Tailgate Hinge Upgrade

[KMarlow11]

Hey guys, looking for some more product advice. I’m sure it’s been said many times before, but what is my best option to upgrade my rear door hinges? My stock ones (I have a 1999 so I’ve been told they’re cast aluminum) are pretty worn out. When I open the door, you can see the door drop once it leaves the latch and it takes quite a bit of force to even make the door swing. I took the spare off of the Jeep to see if that made it any better and it actually made it even harder to move the door because there was less momentum to help it swing. I tried lubricant but it didn’t seem to help any so now I’ve decided to replace and upgrade the hinges. I run 31 x 10.5s so the rear carrier does hold a little more weight than a stock wheel/tire. There were 31s on the Jeep basically it’s whole life from what I understand, so that’s 21 years of extra weight on that door. I prefer to keep the stock tire carrier and just upgrade the hinges but I’m open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!

 

[BuildBreakRepeat]

Exogate or Moryde (essentially the same thing)

 

[Mark K]

I second the MorRyde recommendation. I installed them a year ago and have run BFG 31s for 19 years. These new hinges have grease points, too. And, since they were designed by Jeff Scherb, they can accept accessory mounts. I use the RotoPax 2 gallon panel.

 

[LONGJP2]

Whether you replace just the hinges or the whole carrier; make sure you check the latch alignment, and more importantly adjust the tire snubbers to reduce spare tire movement and vibration.
Search Heavy Duty tailgate hinges.

 

[taylormade73]

I have the MorRyde and love it. But, I noticed @Navy Seal has Rusty's tire carrier which is reinforced inside the cab and is thick heavy duty steel. It looks nice and comes with HD hinges, tailgate reinforcement , and tire carrier . Anybody familiar with it and its performance? Compared to MorRyde?

 

[YourWorstEnemy]

Thanks for the heads up...so far had the Rustys for several months and so far no complaints with a 38 strapped to it...no movement the tailgate moves and opens smooth and has zero drop or give when its opened...but its $200ish more than the Exogate so the only thing I can see is the Rustys is way stronger and the hinges and internal support is much better but if you just have a 31 and are looking for more support and better hinges than I would save money and go with what the guys above have experience with it should be all you need. If you want 33s or 35s years down the road then the Rustys can adapt to any size or width combo and last a very long time with more weight on it

 

[Chris]

Exogate or Moryde (essentially the same thing)

X2 to this. Accept no other substitute.

 

[KMarlow11]

Thanks for the heads up...so far had the Rustys for several months and so far no complaints with a 38 strapped to it...no movement teh tailgate moves and opens smooth and has zero drop or give when its opened...but its $200ish more than the Exogate so the only thing I can see is the Rustys is way stronger and the hinges and internal support is much better but if you just have a 31 and are looking for more support and better hinges than I would save money and go with what the guys above have experience with it should be all you need. If you want 33s or 35s years down the road then the Rustys can adapt to any size or width combo and last a very long time with more weight on it

Thanks for the info! I have a 2.5 with a 5 speed so I have 4.10 gears, therefore I’ll be on 31s for a while because I’d rather not regear. So whatever I go with will only need to support a 31, which is why just the hinge upgrade was my main option

 

[Sunder]

I have the Exogate and love it (aside from the fact I can't run my roof rack with it now, due to location/size of the larger hinges).
That Rusty's one looks sweet too.

You may only ever stick with 31's...but depending on the price you'll pay for just the hinges vs one of the above recommended solutions, you may want to at least consider the peace of mind that comes with "overkill".
I think when Exogate was first advertising, they showed a picture of a 200lbs+ guy standing on top of the spare tire. Who knows if kids are ever in the picture and like to crawl up on things, etc.

My friend's stupid kid kept climbing into the backseat of my Jeep by stepping on the plastic fender...despite repeatedly being told not to. Poor parenting aside, who knows what kids would do if I wasn't around...I remember the stupid things I did, lol. Just saying...

 

[NDSpeed]

If I were looking to just replace the hinges, instead of getting another tire carrier, who would you recommend for that.

