If you have one, may as well run top down all year so you can reach over the sides to access anything in the back. Or reach over the tail gate with it closed. The worst part to me is how many with the TJ Unlimited run them and then tell everyone how awesome they are. I can only chalk that up to not wanting to admit how badly you fucked up spending 600 bucks on something that makes life in a Jeep worse. Especially in an Unlimited that has enough cargo space that the extra 139 cubic inches of storage in the drop down gate can't even matter.I assume when it was down it made it a bit harder to get into/reach into the back. Was this part of the reason you hated it?
I saw one not long ago, thought it looked pretty useful (had a little storage compartment in it), but I didn't consider that it might have it's downsides as well.