Tail Gate
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Junior User
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Tail Gate
My son in law has a Ford F-250 7.3 Power Stroke. His tail gate will not come down. I know Fords are a little notorious for this. But I don't have a clue as to how to work on the 96's and pop the thing down. It seems to be sealed up pretty good! I mean do I have to take to tail light out to get to it or something? Does any one have any suggestions?
Hotshot
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 13,542
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From: Manhattan, KS
Not to be silly, but mine has a lock on it. Is it locked. The lock uses the ignition key to lock it and is next to the release handle. Also when I bought my truck (used) I had to jerk the tail gate pretty hard to get it to release. A little lubrication of the latches at the side and wd40 in the release handle area loosened things up a bunch. Now it opens without a problem. Good luck.
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Husker, thanks for the response but no it's not a locking tail gate. I did spray some wd40 on it and on the latch areas and the handle. With someone opening the handle I even got up in the bed and kicked it a few times but nothing.
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You want to put the pressure on the outside of the tailgate, pushin in. Get a rubber mallet also and pull up on the handle while pushin on the gate and then pound the pissouttait a time or three and see what happens
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2000
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From: Cincinnati, Ohio
If yours is like mine (95) there is a panel on the inside of the tailgate about 30" x 10" held in with screws. If you pull that panel off you should be able to access the linkages and get your tailgate open.
Dave / Believer45
Dave / Believer45
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beleiver45, by panel, I assume that you mean part of the bed liner that cover the tail gate? Or are you talking about the back side of the tail gate itself? Are you saying to take the tail gate apart to get to the linkages?
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Posting Guru
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From: Cincinnati, Ohio
Originally Posted by dell
beleiver45, by panel, I assume that you mean part of the bed liner that cover the tail gate? Or are you talking about the back side of the tail gate itself? Are you saying to take the tail gate apart to get to the linkages?
Dave / Believer45
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2000
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From: Dryden, ON, Canada
What's probably wrong is the bracket that the tailgate handle bolts to is bent outwards(handle was out a bit at the bottom.) My '00 F250 was like that. Took the handle off, got out the hammer and a 2x4' and bent it back in so that the handle sat flush, and it worked like brand new.