 

[taylormade73]

If I were looking to just replace the hinges, instead of getting another tire carrier, who would you recommend for that.

MorRyde sells just the HD hinges as well.

 

[Tldelaney]

Thanks for the heads up...so far had the Rustys for several months and so far no complaints with a 38 strapped to it...no movement the tailgate moves and opens smooth and has zero drop or give when its opened...but its $200ish more than the Exogate so the only thing I can see is the Rustys is way stronger and the hinges and internal support is much better but if you just have a 31 and are looking for more support and better hinges than I would save money and go with what the guys above have experience with it should be all you need. If you want 33s or 35s years down the road then the Rustys can adapt to any size or width combo and last a very long time with more weight on it

View attachment 138461View attachment 138462

What kind of adjustments can you do with rustys? In out, tilt, ect?

 

[KMarlow11]

MorRyde sells just the HD hinges as well.

Does anyone have a link for just the hinges? Extreme Terrain only has the whole rear reinforcement kit, not just the hinges. I see the hinges should be around $160 but I’d rather buy from a reputable site rather than eBay or something. Part number is JP54-025

 

[taylormade73]

Does anyone have a link for just the hinges? Extreme Terrain only has the whole rear reinforcement kit, not just the hinges. I see the hinges should be around $160 but I’d rather buy from a reputable site rather than eBay or something. Part number is JP54-025

https://www.retrofitoffroad.com/sho...ryde-hd-tj-wrangler-tailgate-hinges-jp54-025/

 

[YourWorstEnemy]

What kind of adjustments can you do with rustys? In out, tilt, ect?

In and out no tilt...its very heavy and overbuilt which seems to be something I always end up doing
more pics of the reinforcement...just lift up the carpet a bit and after the install you never would have known its there... and it fits any lug pattern

 

[Ephry73]

In and out no tilt...its very heavy and overbuilt which seems to be something I always end up doing
more pics of the reinforcement...just lift up the carpet a bit and after the install you never would have known its there... and it fits any lug pattern

View attachment 138543
View attachment 138544

That's definitely worth upgrading into. In town I am not using the spare currently, but looking into something like this. Thanks for sharing.

 

[YourWorstEnemy]

That's definitely worth upgrading into. In town I am not using the spare currently, but looking into something like this. Thanks for sharing.

My pleasure man

 

[BuildBreakRepeat]

@Navy Seal I’m wondering how your reinforcing plate ends up being stronger than 1/4” plate on the body and tailgate plus the reinforcement given by the exogate. I know yours is boxed, but the exogate has a significant amount of more steel in it.

 

[YourWorstEnemy]

@Navy Seal I’m wondering how your reinforcing plate ends up being stronger than 1/4” plate on the body and tailgate plus the reinforcement given by the exogate. I know yours is boxed, but the exogate has a significant amount of more steel in it.

I would counter that the Rusty’s piece is one contiguous unit without reusing the factory tire carrier but providing a solid steel engineered piece...it is boxed and welded steel. The hinge bolts are larger it seems all grade 8 fasteners greasable and the hinge system more robust with boxed hinge support, roll cage tie in and not just mild C channel steel. The exo looks like a good solution as well but for me it looks a lot more like some angle iron welded in a picture frame and not a engineered designed unit that fits with the other equipment on my rig...no bashing just from my point of view...

 

[BuildBreakRepeat]

I would counter that the Rusty’s piece is one contiguous unit without reusing the factory tire carrier but providing a solid steel engineered piece...it is boxed and welded steel. The hinge bolts are larger it seems all grade 8 fasteners greasable and the hinge system more robust with boxed hinge support, roll cage tie in and not just mild C channel steel. The exo looks like a good solution as well but for me it looks a lot more like some angle iron welded in a picture frame and not a engineered designed unit that fits with the other equipment on my rig...no bashing just from my point of view...

I ended up not using the exogate reinforcement on the inside as I had the prized and rare ORFAB before. I also am not running the stock carrier - Mine is 1/4” continuous steel. I’ll attach pics in minute. Obviously mine can’t be compared to what you get in the box. I like that yours is one continuous unit.