Being I've had a more than active life and have been into many, many, cars, trucks, Harleys, etc. I've seen a lot of strange stuff in my life. But today I had a new one. On my 91 Bronco I needed to replace the nylon bushings/spacers in the window motor as it was slipping. Since I have three Bronco's I've worked on back windows before. You put the window down, open the tailgate, click the left hand latch shut to overide the safety switch and carefully open the window. Of course since the gear spacers had disinegrated I had to help the window back out, the motor only slipped. As soon as I put my hand down to the bottom of the window and started to pull it, a loud bang and the window turned into 50,000 small pieces of safety glass. What a surprise! I didn't pull that hard. After I got out the shop vac and sucked all the little diamonds out of the lawn and another billion out of the tailgate I saw the problem. At the same time I put my hand in there, the long steel helper spring cut loose from the inside left side of the tailgate and whacked the glass. What timing. Had it happened with the glass up I would have found out when the window didn't go down all the way. The tailgate only has a little rust across the bottom but it bent the bracket out of the way and let loose the end of the spring rod. This is the bracket on the left that is welded in, not the middle two that are bolted in. Tomorrow I better take off the inner panel on my 90 Bronco and look at it. That tailgate has a lot more rust. I don't need to buy two rear windows.

 

When I hear these stories about the torsion bar letting loose, it makes me not want to open my tailgate for anything for fear of this happening. Is there any way to prevent this while everything is still intact? I live in Minnesota so needless to say rust is a major factor here. Is there some way to install a cushion that will prevent glass breakage if the bar decides it is time to go? In the mean time I will not lower my tailgate, I will go through the inside if needed.

 

I don't think ANY type of cushion would stop this thing from breaking the glass if it cuts loose. I would however, look at the bracket on the left side and think about reinforcement for it.

 

Is there any way to disable the torsion bar by safely removing or cutting it out? I am sure if I try to turn any bolts holding brackets in place it will let loose. I know that the gate will be very heavy when it is not in place, but this seems like a better option than having to replace the glass.

How does one go about reinforcing it on an extremly rusty tailgate?

 

I wouldn't advise unhooking it. The tailgate is very heavy and not only is it hard to lift, if someone tries to open it it will drop very fast. It could snap a weak cable, and damage the tailgate or break the glass from the fall. What I'm going to do is get a small piece of square stock with an opening the end of the rod (on the left end) will go thru. I'll weld it to a small rectangular plate, drill four small holes on the inside of the tailgate and weld this assembly to the inside of the tailgate thru the four holes. Then slip the end of the rod thru and reattach the other end. Similar to the factory only out of steel instead of stamped sheet metal.

 

Same thing happened to me last week on my bronco, but my torsion bar popped out of place because my tailgate got hit by a pickup this last winter, and bent it all to hell. So now, I need to find a full tailgate along with the window. Oh well.....

 

gov2mod and lurch, go take a look at a junkyard for a rear winshild or a whole tailgate. They're usually in great shape, well the window anyway, lurch just look around for a rust free tailgate.

Just my 2 cents,
-Matt

 

I'm in Delaware. Rust free tailgates are pretty rare.

 

New Tailgate is the answer if your form the rust belt.
http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/c-...ate_bronco.htm
If the Tailgate is rusty so is the rest if the truck,hard to stick money in a rusty truck.
I took mine out of my 90 after one broken window.
Its not that heavy when half of your tailgate is rusted away.

 

WOW, new tailgates are expensive.....

The shell is $250, and a new one is $725, not something I'd like to have to buy.

 

I had the same thing happen. Now Greystreak will tell you to replace the torsion bar, and that is definately the way to go if you want a tip top Bronco. However, living in the rust belt, this Canadian never put another one in. Sure the tailgate heavy, but not THAT heavy. I dont let anyone else drive my truck, so I dont have to worry about them dropping it, and most importantly, I dont ever have to buy another window again.

-Matt

 

Most people just put a u-bolt or two in there to hold the torsion bar, and its a done deal. I have gone both ways......on one Bronco I used a u-bolt, and on another I removed the bar and dealt with the t-gate and how heavy it is.....I just dont let anyone touch my truck.

 

I'll let you know how I make out. I think with the new piece made from heavy steel, welded in, it will never cut loose again. Plus, with only four or six small holes to weld thru, a little touch up paint and not only will it last, to most people looking at it, they will never know the difference.

 

Streetgang has the right idea...unless you want to replace it. U-Bolts are way stronger and you wont have to worrk about the giving out.

 

I slipped about a foot of clear plastic tubing over the loose end of the torsion bar then installed two 1/4" u-bolts over the tubing and bar about 3" apart and covered them with the access cover. Cost under $5.