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Rear glass hinge replacement

stroked250

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Joined
November 14, 2008
Messages
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City, State
Illinois
Year, Model & Trim Level
2004 Explorer Limited
Rear glass hinge replacement....

I did some searches and couldn't find directions on how to remove the hinge from the body. I ordered the replacement part for the recall on 02-03 Explorers.

Are there any threads I may have overlooked covering the issue?

Thanks,
Kevin
 



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Hello:

Remove the plastic interior trim directly opposite the hinge. You will find a nut and a stud threaded into the hinge from the inside. Hold on to everything tightly - it is easy to lose the nut or the stud into a body recess opening.

I did an emergency re-attach when mine came adrift, but the dealer installed my recall kit.

Good Luck,

Stubby.
 












Thanks for the replies guys....both great help!
 






Rear Glass hinge recall 02-03 X's

Hey I had the dealer install the long-overdue recall on the hinge about a month ago. They explained there were 2 types of mountings available for the hinge on the glass. One was a really easy replacement by removing fasteners only, replacing parts, then re-fastening. The other mounting type however was more of a pain. It required removing the mounting that was "glued" to the window! The replacement kit included gluing the new hinge to the window again and took 4 hours to cure - which OF COURSE was the type I had. They fixed it at no cost to me and I have not had any issues with it. Actually I did not have an issue with it before and that's why I went so long without having the recall done. :p:
 






I replaced mine last night, there was no glue to remove or put on. It was a direct bolt-in replacement.
 






Hey guys whats the part # for it?

Do they come as a kit?
 






Dealers usually have this in stock. E-bay too, but I bought mine from dealer to be sure it is the newest design.
 






I replaced mine with a set of used hinges. Pretty easy really. Hardest part was removing the glass without breaking it. The broken hinge I was replacing made the whole system unstable.
 






Rear Window Hinge Replacement

I did a set of hinges replacement on my rear window a few days ago and I would agree with the last poster that it went fairly smoothly. I went ahead and replaced the struts at the same time for a total cost of $140. I got the parts from Advance Auto Parts. I had the job quoted and it came back at $300 from a repair shop nearby and $425 from the dealership. Two people is necessary since the glass is quite heavy when not attached, but the effort was well worth the savings. It is a bummer that they recalled they wimpy hinges for the 2002 model, but not the newer ones since the replacement parts are much beefier than what was on there originally, which just isn't right. Anyway, thought I would share my findings on this project.
 






I looked up recalls on my 05 Explorer and there were none listed. However the LH side rear glass hinge looks partly seperated from the glass. What do I do? How do I know what part to order? and should this be a dealer covered repair?

Thanks.
 






I looked up recalls on my 05 Explorer and there were none listed. However the LH side rear glass hinge looks partly seperated from the glass. What do I do? How do I know what part to order? and should this be a dealer covered repair?

Thanks.

On the left hand rear glass hinge, is the small, round headed, threaded bolt (star pattern I think?) that secures the glass pane to the hinge still there? If it is, just try and "carefully" tighten that stud up in case it worked it's way loose over time. If one of those bolts is missing, you'll probably need to get one from a junk yard or buy a new set of "glass to tailgate" hinges. FYI, under that stud, is a small, black colored plastic washer (kinda looks like a "top hat") and they fall apart overtime and allow water to leak into the rear window pane thru the bolt hole in the window pane.
I spoke to a Collision shop owner 2 years ago and he said the hinges on these 3rd gen Explorers tend to go bad or break and need replacing. My glass to hinge bolts were a little loose so I snugged them up.
You can find these hinges at dealerships (more expensive there) or online places such as fordpartsgiant.com, maybe rockauto.com (didn't look there) and ebay. New ones should run around $50 for the pair of hinges unless you go to a Ford dealership where they will cost more. You should be able to find them without a part number by using the year of your Explorer. I "think" they are the same for all 2002-2005 Explorers, not 100% sure on that? Some of the online parts sites let you use your VIN number for looking up the exact fit part.
BTW, If you have to change out the "glass to tailgate body" hinges, make sure to remove the "window pane struts" (use a small flat headed screwdriver to lift up the metal clip on the strut tip and pull off) first from the glass panel, before you go to remove the glass hinges and only remove & replace one hinge at a time leaving one in place as you do the swap out. I would also leave the window pane closed and latched to the tailgate door when doing this. It will help to safely hold the pane in place while you replace the hinges. Just raise the whole tailgate and work from underneath since you will need to remove the inner, tailgate door panel to get at the "upper window hinge bolts to tailgate body" thru there. Whatever you do, DO NOT BREAK THAT WINDOW PANE in any way. They are very expensive to replace. Hope this helps!
 






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