Will 98-99 tailgate fit 97 EB?

Ron Cruz · November 2, 2000

I have to do some body work on my 97EB a friend of mine has a tailgate from a 98 XLT can it be made to fit the 97? If anyone has done it what else must be changed to make it fit?

Thanks for any help you can give me ......Ron

NoBoundaries · November 2, 2000

I was thinking about this and comparing my 96' and my father's 99'. I haven't really checked the locking mechanism, but as far as the upgrade, you would only need the tailgate and new lights from what it appears. Let us know what you find out.

sideswipe · November 2, 2000

I was also wondering if the newer tailgates would fit on my 95. Let me know what you guys find out.

Sean

NoBoundaries · November 2, 2000

Almost forgot, you may want to upgrade the bumper as well. The 1991-1994 Explorers can easily adapt a 95-97 tailgate. I really do think it is possible and a rather simple application. The one thing I don't like about the new tailgates, and it is rather minute, is the fact that the rear wiper has troulbe reaching/cleaning the center of the window. The shape of the glass and the length of the arm end up lifting the bottom 3/4's of the wiper. Little, but annoying if you really need to clean off and see out your back window.

Stephen · November 2, 2000

Tim, I've noticed that too on the 98+, that'd be annoying. I dont see why you couldn't upgrade the tailgate, I dont see any differences in the body surrounding it. You would have to upgrade the lights too and it would look funny without the 98+ bumper.

Alec · November 2, 2000

Remember also that there's minor electrical work to be done as the license plate (and it's lights) are relocated to the tailgate. Besides that, the defrosters and wiper electricals just get reconnected.

As I was looking at different Explorers today I did notice a slight difference in the lights where they interface with the rear quarterpanel. You might need to trim the quarterpanel slightly, but I'm not sure.

As for replacing the bumper, I don't think the old one will look that funny if you take the plate off. The indent is only about 4 inches wider than the newer one.

DarkFox1 · November 2, 2000

just to add to this from experience.. you would defiantley need to replace your tail lights.. I have a '97.. and accidently originally ordered '98-up clears.. they fit.. until I closed the hatch, the 98 and up lights are deeper and wiper than the '95-97 model, otherwise, I'm pretty sure ford only did very minor modifications, infact, I've been looking at my gate, it looks like all they did for '98 was bulge the bottom for the plate, and remove the black bars on the sides of the glass.

lemme know, this has been a sort of thesis of mine for a while, what fits what.. having a mountaineer.. you hafta know your explorer parts if you want something besides stock

Ron Cruz · November 8, 2000

The tailgate works

I first want to thank the guys that encouraged me to try it. The 99 tailgate does fit the 97 EB. I had to change the tail lights and I also got the newer bumper. There is a very slight difference on the side window where it meets the tailgate but its only noticeable if you look for it,but I had to mention it for those of us that are really picky.
The license plate light is a purple wire with a white stripe and I spliced it into the tail lights and works fine. The same wiring is used but the plugs are set up differently so I had to trace which went where and then I took the jacks apart and moved the wires so that they met in the same location. Other than that it was fairly easy.If you want to try it just let me know and I'll give you more details.......again thanks to the guys that provided the information...........Ron

P.S.....IT LOOKS GREAT!!!!

[Edited by Ron Cruz on 11-08-2000 at 04:43 PM]

NoBoundaries · November 8, 2000

That's great news, I'm glad it worked out Ron! Only one more thing though: PICS!! You know you can't do something like this and not have pics for us!!;-) Pics or no pics, I'm happy to hear it worked out!

DarkFox1 · November 8, 2000

definatley man, we must see this.. I have been saying for the past few months that if my black "arms" behind my rear hatch windows fades.. I'm going to paint them white.. I'd like to see how this looks w/o the little extra window peice that goes on the rear hatch on '98 and up.. since you said you had a problem in that area

Bill Kemp · November 8, 2000

Ron, Before I go too far how much is this conversion?

Sounds like it's just up my alley.

Ron Cruz · November 8, 2000

Originally posted by Bill Kemp
Ron, Before I go too far how much is this conversion?

Sounds like it's just up my alley.

We'll I got the parts used from a friend the tailgate
and bumper were $400 and I got the lights on ebay for about $40 pr. I was lucky the door was black and so is my truck.
Only problem is the rubber on the bumper, the color is gray .I'll have to change it for tan. Ford said it would cost $45 for the top and $10 for the step. It's all a straight swap except for the electrical but that was also
just a matter of moving terminals around.I hope this gives you some idea. If you need any more information just let me know.......Ron

95ExplorerLtd · November 9, 2000

Well if you could do that then I could get the tailgate, lights, bumper, grille, and front bumper of a 99 and swap them on too right? Looks like everything would match up. Give it a little cosmetic work, eh? Anybody think that would look good? I cant imagine it so I dont wanna try it until I have a pretty good idea.

Stephen · November 9, 2000

Grant, Your truck is that evergreen frost right? Only problem is the Explorer no longer comes in that color so you'd have to get it painted, and after almost 6 years its going to look odd unless you have it feathered in.

Ron Cruz · November 9, 2000

Grant, I can only tell you the back of the swap will work for sure.Can't see why the front wouldn't , Ford did only the minimum of changes to the basic design. NoBoundaries was a great help. Tim, compared his '96 to his father's '99 and took care of a lot of the guess work. I'm sure he would do the same for you. Good luck, and let me know if you try it........Ron

Stephen · November 10, 2000

I think someone tried to replace the front bumper with one from a 99+, I think they concluded that the mounts are different. Run a search and see.

Ron Cruz · August 3, 2001

Just wondering if anyone else tried this?

I posted this quite a while ago and was wondering if anyone else tried it? Let me know.....thanks Ron

DarkFox1 · August 3, 2001

I do recall earlier this year.. someone did do it.. it worked quite well if I remember correctly, but he had to do some wiring in order to run the tag lights into the tailgate, and get a new bumper to get rid of the tag mount from the original. I don't tihnk he had to do any body mods.

Ron Cruz · August 3, 2001

I AM THE GUY THAT DID THE CHANGE!

Thanks for the reply DarkFox1, but I am the guy that did the switch. I was just wondering if anyone else tried it after me and how theirs worked out........Ron

shizon · August 15, 2003

I'm thinking about doing this as they said it would cost $500 to repair the dent some idiot jsut put in my tailgate.

Can you email me details and pics?
sreiche@webprogression.com

thanks!

Will 98-99 tailgate fit 97 EB?

Member

ECX Member

Well-Known Member

ECX Member

Moderator In Memoriam

Elite Moderator

Explorer Addict

Member

ECX Member

Explorer Addict

Elite Moderator Emeritus

Member

Explorer Addict

Moderator In Memoriam

Member

Moderator In Memoriam

Member

Explorer Addict

Member

Member

Explorer Features

Explorer Features

Similar threads