Deluxe Raised Cargo Area Enclosure Install & Review

[moborb]

I didn't find a ton of info on the DELUXE raised cargo area enclosure (a weird name, btw), so I figured I'd add a post in case others are thinking about adding one.

tl;dr hella useful, has it's limitations, worth it

Ease of install/assembly - on a completely arbitrary 1-10 scale, I'd say 4. Have a buddy install this with you.

Install/assembly time - about two hours

Purchase deets - used the Fordpass points, one of the 20% off sales, and it ended up being $397.92 with tax, shipped to dealer

Unboxing - one big box, 48" x 35" x 9". Didn't put it on a scale, but I'd venture it's over 50lbs. Not the easiest to move around. It's well packed and everything's there. A couple minor scratches in the finish, but let's be real, my kids will do worse in the first week.

Assembly - Not a lot of in-process pics here. There were multiple misalignments that made assembly challenging. Had to knock it around a bit during the process. Also, the nuts that tighten the sides to the backplate are quite tricky to access. I had to try a couple socket wrenches to get one that fit in the space. After all assembled, it feels sturdy and I haven't heard any rattles (yet...I bet this will rattle eventually). The interface with the soft top frame and the lid is a little clunky. I don't fault that since the soft top frame itself is clunky. Oh, and this isn't really something that you're going to install/remove regularly. I was wondering that when we first bought it, so wanted to include that note.

First impressions - This thing is perfect for what we need. The soft top is off for 80% of the year, so the added security is a HUGE win. You do lose some volume, a couple inches on all sides. We have a 75QT cooler that used to juuuuuust fit that now does noooooot fit. The pistons for raising the lid are a nice add and I would recommend going with the DELUXE for that reason. Tie down hooks on the lid are a nice bonus.

Overall rating - Factoring in the fact that this was about 1/2 off, I give it a 9 on a completely arbitrary scale or 1-10. No complaints, glad we got it.

Before:

After:

OBLIGATORY SIDE SHOT (sorry, it is not clean):

Other Pics:

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[Nick72]

I didn't find a ton of info on the DELUXE raised cargo area enclosure (a weird name, btw), so I figured I'd add a post in case others are thinking about adding one.

tl;dr hella useful, has it's limitations, worth it

Ease of install/assembly - on a completely arbitrary 1-10 scale, I'd say 4. Have a buddy install this with you.

Install/assembly time - about two hours

Purchase deets - used the Fordpass points, one of the 20% off sales, and it ended up being $397.92 with tax, shipped to dealer

Unboxing - one big box, 48" x 35" x 9". Didn't put it on a scale, but I'd venture it's over 50lbs. Not the easiest to move around. It's well packed and everything's there. A couple minor scratches in the finish, but let's be real, my kids will do worse in the first week.

Assembly - Not a lot of in-process pics here. There were multiple misalignments that made assembly challenging. Had to knock it around a bit during the process. Also, the nuts that tighten the sides to the backplate are quite tricky to access. I had to try a couple socket wrenches to get one that fit in the space. After all assembled, it feels sturdy and I haven't heard any rattles (yet...I bet this will rattle eventually). The interface with the soft top frame and the lid is a little clunky. I don't fault that since the soft top frame itself is clunky. Oh, and this isn't really something that you're going to install/remove regularly. I was wondering that when we first bought it, so wanted to include that note.

First impressions - This thing is perfect for what we need. The soft top is off for 80% of the year, so the added security is a HUGE win. You do lose some volume, a couple inches on all sides. We have a 75QT cooler that used to juuuuuust fit that now does noooooot fit. The pistons for raising the lid are a nice add and I would recommend going with the DELUXE for that reason. Tie down hooks on the lid are a nice bonus.

Overall rating - Factoring in the fact that this was about 1/2 off, I give it a 9 on a completely arbitrary scale or 1-10. No complaints, glad we got it.

Before:

After:

OBLIGATORY SIDE SHOT (sorry, it is not clean):

Other Pics:

I've had mine in since December 2021 and still no rattles or noise, it has been solid.

 

[Jo8n]

I also thought it was a bit of a pain to install given where you gotta get a wrench sometimes.

We ran into not being able to fit things a few times. At one point, I couldn't electrically unlock the vehicle nor start it. I used the key to unlock the driver's side door. I could find no way to open the tailgate and this lockbox is otherwise secure so I couldn't get in there to get to my jump starter. Luckily, in the end, I didn't need the jump starter.

When I had to pull most of it out to do some wiring, I ended up just taking the whole thing out and haven't regretted it.

I would only consider re-installing it if there was a way to make the front side open and close with a key. With all the cool things the Bronco has, wouldn't it be nice if the rear seats had a keylock so you could optionally lock them in the up position so things like this wouldn't need a barrier there and you could actually use the space when needed?

 

[JR23]

I've installed one of these as well. I think there was a couple priors reviews here as well. While its a great item for what I needed (soft top down a lot, 2 car seats in back so no need to but rear seats down) there are a couple caveats :

If you are doing your subwoofer, make sure its done and you don't need to get back in there before installing this.

Also I installed a tailgate table and had to do quite a bit of trimming for clearance and cutting the lid is a bit of a pain but doable, and it came out pretty clean.

Installing something like the DV8 Trunk Compressor mount would require a lot of disassembly, which has kept me from buying it.

