4th gen hatch on a 3rd gen? will it fit

[DVRDOWN]

bump.

Xplorerguru, any progress on your conversion?

 

[stockcarracer]

saw one today!!! asked the guy if he had any problems. he said it bolted up fine but the interior was a lil different. Started talking about a heat gun and molding the inner panel. Also said the rear hatch button would not open the new hatch. then i smelled the beer on his breath and I got away from him. lol so It is possible

 

[derekbelcher]

I know this thread is a few years old, but I just had the 2nd rear window explode out of my 2002 explorer. This is the 2nd one this year. I am a Firefighter and from what i understand about vehicle extrication and taking windows out, this is a failed design from the start. Putting a hole through the glass at critical fail points is just asking for this to happen. Anyway, I am very interested to know if the 4th gen lift gate will work with this model. I am leaning toward trading as I can't keep replacing these things ever six months. But since it's paid for, I would be very interested in just finding a 4th gen gate / window and painting to match. One more thing, can anyone tell me how this one mounts differently (glass wise)? I can see that it is shorter and looks different from the outside, but is there still a hole through the glass on each corner?

 

[LoKo498]

Any info on this? Update???

 

[EndFed]

I think the 3rd gen looks better. 4th makes the truck look taller. I can't imagine it would be hard to take these broken ones and reinforce them for a permanent fix. Mine is still good, when do they generally break? Just random or when slammed or?

How often does the glass break?

I can't imagine even a used hatch being cheap.

I also can't believe nobody's done this here with all the talk.

How much are the 3rd gen panels new? If they're heavy, I'd be interested in buying broken ones and fixing them where they won't break.

 

[Green04]

when I get some money, I may do this, I just need to find one that is dark green, just wonder how the panels line up, and if the electronics work, I need to see one on the inside first, I would think it would bolt right up and the latch would work?

 

[richardjp]

look up ford urban explorer on google the truck they have has the 4th gen gate

 

[richardjp]

https://www.google.com/search?safe=...5.5.5.0....0...1c.1.56.img..5.0.0.aE58YlxjNNU

 

[Warlock03]

That's cool and all, but has it been done on a daily driver?

 

[4WDriver]

Unless you want to spend a ton of money, this mod would be cost prohibitive. The cheapest 4th gen gates were going for $800 at salvage yards! I wanted to do this until I saw how much people want for the gates, maybe I'll just settle for the 4the gen taillights alone.

 

[Number4]

Unless you want to spend a ton of money, this mod would be cost prohibitive. The cheapest 4th gen gates were going for $800 at salvage yards! I wanted to do this until I saw how much people want for the gates, maybe I'll just settle for the 4the gen taillights alone.

65.00 - Hatch w/Glass. 4th gens don't show up as much. I plan to do the swap, however, try moving these doors without struts. This isn't a one man job and I've not had sufficient help when I've gone. But I will one day. My plan is to do a dry run at the yard, but it should fit fine.

http://www.sandwauto.com/u-pull-u-save/price-list/

 

[4WDriver]

Holy crap! So, that applies across the board?? As in, every "hatch w/ glass" for any vehicle is $65??? That almost seems too good to be true! I had seriously checked a bunch of places online and literally, the cheapest was $800.00 For $65.00, it's worth planning a roughly 1400 mile trip to Georgia! I could make a vacation out of it. now, to convince the wife... LoL

 

[Warlock03]

I can get the gate local for $200ish, but still paint and all shoots the price up

 

[b00stleak]

Holy crap! So, that applies across the board?? As in, every "hatch w/ glass" for any vehicle is $65??? That almost seems too good to be true! I had seriously checked a bunch of places online and literally, the cheapest was $800.00 For $65.00, it's worth planning a roughly 1400 mile trip to Georgia! I could make a vacation out of it. now, to convince the wife... LoL

So drive 3hours north and go to u pull in Albuquerque. Hatch with glass $68.99 with a $6.25 core charge. They don't have any 4th gens at the moment but I'm sure they will eventually.

 

[jvslax27]

any updates from anyone with regards to the hatch swap?

 

[4WDriver]

I somewhat recently was rear-ended on the highway and had the bumper cover gnarled up, the rear glass blown out (second glass in this thing. The original glass was a victim of my wife opening the garage door when I had the rear glass up), and a sizeable sent in the lift gate itself. I really really tried to get a hold of a 4th gen gate, but neither Pull-a-part or LKQ Pick Your Part had one. There was an 08 at Pull-a-part, but it too had suffered a rear-ending. Ended up just getting a used glass that was already painted white from a guy off Craigslist for $110. None of the 3rd gens at Pull-a-part had any rear glass!! I did end up getting a bumper cover for $40, though. I was able to half-"donkey" push out the dent and was able to still roll with my original gate. It definitely ain't pretty, but it'll do 'til I find me a 4th gen gate... So, long story short... I want a 4th gen gate more now than ever! LoL. Wish me luck!

P.S. For now, I ended up $1,550 in the black for having some road raging a-hole hit my X from behind with his big-ol' Ram

 

[MartyD]

I to suffer from the ignoble rear hatch crack. If the 3rd to 4th gen. swap works I would defiantly be interested. Even if the harnesses don't match maybe one of the aftermarket harness manufacturers could make a jumper that would let them match up. The first thing I would do however is take a yardstick or tape measure and make sure the hinges were in the identical locations. If they are then the next would be to see if the latches matched. After that except for electrical you would be pretty much golden. (Not unlike my Pueblo Gold '04 XLT...)

 

[Bohknows17]

Gonna leave this thread here for you guys..

4th gen hatch swap on 3rd gen Explorer DONE!!!

 

[Donnie97]

It will fit

How to: - 4th gen hatch swap on 3rd gen Explorer DONE!!!

So who has done it? I know the rear tail lights swap with just some rewiring but how about the whole hatch? I have an 04 Explorer with the good old cracked upper hatch and have been looking for a better option. What I do know about the 2..... They mount and latch to the body at the exact same...

www.explorerforum.com

 

[kaholden326]

bump

Anyone been able to successfully do this swap?

I have not and it will not fit. The 4th generation is shifted about 2 cm left of the original 33rd gen. It doesn’t align up and you have to get your hand and shove it to catch the latches or even different on the side.. just thought I would share that for future reference in case anybody else needs to know here is my old door in the new door that doesn’t fit. I tried to swap yesterday the wiring fits, but everything else doesn’t. It doesn’t match up.