- Joined
- February 3, 2007
- Messages
- 3,637
- Reaction score
- 256
- City, State
- Oakland, CA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '00 Mountaineer
**I know this will work on explorers/mountaineers/explorer sports from 98-01 (anything with the license plate on the hatch), not sure about 1st, 95-97 2nd gens, 3rd, or 4th gen.**
Everytime i go offroading/camping i sleep in the back of my truck, but when i want to get out i need to go out the rear passenger doors. Not a big deal if the rear seats are folded down, but if they are up then i'd rather not have to climb over them. I've always wished that there was a handle inside, so i finally decided to make one. Got all the parts at Home Depot except for the plate which i already had. Total cost was under $9. The way i did it did require a little bit of welding, but you could easily do it another way to avoid welding.
Once the interior panel and the plastic liner are off, this is the inside of the rear hatch, more specifically the passenger side where i put the handle. I attached it to the horizontal linkage inside the door that you can see here.
Here are the things i got at Home Depot:
-3/16" U-bolt cable clamps (not sure of the technical name, but they're commonly used for clamping wire cables)
-nylock nuts (optional, the clamps come in a set with nuts but i wanted nylocks)
-loop screw (again, not sure of the technical name)
-coupler nut for the loop screw (not pictured)
-piece of steel plate, i think i used 1/8"
You'll also need a drill, and i used a dremel to cut the interior panel but a blade would work too, or you could just drill several holes instead.
I marked and drilled holes for the u-bolts in a random piece of plate i had. 2 u-bolts would be enough but the set i bought came with 3, so i used all 3 because i didn't want the handle to slide on the linkage. I bolted it up for mockup, and after deciding where i wanted the handle, I welded the coupler nut to the plate, and then primed it so it wouldn't rust.
*Instead of welding, you could drill a hole for the loop screw and put a nut on both sides of the plate. But you might have clearance issues sticking a nut behind the plate because it's close to the linkage. Maybe try spacing the plate out a bit.
I bolted everything on again, sandwiching the plate between the clamps and the lock nuts, put some paint or something on the tip of the coupler nut, then put the interior panel on and pressed on it up against the coupler nut. The paint will mark where the handle will come through the plastic.
I took the interior panel back off to cut the hole for the handle. The handle slides towards the passenger side 3/4", so take that into account when cutting the hole.
Put the interior panel back on, and then screw the loop screw into the coupler nut. I wanted the handle to stick out as little as possible, so i cut it down so only the loop sticks through the panel.
Finished product:
Everytime i go offroading/camping i sleep in the back of my truck, but when i want to get out i need to go out the rear passenger doors. Not a big deal if the rear seats are folded down, but if they are up then i'd rather not have to climb over them. I've always wished that there was a handle inside, so i finally decided to make one. Got all the parts at Home Depot except for the plate which i already had. Total cost was under $9. The way i did it did require a little bit of welding, but you could easily do it another way to avoid welding.
Once the interior panel and the plastic liner are off, this is the inside of the rear hatch, more specifically the passenger side where i put the handle. I attached it to the horizontal linkage inside the door that you can see here.
Here are the things i got at Home Depot:
-3/16" U-bolt cable clamps (not sure of the technical name, but they're commonly used for clamping wire cables)
-nylock nuts (optional, the clamps come in a set with nuts but i wanted nylocks)
-loop screw (again, not sure of the technical name)
-coupler nut for the loop screw (not pictured)
-piece of steel plate, i think i used 1/8"
You'll also need a drill, and i used a dremel to cut the interior panel but a blade would work too, or you could just drill several holes instead.
I marked and drilled holes for the u-bolts in a random piece of plate i had. 2 u-bolts would be enough but the set i bought came with 3, so i used all 3 because i didn't want the handle to slide on the linkage. I bolted it up for mockup, and after deciding where i wanted the handle, I welded the coupler nut to the plate, and then primed it so it wouldn't rust.
*Instead of welding, you could drill a hole for the loop screw and put a nut on both sides of the plate. But you might have clearance issues sticking a nut behind the plate because it's close to the linkage. Maybe try spacing the plate out a bit.
I bolted everything on again, sandwiching the plate between the clamps and the lock nuts, put some paint or something on the tip of the coupler nut, then put the interior panel on and pressed on it up against the coupler nut. The paint will mark where the handle will come through the plastic.
I took the interior panel back off to cut the hole for the handle. The handle slides towards the passenger side 3/4", so take that into account when cutting the hole.
Put the interior panel back on, and then screw the loop screw into the coupler nut. I wanted the handle to stick out as little as possible, so i cut it down so only the loop sticks through the panel.
Finished product:
The way it should be
