Tailgate Shower is a tailgate pad with a built-in Shower system, as the name suggest. RinseKit opted to take the one-size-fits-most approach to the Tailgate Shower, with only one option measuring 52.5-inches wide. The tailgate pad is capable of transporting 5 bikes, and is outfitted with 5 evenly distributed EVA molded bike slots. Each slot has a Velcro strap sewn on and is long enough to secure most downtubes. The pad also has padding in place for the fork stanchions to rest on. The rest of the tailgate pad’s material consists of a PVC tarpaulin exterior, with a felt interior to protect your vehicles’ paint. RinseKit uses Velcro-secured pads that can be adjusted to access the tailgate handle while still utilizing the backup camera. The Tailgate Shower is secured to the tailgate with 8 straps (4 inside, 4 outside) that connect at the base of the tailgate using a rubberized G-Hook.
Moving into the Shower portion of the RinseKit Tailgate Shower, you will find a 10-gallon bladder fitted in a large pouch in the interior of the bed. The bladder can be filled using any water source. There is a 12-volt water pump, which forces water through the braided hose providing 50 PSI of pressure. RinseKit also included their own nozzle which features 5 settings: jet, mist, center, flat, and shower. Providing power to the water pump are two options, the 4-pin trailer plug (tested) or a 12-volt plug. As for the price? The RinseKit Tailgate Shower will run you $399.95.
THE DIRT
As with a majority of our tailgate pad reviews, I used my trusted 2015 GMC Sierra as the test vehicle. It has a modest sized tailgate in terms of thickness, and a small “spoiler” that has a slight convex to it. Being a full-size truck, the one-size-fits-all approach is less than appealing, as I prefer a tailgate pad that offers maximum coverage of the tailgate. That said, that is entirely personal preference so I will try to be as objective as possible.
INSTALLATION | Installing the Rinsekit Tailgate Shower was a two-step process. Straight out of the box, installation was fairly easy and mostly familiar yet unique. With the pad draped over the tailgate, I set it into position and adjusted the exterior straps with the rubberized g-hooks to hold it in place. With those straps set, I fed the interior straps through, slid them into the G-hooks, and snugged down all the straps. The EVA molded downtube blocks were fairly stiff out of the box, and prevented the tailgate pad from sitting fully flush against the interior of the tailgate. With the tailgate pad set, I adjusted the pads to the handle/camera access, finalizing the initial install.
After filling the bladder full of the water, along with the pad baking in the sun, those molded EVA blocks had time to soften. The softening of those blocks produced slack in the fastening straps, which required tightening a handful of times over months of testing.
There was a moment when I needed to remove the pad in a hurry, with water still in the bladder. While easy to do so, it was not so easy to reinstall with a gallon or two still in the bladder. So, if you do get the RinseKit Tailgate Shower, be sure to drain the bladder before attempting any reinstallation.
IN USE | As a tailgate pad, the RinseKit Tailgate Shower will get your bike and four of your friends’ bikes to the trailhead safely and securely. Each of the downtube blocks are appropriately spaced to fit 5 of any kind of bike without unwanted bike-on-bike violence. The blocks themselves are designed in such a way that bikes will stay in place with or without use of the downtube strap. Should you want to use the straps, they are long enough to secure any size downtube, including ebikes! The thick exterior pads protect the stanchions for damage free transporting.
Using the shower portion of the RinseKit Tailgate Shower is straightforward. Filling the 10-gallon bladder is easy. As most of the testing was done during the late winter/spring season, we were blessed with post precipitation hero dirt a number of times. There were also days of standing water on the trails from snow thaw-out providing perfect conditions to test the showers capabilities. I’ve been using the 4-pin trailer plug to supply the power.
With the power turned on, the water pump was primed and ready to go. Water exits the spray nozzle at 50psi, which provided enough power to clean off our rather muddy bikes right at the trailhead. Being able to wash the bikes at the end of a ride is much more convenient than washing them after returning home or to the office when washing is the last thing that we want to do. Post wash, the hose is easy to coil up and return to the mesh pouch on the interior of the tailgate pad.
NEGATIVES | As mentioned previously, most of our testing was done during the late winter/early spring here in PNW. During these perfect riding seasons, temps can be at or below freezing on any night. Not being one that wants to remove the tailgate pad after a ride, or wanting to install the pad before a ride, I left the tailgate pad on continuously for testing. There was a ride day where we used the shower system and ran it dry…or so I thought. After numerous nights around freezing temps, the next time I used the shower system, the nozzle began leaking profusely from a seal failure in the nozzle itself. Likely, water was still in the spray nozzle somewhere and froze, damaging the seal. The rest of the shower kit was fine. RinseKit sent out a replacement spray nozzle to continue testing, but the failure was 100% due to user error. It is just a bummer to have to remove the tailgate pad and having to store it somewhere warm during the best seasons to ride, which takes away from the ease of being able to toss a bike in the back with no notice and head out for a ride.
The only other downside I could find was the one-size-fits-all nature of the pad itself. To spend $400 on a tailgate pad that doesn’t cover all of the tailgate is a hard sell for me. I can be shallow; but I want it to look good and work well for that small fortune of a price tag.
The Wolf’s Last Word
Visual opinions aside, the RinseKit Tailgate Shower performed well and held up to most of my neglect. It performed exactly as designed, getting bikes to the trail safely and securely, and providing a nice wash post ride…and cold shower if you also need one.
Now, $400 is a lot of money to shell out for a tailgate pad, even with a built-in shower. If you know you will be using it every time you ride, it could be worthwhile. However, if you don’t see yourself using it that often, it may be best to save some pesos and stick with a traditional tailgate pad. If you live in a place where the best times to ride also have freezing nights, you will need to take the pad off (or drain it well at the very least) when you are not riding, as damage to the shower system could occur as with any water storing system. If you fall into this category like we do and like the idea of a portable shower system, Rinsekit does have other non-tailgate options available and is likely the route we would take. 
Price: $399.95
Weight: 13 lbs Empty | 96 lbs Full
Website: RinseKit.com
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