Rear Lift Gate (upper one) Plastic broke in half | Page 7 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Rear Lift Gate (upper one) Plastic broke in half

Where is the cheapest place to buy a replacement?
 



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The ford Crack Club

Add me to the cracked rear lift gate club!!!
Apparently it's bound to happen sooner than later...it's time ford acknowledged there is a problem and do something positive about it...asking for too much am I?
 






Dont bother buying a replacement, itll do the same thing. ive seen people on here talk about being on there third.
 






I replaced mine 5 years ago using the 3M automotive tape and haven't had any problems since.
 






Lucky it only cracked mine fell amoff completely.. I have a spare truck so I took it off the spare lol.

major pain! And took 5 hours.
 






So, where is the best place to buy replacement plastic?
 






Yea me to all the old links are broken any help?????
 






Mike, what do you need help with? The two lawsuit links work on my page.
 






No question about it, there is a design flaw. I can't believe how many people have the same problem. My brother's 2002 and my 2004 are cracked. We purchased them already cracked.
explorercrack5Medium.jpg

Mine

My brothers
explorercrack3Medium.jpg
 






Our 05 M'teer had 200k on it when we got it in Feb this year. It was a 1 owner & cracked the first week we had it. Belonged to an older couple & they never used the back seat or hatch.

Wanna try & test fit a 06+ if I can find one cheap enuff
 






First cold night of the year...and Sunny morning yesterday. CRACK! :mad:
 






i've been in the crack club for 2 years now, its still very attached.
Comparing it to the 4th Gen's the hatch was it was redesigned, i don't think they will fit.
Best solution so far, in reading a few post its just remove it and leave it off. You might find a rusty bracket holding the wiper on but imo i'd just touch it up with Black Paint.
 






not just cosmetic

When I bought my 02 EB it was already cracked. After searching for solutions I found this thread and decided not to replace it since it appeared to be cosmetic. I wish I did something earlier because the "cosmetic" problem turned a little more serious when the two bolts that hold the latch and wiper motor to the glass rusted out. Now I'm trying to find a way to get that fixed. The metal plate that holds the bolts to the glass just rusted away, not an easy fix.
There is a thread on here about that rusting bolt problem with pictures. Right now the only thing holding the back glass closed is the windshield wiper assembly. Water gets into the crack and drips into the opening for the wiper and eventually rusts. Now I have two problems to fix.
 






Explorer rear applique crack fix

I just removed painted and replaced the cracked panel without too much difficulty (1/2 day).

Purchased panel on ebay $122 + $20 shipping
Purchased matched spray paint from automotivetouchup.com $25
Purchased one roll of 1/2" two sided tape $8

Used a 1" wood chisel to remove the old panel being careful not to damage the black rubber seal or break the glass. This takes about 1/2 hr. of knocking out the super hard glue they used to install the panel with no flexability for expansion. Plastic flys everywhere so wear glasses and take your time not to damage the seal. Once I got all of the panel off I used a small wire wheel to get rid of as much of the residual plastic pieces as possible.

I then 600 grit wet/dry sanded the new panel and painted it with the matched spray paint using the entire can to get a near factory finish.

Once dry I ran a fair sized bead of black silicone all the way around the inside of the rubber seal, leaving voids for water to drain. The seal has visable impressions for drainage so just don't silicone over them.

I placed two layers of 1/2" two sided tape virtically in the center of the mount area. This will hold the applique in the middle but allow for flex.

I raised the lid to horizontal and carefully layed the new applique in position and very lightly clamped it with wood working clamps just to hold in position until the silicone dried. You can use tape or even a clothes pin would work.

After a few hours to dry, it is done. It looks near prefect and I believe the silicone will hold well, allowing for sufficient expansion to prevent a reoccurrance. It was the best I could do. Only time will tell.
 






I just removed painted and replaced the cracked panel without too much difficulty (1/2 day).

Purchased panel on ebay $122 + $20 shipping
Purchased matched spray paint from automotivetouchup.com $25
Purchased one roll of 1/2" two sided tape $8

Used a 1" wood chisel to remove the old panel being careful not to damage the black rubber seal or break the glass. This takes about 1/2 hr. of knocking out the super hard glue they used to install the panel with no flexability for expansion. Plastic flys everywhere so wear glasses and take your time not to damage the seal. Once I got all of the panel off I used a small wire wheel to get rid of as much of the residual plastic pieces as possible.

I then 600 grit wet/dry sanded the new panel and painted it with the matched spray paint using the entire can to get a near factory finish.

Once dry I ran a fair sized bead of black silicone all the way around the inside of the rubber seal, leaving voids for water to drain. The seal has visable impressions for drainage so just don't silicone over them.

I placed two layers of 1/2" two sided tape virtically in the center of the mount area. This will hold the applique in the middle but allow for flex.

I raised the lid to horizontal and carefully layed the new applique in position and very lightly clamped it with wood working clamps just to hold in position until the silicone dried. You can use tape or even a clothes pin would work.

After a few hours to dry, it is done. It looks near prefect and I believe the silicone will hold well, allowing for sufficient expansion to prevent a reoccurrance. It was the best I could do. Only time will tell.

That is awesome man, thank you for posting as you've given me some motivation that I should try to do this too.

Were you able to use the same emblem?
 






Explorer rear applique crack fix

Yes! It his held in tight, tight with two sided tape. Go to harbor freight, get their plastic panel removal tool kit. It has a wide blue pry tool that will take the emblem off without damaging it, saving a few more bucks. The hardest part of the project is chiselling the old panel off without damaging the rubber seal that goes all the way around. If Ford had used silicone in the first place the panels wouldnt have cracked. Paint the new panel and let it dry while you pound off the old one. Good Luck
 






Nice job, actually. Too bad it won't work for my 2003 Mounty because of the emblem indent.
 






I have owned a 92, 95, and 04 Explorer. It's ashame that Ford lost a loyal customer over $100 piece of plastic.

After going around and around with customer service and them telling me it was on me to replace it. I sent them a picture of the replacement (my new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited)
 






Anyone have a vendor or dealer that sells just the applique? I checked some of the sites on earlier postings, but they're not around anymore.
 



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What is the best size 3m tape to use to attach new trim panel 1/4 or 1/2"?
Thanks
 






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