Barn door cup holders

I wish I could take credit for this, but I saw a photo online. These cup holders make Fezzick an even better place to spend time. I’ve installed one of these on each of the barn door panels. The simple version is, “just drop a boat cup holder into the top of the barn door panel.

Of course I had to make things a bit more complicated. I added a drain line from the cup holder through the barn door. It empties onto the rear bumper. Looking at the weather seals on the rear hatch, I think that rain water can collect on the top of the barn door and I didn’t want to collect that inside the door, as I already have enough rust.

Materials and tools needed

1. Boat cup holder with drain nipple
2. Flexible hose with inside diameter the same as the outside diameter of the drain nipple.
3. Hose clamp to fit your drain hose
4. Blue tape
5. Silicone caulk
6. Hole saw sized to fit your cup holder snugly
7. Drill bit sized for outside diameter of drain hose (or slightly larger)
8. Drill bit sized for inside diameter of drain nipple (or slightly smaller)
9. Drill for hole saw & larger drill bit
10. Compass (For drawing circles, not finding North)
11. Pen or pencil
12. Ruler (I used a combination square, but any ruler would work)
13. Enough fortitude to put holes in your baby!

First off apologies for the lack of sizing in that list. There was a lot of trial and error in this project, so I’ll tell you how I figured things out.

The boat cup holders seem to come in three colors – white, black, and stainless. I choose black and most people don’t seem to realize Ford didn’t install them. It’s your truck, you do what you like.

The first pair of cup holders I received had no nipple for the drain line, even though the photo online clearly showed one.

The second cup holders were only sold in a four pack so I have two extras in the garage!

Oh well, time to start cutting into the truck.

Pull the inside panel off the doors by pulling gently. I covered the high section of the barn door panels with painters tape to protect the surrounding area and allow me to make visible layout marks.

Using the compass, find the center line (front to back) of the panel. If you’ve forgotten that day in high school geometry –

1. Set compass to draw a circle with diameter greater than one half the width of the panel.
2. Draw an arc from each side.
3. A line connecting the two intersections is the center line.

Using your ruler, make the crossing line to set the center of your hole. I used the combination square to ensure that both cup holders were inset the same distance from the edge.

Drill, Baby, drill!!!

At this point I had a problem. The description of the cup holders stated that they were 3 1/2″ cup holders. So I drilled a 3 1/2″ hole. When I dropped the cup holder into the hole, I saw that the smaller diameter was 3 1/2″ but at that size, the cup holder sat about 2″ proud of the panel and the rear glass wouldn’t close.

Off to the local home improvement store to see if they had a hole saw the correct size. I “borrowed” two framing squares off the shelf and maneuvered them around the cup holder until all four sides had the same measurement. It’s much easier to do than to describe. Luckily, they had a 4 1/8″ hole saw that was compatible with my arbor.

Now the cup holder fits flush with the top of the door.

Get to the under side of your door with the larger bit. Drill a hole for the drain exit. It doesn’t need to be aligned with the cup holder at all, but it does need to be on the same side as the metal divider inside the door.

Pull the drain hose up from the driveway through both holes & to the top of the door.

Before you connect the drain hose to the cup holder, take the smaller drill bit in your fingers (NOT THE DRILL) and clean out any plastic bits blocking the inside of the drain nipple.

Use the hose clamp to secure the hose to the bottom of the cup holder.

Remove the blue tape.

Apply a bead of silicone to the underside of the top lip on the cup holder.

Wet your finger with water to smooth out the filet of caulk that squeezes out when you press the cup holder down.

Pull most of the excess drain hose out of the bottom of the door. Leave a little extra so that the hose can move around the door check strap (that bent piece of metal that keeps the door from opening too far.

Cut the hose just below the bottom of the door. You don’t want it to rub on the top of the bumper every time you open & close the door. Seal this hole with silicone. This one doesn’t have to be pretty, unless you think you’ll be lying under the tailgate after using your fancy new custom cup holder.

Re-install your inside panel by pressing gently on all the mounting studs you have left after 19 years.

Cheers, mate!

If you have any good ideas on where to mount the bottle opener, feel free to comment below.

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