Tail Gate Latch

[sr139fox]

2001 Sport Trac, 190,00 miles. I just noticed that my tail gate latch appears to be broke. First it was hard to latch. Like it was rubbing or had a good seal on the factory cover. Now it is hard to open and it acts like only the left (as your looking at it) is latching. The latch handle appears to extent more on the right then left. Like the plastic on the handle is broken. I did a quick search in the forum and did not see anything and don't remembering reading any issues recently. I won't have time to tear into it for 2 weeks. Anyone have any experience with this? I could go blindly into this, but prefer to have a general idea what to look for. Thanks in advance. Dave P.

 

[swshawaii]

Like door latches, remove the tailgate trim panel to inspect. Six T30 (Torx) screws and four panel retainers
to remove. Possible the handle or green clips are broken. Make sure everything's moving freely and lubed

http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/projects.asp?VIEW=330&WRENCHES=3&PageHeader=

 

[sr139fox]

Latch update. Got back today from a youth mission trip and checked the tail gate latch. First try and it worked perfect. But I took off the plastic cover and inspected everything. All looked good with nothing broke or disconnected. The latch mechanism and rod was dry and needed lubed. The right nylon guide was so dry that it had a squeak. For lack of better words, I lubed the hell out of it. Used white lithium spray grease. Works as good or better then new.

Big shout out to swshawaii. The link was helpful and helped that I knew what it should look like. Thanks Bud.

Dave P.