MORryde Jeep Wrangler TJ Storegate Tailgate Storage

[MikekiM]

Growing tired of lifting stuff over the Bestop Instatrunk when loading for a camping trip, but being a soft top only DD and living where I do, some level of storage security is needed. Also need a tailgate table.

My solution has been the Bestop InstaTrunk and a DIY removable tailgate table. Not married to either.

Considered ditching my rear seat and installing a Tuffy Security Deck but am not ready to commit to either going seatless or the $700 price tag. There is a cheap Hooke Road version that eases the impact on my wallet but doesn't resolve the seat delete. And, I don't need that much secured storage full time so toting the security enclosure full time doesn't make sense.

Don't [can't] store much in the InstaTrunk. I have an ammo can filled with tools; fire extinguisher, Jeep branded blanket, some recovery gear and a bottle jack. Occasionally I'll throw a small computer bag in there but that's it.

Came across the MORyde Storegate Tailgate Storage solution. Anyone have experience with this? No reviews to be found.

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[TheBoogieman]

It doesn't look like you can store much in it. I'm guessing it's not cheap either.

 

[MikekiM]

$189 offset by the proceeds of the selling the InstaTrunk

My tools can be refitted to a tool roll doing away with the ammo can. The fire extinguisher would go someplace else. Idiot move to store it in a locked box. The bottle jack will fit. Tow strap and Molle bag of stuff will fit.

 

[Artsifrtsi]

I have no experience with it, but looks like anything stored in it that's metal would be subject to a lot of sealed up moisture and humidity from the tailgate vents.

 

[MikekiM]

I have no experience with it, but looks like anything stored in it that's metal would be subject to a lot of sealed up moisture and humidity from the tailgate vents.

The InstaTrunk isn't vented. Has a foam seal against the tailgate.
I call that a wash.

 

[MikekiM]

Searching around, I see Hooke Road makes a cheaper knock off.. all metal. But the lock mechanism is huge and renders the fold down door useless as a table.

 

[JustDandee]

$189 offset by the proceeds of the selling the InstaTrunk

My tools can be refitted to a tool roll doing away with the ammo can. The fire extinguisher would go someplace else. Idiot move to store it in a locked box. The bottle jack will fit. Tow strap and Molle bag of stuff will fit.

I popped on the site, do they still make it? Saw one for the JK listings … it’s got potential as another place to have secured storage and you get a small table option with cup holder . Have to be mindful it’s probably going to be a rattle box with out some towels or padding.

 

[mjonesjr84]

Keep in mind that it will intrude into the minimal storage you have behind the back seat when the door is shut.

I have the Bestop Instatrunk as well and love it. I have redone my tool storage to exclusively fit under the rear seat. I have the Milwaukee Packout socket set for metric and standard sockets, then a PRP storage bag with my jumper cables, misc. wrenches, screwdrivers, and pilers. I have a 24" breaker bar with a 5" extension and 3/4" socket that is dedicated for lug nuts.

Packout Socket Set: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/ratchets/2023455
PRP Bag: https://www.prpseats.com/product/tool-bag/

This gives me my full Instatrunk area for use. Granted, I do have a 8" Kicker sub mounted in there. With it and my first aid kit, I still have the middle and passenger area in mine free.

 

[MikekiM]

I popped on the site, do they still make it? Saw one for the JK listings … it’s got potential as another place to have secured storage and you get a small table option with cup holder . Have to be mindful it’s probably going to be a rattle box with out some towels or padding.

Hmmm…. Figures. It allows adding to cart with no mention of being out of stock until you try to check out.

Would have been easy to load it without rattles.

Par for the course

Keep in mind that it will intrude into the minimal storage you have behind the back seat when the door is shut.

I have the Bestop Instatrunk as well and love it. I have redone my tool storage to exclusively fit under the rear seat. I have the Milwaukee Packout socket set for metric and standard sockets, then a PRP storage bag with my jumper cables, misc. wrenches, screwdrivers, and pilers. I have a 24" breaker bar with a 5" extension and 3/4" socket that is dedicated for lug nuts.

Packout Socket Set: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/ratchets/2023455
PRP Bag: https://www.prpseats.com/product/tool-bag/

This gives me my full Instatrunk area for use. Granted, I do have a 8" Kicker sub mounted in there. With it and my first aid kit, I still have the middle and passenger area in mine free.

View attachment 547495
View attachment 547494

I camp out of the TJ three or four times a month year-round. Daily driver the rest of the time.

I have all of my camp gear in two medium-large storage bins which makes it easy to pack. I throw on the Bestop cargo basket (takes five minutes), the Rockslide RotoPax (another five minutes), fold up the back seat and put the bins and a few other bits in back. Works great but lifting the bins over the InstaTrunk is a challenge given size and weight.

I don’t use all of the space in InstaTrunk. The ideal situation would be a smaller lockable box with enough room between it and back seat to stand the half door soft uppers.

Candidly this box was looking like Nirvana, so of course it’s unavailable

I see you have an LED triggered from a pin switch. I did the same. Mounted under the InstaTrunk. A second light is mounted under the tailgate basket asking down on the table. Also installed an override switch under the InstaTrunk so I can extinguish the lights when at camp with the tailgate open but the tailgate table not being used

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Keep in mind that it will intrude into the minimal storage you have behind the back seat when the door is shut.

I have the Bestop Instatrunk as well and love it. I have redone my tool storage to exclusively fit under the rear seat. I have the Milwaukee Packout socket set for metric and standard sockets, then a PRP storage bag with my jumper cables, misc. wrenches, screwdrivers, and pilers. I have a 24" breaker bar with a 5" extension and 3/4" socket that is dedicated for lug nuts.