 

[madbaird]

I also got it through all the points received when I got my Bronco. After having it for 18 months, the only gripe I have is there is not a passthrough that you can open to put large items through when needed. I took out the back bolts and modified the back gate to allow for a quick disconnect because those bolts in the back are a pain in the arse to get out in a hurry.

 

[Trueblue2296]

I've had mine 2 years also no rattle still really solid.

I have a hard top and a Soft top. This has a lot of security benefits with the soft top. It's almost impossible to easily get into unless the back door is unlocked. Opening the lid on the other hand is a huge pain. it could help if you had the soft top assist to hold the soft top up without need the kick stand.

This is not a problem with the hard top but it is also really not needed if you have a hard top. The biggest benefit is when the top or doors are off. keeps everything in the back safe from theft.

I had one issue when my battery died and I couldn't get the back door unlocked and my jumper cables were back there. Made life hard for a minute trying to find someone with cables.

 

[nottinbe]

I had one issue when my battery died and I couldn't get the back door unlocked and my jumper cables were back there. Made life hard for a minute trying to find someone with cables.

I hadn't thought of this scenario - thank you for this, relocating my jumper pack now...

 

[nottinbe]

I also got it through all the points received when I got my Bronco. After having it for 18 months, the only gripe I have is there is not a passthrough that you can open to put large items through when needed. I took out the back bolts and modified the back gate to allow for a quick disconnect because those bolts in the back are a pain in the arse to get out in a hurry.

I've been wanting to do this, could you describe how you did it?

 

[Trueblue2296]

I also got it through all the points received when I got my Bronco. After having it for 18 months, the only gripe I have is there is not a passthrough that you can open to put large items through when needed. I took out the back bolts and modified the back gate to allow for a quick disconnect because those bolts in the back are a pain in the arse to get out in a hurry.

I also would like info on this. Will it still keep it inaccessible while top and doors are off??

Pics if you have them would be great.

 

[Coldsmoke]

I’ve had mine installed for about 9 months now and love it. The added security it provides when the top is off is the main reason for the purchase. I too used my Ford points and the total cost was around $300 after the points were used.
Two issues I experienced:
1) If you use the top lift pro to remove your hard top, you need to remove the deck lid first so the top lift pro can slide into the cargo area to lift the top. It’s kind of a pain, but I intend to install quick release bolts to accommodate this.

2) the deck lid rattled after I first got it. Drove me nuts. However, I solved this by squirting some silicone caulk into the cross member on the underside of the lid. There are to access holes located there that I used to insert the caulk. Viola! Rattle gone.

 

[MyBHinds]

I’ve had mine installed for about 9 months now and love it. The added security it provides when the top is off is the main reason for the purchase. I too used my Ford points and the total cost was around $300 after the points were used.
Two issues I experienced:
1) If you use the top lift pro to remove your hard top, you need to remove the deck lid first so the top lift pro can slide into the cargo area to lift the top. It’s kind of a pain, but I intend to install quick release bolts to accommodate this.

2) the deck lid rattled after I first got it. Drove me nuts. However, I solved this by squirting some silicone caulk into the cross member on the underside of the lid. There are to access holes located there that I used to insert the caulk. Viola! Rattle gone.

In regard to issue 1 - I had wondered if that would be an issue due to the angle the top lift comes in. I had purchased the RollnJack for my hardtop and use the same cargo enclosure. I trimmed the support arms but never had any issues. But I had also purchased mine before it was approved to work with the Bronco. Been good so far, almost two years.

 

[MEDISN]

I had one issue when my battery died and I couldn't get the back door unlocked and my jumper cables were back there. Made life hard for a minute trying to find someone with cables.

Good point - glad you mentioned this. I need to relocate my NOCO jumper from the cargo area.

 

[Thomas]

I also got it through all the points received when I got my Bronco. After having it for 18 months, the only gripe I have is there is not a passthrough that you can open to put large items through when needed. I took out the back bolts and modified the back gate to allow for a quick disconnect because those bolts in the back are a pain in the arse to get out in a hurry.

Also would like to know what you did to make this happen?

 

[DallasCajun]

I installed on of these on my BRaptor and am relatively pleased with it but considering selling it and replacing with a Slipstream from Diabolical. Simple reasons are:

• With Braptor the lid really can't open much because of the Raptor brace on the rear
• Blocks ability to use something like a TopLift or RollNJack
• NOT easy to remove the lid
• Lose ability to fold-down to pass through any large items
• Takes up enough space on the sides to make a difference (for me) as I have some wide items that don't fit well.
• Lose access to side panels and therefore can't really access the Auz wiring for some other accessories I'm interested in (speakers, etc).

TBH I just haven't found the energy to pull everything out and box it up in order to try to sell. I've also considered buying a RollNJack and simply cutting the posts down a few inches to get it to work on mine.

If I would have known then what I know now I would not have purchased this one for my needs.

 

[Squashed]

I've had mine in for over a year. I have a hard top that has only came off once. I bought it to keep recovery gear, bagged power tank, tools and what not from becoming yard sale items. Or missiles in an event of my lack of fear wheeling. No real issues other than its a tight fit closing the lid and hitting the cheap plastic trim interior trim pieces. Worth the $ 300.00 bucks. I used my ford pass points to purchase it also . I keep the back seats down for small items and strap my Lil ice cooler with bungie cords to the front molle section of the enclosure.

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