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Cannot open tailgate on 02

2002AVA

Full Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
3,152
Location
Coarsegold, ca
My tailgate rod came disconnected from the latch. I cannot get the latch to release so i can open my tailgate. Any ideas?
I am thinking either brake my taillight off of try and cut the latch bolt. Both of which are not ideal. Has anyone had this issue?
 
You need to drop the midgate and crawl into the bed.  There are 2 or three bolts with torx heads that hold the plastic panel surrounding the latch in place.  There's also some Christmas trees involved as well but once you remove the bolts you can pull the panel without breaking anything.  Once the panel is pulled you should be able to get to the rod to make repairs.
 
enoniam said:
You need to drop the midgate and crawl into the bed.  There are 2 or three bolts with torx heads that hold the plastic panel surrounding the latch in place.  There's also some Christmas trees involved as well but once you remove the bolts you can pull the panel without breaking anything.  Once the panel is pulled you should be able to get to the rod to make repairs.
This!  Been there done that!  For permanent repair you can get new rod clips from the dealer.
 
My rod is not connected to the latch so Removing the handle is not going to help. I?ve already done that and the rod goes through a little hole in the plastic back towards the latch. so I can?t see trying to hook the latch back up. As for braking my tail light it would give me access to the latch bar. My other option is to cut that same state between the tailgate in there tail light. I was just hoping there is a way to get into the latch and pop it open.
 
I see a holesaw in your future, try a 4 inch hole near the latch do what you need to do then JB weld it back in.

There's a lot of supports back there and you may hit one


tailgate1_zpse2c6a1e9.JPG



P1010066.JPG
 
Shanes 02 Avalanche said:
My rod is not connected to the latch so Removing the handle is not going to help. I?ve already done that and the rod goes through a little hole in the plastic back towards the latch. so I can?t see trying to hook the latch back up. As for braking my tail light it would give me access to the latch bar. My other option is to cut that same state between the tailgate in there tail light. I was just hoping there is a way to get into the latch and pop it open.
I got a spare tail light lens laying around that's in decent shape. It had strobes in it at one point so there's a hole in the back that can be sealed up real easy. If you bust yours, let me know. Pay the shipping and it's yours. Just send me a PM to let me know as I don't check the site every day.
 
>so I can?t see trying to hook the latch back up

Try getting one of those el-cheapo endoscopes off of ebay for 10 bucks or so (the kind with the light).  You can hook these to a laptop and see into cavities.  If you can see it, odds are good you can grab it with a flexible screw pickup tool or similar. 
 
You need to drop the midgate and crawl into the bed. There are 2 or three bolts with torx heads that hold the plastic panel surrounding the latch in place. There's also some Christmas trees involved as well but once you remove the bolts you can pull the panel without breaking anything. Once the panel is pulled you should be able to get to the rod to make repairs.
I have had this problem since I purchased my avalanche and it is still not fixed. I've replaced the whole handle and the rods twice and it still locks me out I'm very frustrated!! I loved the thought of having a truck with coverage so no one could steal what's inside of it but it sounds like it's breachable just so the owner can get inside of it..there must absolutely be a way for this latch on the tailgate will work at least for the owner not so much for thieves! I'm ready to pull my hair out!!
 
I have had this problem since I purchased my avalanche and it is still not fixed. I've replaced the whole handle and the rods twice and it still locks me out I'm very frustrated!! I loved the thought of having a truck with coverage so no one could steal what's inside of it but it sounds like it's breachable just so the owner can get inside of it..there must absolutely be a way for this latch on the tailgate will work at least for the owner not so much for thieves! I'm ready to pull my hair out!!
Is it the lock that is not disengaging or can you get it unlocked but the handle won't release it? IIRC, I had to bend the arm on my lock a little as it was weak from many years of use.
 
My tailgate rod came disconnected from the latch. I cannot get the latch to release so i can open my tailgate. Any ideas?
I am thinking either brake my taillight off of try and cut the latch bolt. Both of which are not ideal. Has anyone had this issue?
Have the same problem with my 2010. It's keyless and I don't have an entry point. It sat at Chevrolet for a couple days (really) they just said they didn't have time to tackle. Might have to replace the tailgate. Any other suggestions
 
Have the same problem with my 2010. It's keyless and I don't have an entry point. It sat at Chevrolet for a couple days (really) they just said they didn't have time to tackle. Might have to replace the tailgate. Any other suggestions

Replacing the tailgate seems a bit extreme to me.

I would think if you were able to get the old tailgate off, you could get to the broken bits and fix it.

:unsure:
 
Thanx for all the "pics" my drivers side tailgate latch (turns out thankfully) was not latching..
I manually latched with the tailgate open and could not get it to unlatch using the handle...
I pulled it out and the threaded rod came out with it, it was not attached to the "handle".
Would have been brutal if it would have latched with teh tailgate up.!!

I guess when CFB is over today I'm "goin in".
 
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