Tailgate problems

[acz62]

Having problems with rear glass and tail gate. Any body got any suggestions? I have all new internals from LMC and had a body shop install them. Got home from the shop and rolled down the window and lowered the tailgate. Now window will not go up. anybody know any reliable OEM parts or an alternative.

 

[mikev]

Having problems with rear glass and tail gate. Any body got any suggestions? I have all new internals from LMC and had a body shop install them. Got home from the shop and rolled down the window and lowered the tailgate. Now window will not go up. anybody know any reliable OEM parts or an alternative.

You'll need to remove the inside access panel from the tailgate and take a look around.

Why are you asking about parts/alternative solutions when you should be taking it back to the body shop and asking them why your window won't roll up...?

 

[combatmech]

Or, did you try the lock on the handle? Maybe it got stuck in the locked position....That would cause the handle to spin.

 

[wallew]

I use LMC truck parts all the time.

THE PROBLEM is they (and everybody ELSE) uses cheap chinese metal that in the rear tailgate fails almost EVERY TIME shortly after installation. It's not your body shop's fault IF that's what has happened. Giving them parts that fail upon installation is problematic at best.

Ask me WHY I know this.

Find some parts out of a civi blazer in a salvage yard. Clean them up (media blast or wire brush the rust off) and THEN install those. They will work properly.

And does the handle just spin when you turn it?

Chances are high you blew out the 'clutch' - see this page (46) in the LMC Truck catalog. Look at the top left corner and look at part #6

LMC Truck Parts - Page 46

THAT part is made of pot metal and will NEVER hold up to any kind of stress.

But without that part, your window will never go up or down normally.

Good luck, there are no places I'm aware of that makes that part in real machined steel. Just cheap chinese pot metal...

 

[Mainsail]

I just replaced all the guts in the tailgate window handle on mine using LMC parts. Yes, the clutch is definitely the weak link in the chain- it appears to be just a cheap pot metal casting. The entire window mechanism in mine was bone dry. You'll want to (if you don't get the body shop to fix it that is) grease everything that slides with white lithium, especially the two rollers that ride in the tracks. Oil everything that pivots or turns. Then after you replace the clutch, treat it gingerly.

I’m thinking of gluing a block of foam or rubber into the bottom of my tailgate on the inside to limit the window’s full down travel, as it take a lot of torque to move the window up from the bottomed out position, which causes a lot of stress to the mechanism.

 

[mistaken1]

Ah the joys of GMs brilliant window-in-the-middle-of-a-pickup-truck-tailgate design.

Something else, did you replace the tracks that hold the window in place?

The tracks on either side should have a felt lining. Most come out of GL with nothing in there allowing the window to bind. LMC sells new ones that they are really proud of. I am too cheap for that so I used some less expensive front window tracks cut to fit the rear window metal channels. Makes a big difference.

 

[acz62]

Thanks everybody. The collective wisdom is great. I taking her in to have Predator bedliner sprayed inside (sadly I do not a place to do it myself) next month. The shop has got it working for now and I am going to have them try and find some GM originals.