91 tailgate jammed closed
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Joined: Apr 2005
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91 tailgate jammed closed
One side of tailgate locking mechanism is jammed. I have searched and read all the posts for the past 5 years. I have removed the plate on the inside of the tailgate. The handle works fine, everything moves like it should. I have pulled and pushed the rods and can see the parts moving on each side, but the left side won't release. I tried to pry the left side open with a crowbar between the fender and the tailgate while a friend held the latch open so the right side would be released if the left popped open. It didn't work. I have looked inside and can't see what other parts there are that should be moving that aren't. Once I get it open I have no doubt I can fix it. Does anyone have any more ideas? I am ready to yank it off with my bobcat bucket. I am nt averse to cutting the thing of with a torch. But, there has got to be some sort of latch that I can pry/push or bend that will get this thing to release, but I can't find it. Thanks for any help.
Thread Starter
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New User
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 12
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Bump.
So, looks like no-one has any additional ideas. I also tried lifting the tailgate with a pry bar and opening. Still stuck shut. Guess if I can't get in there and pry the catch mechanism somehow I will be taking out the torch or sawzall and cutting the stuck side off. Guess I've owned Fords long enough to know that a hammer, crowbar and sawzall are the best tools to have around.
So, looks like no-one has any additional ideas. I also tried lifting the tailgate with a pry bar and opening. Still stuck shut. Guess if I can't get in there and pry the catch mechanism somehow I will be taking out the torch or sawzall and cutting the stuck side off. Guess I've owned Fords long enough to know that a hammer, crowbar and sawzall are the best tools to have around.
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,214
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From: New Jersey
Owning a ford has nothing to do with a stuck tailgate latch. It comes from not greasing it every so often, as you should the bearclaw latches on the doors, the hood latch, and the hood hinges.
Anything ya don't maintain, breaks.
Does the tailgate budge at all on that side? If not, it might not be the latch, but maybe it's frictionally interfering at the top of the bed. Not that uncommon, as the tailgate can be slide side to side about 1/4" for alignment, without any tools. So if it slide over the last time it was closed... it might be stuck.
If that's not it, then the latch itself isn't opening all the way. It has to open about 95% in order to pull the tailgate down... so that's not going to be fun to take out. A sawzall might be your only choice at that point. Or, a bucket loader like you said
Anything ya don't maintain, breaks.
Does the tailgate budge at all on that side? If not, it might not be the latch, but maybe it's frictionally interfering at the top of the bed. Not that uncommon, as the tailgate can be slide side to side about 1/4" for alignment, without any tools. So if it slide over the last time it was closed... it might be stuck.
If that's not it, then the latch itself isn't opening all the way. It has to open about 95% in order to pull the tailgate down... so that's not going to be fun to take out. A sawzall might be your only choice at that point. Or, a bucket loader like you said