Packout Socket Set: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/ratchets/2023455
PRP Bag: https://www.prpseats.com/product/tool-bag/

This gives me my full Instatrunk area for use. Granted, I do have a 8" Kicker sub mounted in there. With it and my first aid kit, I still have the middle and passenger area in mine free.

View attachment 547495
View attachment 547494

This seems like a better solution than the tailgate mounted storage. And it would appear to offer more storage overall.

 

[MikekiM]

This seems like a better solution than the tailgate mounted storage. And it would appear to offer more storage overall.

I've lived with the InstaTrunk for a few years and had one in two of JKs.
At this point I am not looking to maximize overall storage or even secured storage. I am hoping to maximize ease of loading the bed.

 

[MikekiM]

Bummer... this looks like a dead end
The netted version is available but the one with the lockable door is not.

 

[JustDandee]

Random thought maybe you find a wall mounted tool box that hits the dimensions? Something like this mounted upside down?.


https://www.amazon.com/POLUP-Cabine...op-Assembly/dp/B0CNZ15BB4/?tag=wranglerorg-20

 

[DeltaNu1142]

Bumping this… is the netted version of the MorRyde box just like the lockable version… but with a net? It may be worth looking into. Adding a door, hinges, cables, and a lock wouldn’t be too hard.

@jscherb may know…

 

[jscherb]

Bumping this… is the netted version of the MorRyde box just like the lockable version… but with a net? It may be worth looking into. Adding a door, hinges, cables, and a lock wouldn’t be too hard.

@jscherb may know…

The JK Storegate with hard door/table is still on MORryde's web site (https://morryde.com/products/storegate-hard-cover/), although I don't know if they currently have any inventory. The only difference between the JK and the TJ version is that the TJ version has a cutout to go around the cover of the TJ's tailgate contacts, so the JK version can be adapted to the TJ by making that cutout.

I had some extra shells before I moved everything to my new house in Delaware last year and I can't remember if I moved them or got rid of them. If I still have them they're in a storage unit with lots of other things I haven't had time to move to the house yet. If I come across them I'll post them here and make them available. It's easy enough to trim the raw shell to make any version; the shells all start out the same. This photo was taken in 2023 just before I started downsizing all of my extra Jeep stuff for the move:

I've got Storegates in both my JKU and my LJ and I don't know where I'd store all the stuff I keep in them if I didn't have them, I find them very useful, although not enough people bought them to keep them active in the MORryde product lineup. Oh well.

I've got the net version in my LJ:

And the door/table version in my JKU:

 

[DeltaNu1142]

If I come across them I'll post them here and make them available.

IN!

 

[MikekiM]

If I come across them I'll post them here and make them available.



View attachment 586784

If you find them, I'll take one.

How are you using the second set of tailgate contacts?

 

[red02tj]

I had to give up my Instatrunk when I put in my Bestop rear seat, anyone know if the Moreryde or the Hooke will fit with aftermarket rear seats?

 

[MikekiM]

I had to give up my Instatrunk when I put in my Bestop rear seat, anyone know if the Moreryde or the Hooke will fit with aftermarket rear seats?

I'd have to give up the InstaTrunk too. Was planning to anyway, in favor of either of the Tuffy tailgate security products. the Bestop isn't high enough to clear the MORryde or any other tailgate table I have come across.

 

[jscherb]

If you find them, I'll take one.

How are you using the second set of tailgate contacts?

You've got good eyes, most people don't notice the extra set of contacts.

Spoiler alert: what follows is probably more than you wanted to know when you asked that question but I figured I'd post it all because if I just say it's for a tailgate power lock someone's bound to ask me how to do it .

...

Back when I built the Safari Cab hardtop and barn door for the LJ, I installed a lock actuator in the tailgate so I could lock/unlock it from the driver's seat. I found this actuator at an electronics surplus place and installed it in the tailgate.

The actuator was $6 at the surplus place but the can be found at Amazon in case anyone wants to do this project: https://www.amazon.com/P-P-RA-Actuator-Applications/dp/B07V9YGZJ4/?tag=wranglerorg-20

The lock actuator is thin enough to slip inside the tailgate (many aren't). The yellow dashed line shows where the body of the actuator is, some of it is out of the frame of this photo. The green circles show the screw heads that attach the actuator to the inside of the tailgate. The orange line shows the rod from the actuator to the lock rod (it's behind some of the latch mechanism so I drew it in for clarity).

And rather than than have wires to power the actuator draped from the body to the tailgate, I added a second pair of tailgate contacts:

I pulled a lock switch from some Ford vehicle at the u-pull junkyard and mounted it on the panel below the steering wheel. Also added the USB outlet below the switch, although I added that later, not part of the lock project - the outlet allows me to charge my phone in it's suction cup holder on the windshield with a very short wire - not a long wire draped all over the interior.

I wanted an OEM-looking switch that would install nicely somewhere in the LJ's dash and the best one I could find in the u-pull was the Ford one in the photo above. It's a single-pole double-throw center-off momentary switch so to reverse polarity for the lock actuator relays were required.

But if you can find a double-pole double-throw center-off momentary switch you like you can wire it like this:

If you notice the date on the first wiring diagram I did this project back in 2010 so for the last 15 years I've been able to lock/unlock the tailgate from the driver's seat.

And I modified the Storegate shell to clear both sets of contacts on the tailgate.