Has anyone added or thought about adding a handle to the lower rear door to help open it so you don’t have to pry from the side corners?
My lower door seal drags a little on my tailgate when opening and I thought about adding a handle in the lower center. 
Try unlatching the door, then opening the tailgate.
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Thanks for the wisdom but I don’t always need the tailgate down to throw something in the bed.
Plus I’m not the only person using the truck/camper. I can’t expect everyone to know the proper opening procedure.
Do you actually have to pry yours or is that just an exaggeration? With mine I just pop both latches and it sits far enough away from the side frames after that it’s easy to just grab it and pop it up.
Not “pry” but I do have to pull it.
Enough that it will stress the hinge over time.
Well, that doesn’t sound like a good design - where one has to pull on the side corners to let the strut open the hatch, but we’re not supposed to put stress on the hinge like that because the hinge may fail. 
The tailgate gasket rubs the top of the tailgate.
If I understand you correctly, the gasket on mine is taller and seals against the back of the tailgate. Is yours sealing against the top? Maybe you need a taller gasket. I think they had a variety of different height gaskets when they did mine.
Yes. My third gen Tacoma gets a gasket that seals at the top of the tailgate. Not on the outside.
Pretty sure the seal is universal. I was told it was left long for a better seal but could cut it down if I felt it was annoying. I can;t open my rear door without really prying on it. If I did it more than once, I think I’d bend the panel. But, I like it that way. It keeps all the sand and water out of my bed. I just pop the latches and pull the latch on the tailgate and it will open. It’s not the most convenient but i’d rather not have the sand and dirt in the back.
Anyway, they said you can cut it down to make it easier to open. I believe there are lines on the rubber you can follow.
Saw your thread. I designed these for this exact purpose. If you’re interested take a look. Hope they help!