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Tailgate tough to open up for Wife

jeff in co

jeff in co

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My wife went to use the blazer to haul some gravel bags and tile for a house we're fixing up, but she got denied once she tired to open up the rear tailgate. I've always been able to open it up pretty easily by lifting handle and pushing the whole tailgate in a touch, and then lowering...….

But when my wife tried, she couldn't get the handle to come up enough to unlatch tailgate. She was so frustrated, and I was at the other house unable to help. Just hear her frustration over the phone. :(

Are there any adjustments I can do to make it easier for her to open? I've heard a similar story with a child of mine too. So it does take effort to get the thing open.

Thanks!
 
You could make a tool that slides over the handle inside with an extension arm on it to increase the lever action. But then you risk busting the inside handle with too much force.
 
rampage said:
You could make a tool that slides over the handle inside with an extension arm on it to increase the lever action. But then you risk busting the inside handle with too much force.
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It's pot metal you don't want that.
 
If you set the strikers so the tailgate latches loose, the handle is much easier to lift. But....it might not be aligned quite right to the body and it might rattle, so you could explore that compromise. Likewise you could adjust the seals or see if it's hitting something it shouldn't (do you have to slam it to latch?). A quick check is to manually flip the latches while the tailgate is open and see how much handle effort there is in that condition. I remember reinforcing part of the handle mechanism at some point because I was bending it by pulling so hard on the handle. Same deal - my wife basically couldn't get it open.
 
I removed the latch lockout. If the tailgate isn't adjusted just right, and everything isn't working perfectly, this can be one reason the tailgate won't open. I bent the handle before I figured out this problem.

I'm not running a daycare out of the bed of my K5, I'm not worried about someone crawling through the truck and being dumb enough to try and force it open with the window rolled up.
 
I'd check the gate itself for splitting. My old 75 gate was a pain in the ass to open even for me and I'm tall enough and strong enough to reach and pull that handle. The left side latch would release before the right side. However if I smacked the gate on the right side with my hand while pulling the handle with my left at the same time, the latch would release and the gate opened. I was pretty good at it, but no way could my wife or son open the gate.

I had adjusted the strikers, lubed the snot out of them and it still didn't help. I looked closer at the gate itself and found the inner and outer panels split from each other and would flex when it was opened or closed. Once I got the 91 with a gate that was not split I finally realized how bad the old one was. The gate opened without any extra effort or slapping, it just opened. My wife still couldn't open it, but only because she's too short to reach over the top of the gate to get to the handle.
 
I haven't changed the rear gaskets/seals so that could clean it up a bit. But I also added new door seals....and now I have to really slam the door hard to get it to latch all the way. The seals are definitely putting more tension on the door closures (passenger side is worse).

I'll have to go in and look at the side latches and their adjustments. The tailgate itself is still pretty heavy to lift and close. Maybe the two helper springs by the hinges are getting tired. Did they ever open and close with a light amount of effort (aka from factory)? I always have to use arm strength to open and close the baby.

It was more frustrating to hear my wife couldn't open it.....and she was frustrated! Felt helpless on phone.
 
jeff in co said:
I haven't changed the rear gaskets/seals so that could clean it up a bit. But I also added new door seals....and now I have to really slam the door hard to get it to latch all the way. The seals are definitely putting more tension on the door closures (passenger side is worse).

I'll have to go in and look at the side latches and their adjustments. The tailgate itself is still pretty heavy to lift and close. Maybe the two helper springs by the hinges are getting tired. Did they ever open and close with a light amount of effort (aka from factory)? I always have to use arm strength to open and close the baby.

It was more frustrating to hear my wife couldn't open it.....and she was frustrated! Felt helpless on phone.
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She's not a real woman, she should have asked for help like all women, I am sure the guys there would have helped her open and load up:pimp:
 
imiceman44 said:
She's not a real woman, she should have asked for help like all women, I am sure the guys there would have helped her open and load up:pimp:
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She's a hottie for sure, so would of gotten help at Lowes....but she was still at home trying to load up the pressure washer for me. Then to Lowes. Had to get it open alone.
 
You dont know how heavy the gate is until you remove the springs lol. They make a huge difference. I suppose like any spring they can/will wear out, I've never experienced that.

The way the tailgate is designed you've got a lot of points that all need to work together. The window tracks are adjustable, the window needs to fit into the top without overly torquing the tailgate as it goes up, the bottom of the tailgate is adjusted in/out (and I assume left/right) via the body side of the hinges, vertical position I've never messed with, but I'm guessing that is tailgate side of the hinges, then the strikers on both sides, which are adjustable in every direction including "thickness".
 
When I bought a used tail gate for my '85 Suburban off a guy on craigslist,it was still on his truck when I went to go pick it up--it took two guys to take it off after we unbolted it,and I was glad they carried it to my van for me--getting it out by myself at home without smashing the glass was a back breaker..!..thing must weigh almost as much as I do..
 
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