Lift-gate hard closing

[Kyngfish]

Hi all,

Ran a search on this and didn't find anything specific, but apologies ahead of time if this has already been discussed.

My tailgate opens fine. Gas struts need replacement, but aren't really dead yet so not a priority.

When I close it, I really have to slam the hell out of it. Is this normal or is there some kind of fix for this?

Cheers,
Martin

 

[Shibby!]

Likely your rear latch is getting a bit corroded.

Replacement cost is pretty steep.

I drilled out a small hole mounting hole and added a secondary spring which has worked for about the last year. The latch works fine, it just needs more oomph to overcome added resistance.... it's nearly 20 years old.

You can check the resistance by playing with the latch a bit. If it doesn't return to position, consider adding the spring. I'd think in Miami you may have a different issue than mine though.

 

[Kyngfish]

Likely your rear latch is getting a bit corroded.

Replacement cost is pretty steep.

I drilled out a small hole mounting hole and added a secondary spring which has worked for about the last year. The latch works fine, it just needs more oomph to overcome added resistance.... it's nearly 20 years old.

You can check the resistance by playing with the latch a bit. If it doesn't return to position, consider adding the spring. I'd think in Miami you may have a different issue than mine though.

I'm seeing a few on eBay around 100 - is this pretty much what I'm looking for?

 

[I_bRAD]

Hi all,

Ran a search on this and didn't find anything specific, but apologies ahead of time if this has already been discussed.

My tailgate opens fine. Gas struts need replacement, but aren't really dead yet so not a priority.

When I close it, I really have to slam the hell out of it. Is this normal or is there some kind of fix for this?

Cheers,
Martin

Before you start replacing latch assemblies, have you checked to make sure your striker is tight and adjusted properly? (the loop that catches the latch mounted just ahead of the bumper in the center.)

 

[Kyngfish]

Before you start replacing latch assemblies, have you checked to make sure your striker is tight and adjusted properly? (the loop that catches the latch mounted just ahead of the bumper in the center.)

Not familiar with that - can you explain?

 

[Mark_BC]

Mine wouldn't latch when I closed the door. I sprayed all inside the mechanism on the bottom of the door with lube, worked it several times, and it works again.

Edit: I unbolted it from the door to do this. Just spraying where you can access it while mounted wasn't enough. I had to remove it to get to where I needed to spray, especially up the cable housing. Removing it caused one of the bolts to break because it was rusted in... that was a whole other story removing that but i eventually did.

 

[I_bRAD]

Not familiar with that - can you explain?

I'm talking about the steel "loop" on the lower middle of your door opening- what the latch catches on when it closes. If it's not tight, or set too far forward your door won't latch properly. I'm not sure if it's even possible to set that too far forward on this vehicle, but it's easy enough to check if it's loose or not.