'97 Expo Tail Gate

[Guest]

Hey! My father and i both have expeditions, his a 97, mine a 2000. He's in love with that truck and has damn near 200K miles on her, we hit a slight bump the other day: the tailgate wont open. glass or door, the handle isn't grabbing anything.

My question:

How does one open the tail gate with out a handle to open it with? Need to take the door apart and see what's wrong, if not fix her, but can't get the door open.

any help would be greatly appreciated,

Bill & Bill

 

[rwinch]

This is a classic case of %^@#$%#@$%^@!!!!! :barf:

From the service CD I have, you have to access the handle unit from the inside, by removing the plastic trim panels.......but the liftgate needs to be open.

I have done this (to check on the rear wiper unit), and I don't think the panels can be removed with the liftgate closed. But give it a try.

The upper trim piece is removed (it just pulls off...gently). Then the lower trim piece is removed, but first remove the lift assist strap, which has the only screws holding the trim in place.

You may just have to sacrifice the lower trim piece, and salvage a used one from a junk yard to fix this.

Good Luck.

 

[Guest]

Well, let's just say, i've accomplished this task i crawled inside, grabbed the little bit of moulding that goes over the bracket where teh glass closes and gave a few rough tugs and she came off, pull it out, un-hitched the door, got out, fixed it, closed her took a few hours to figure out what was wrong. one of the springs popped loose, so i put it back. Thanks loads !