Ron Uminium
New Member
- Posts
- 19
- Location
- New Malden, Surrey
In case it might save anyone from doing what I did last week to my poor old Classic, I thought I'd share this small cautionary tale(gate, ha ha). I'm sure it's a familiar story to some folk but if you've never done it or thought about it, this might just save you from a world of pain.
The catch on the left of the upper tailgate had been sticking for ages, making it very hard to open. I had to really yank it, and I was concerned about breaking the mechanism. However on one occasion when I was a tad annoyed about something I applied a leeeetle bit too much force, and... the bloody glass shattered. Not what I was expecting AT ALL (ed: why the feck not? Idiot).
So I checked the Bay and found various second user tailgates for various amounts, but didn't much fancy transplanting the glass myself (it's an ali tailgate so I want to swap the glass, not the whole tailgate), then on a whim I called my insurance company and luckily it is covered for glass with an excess about the same as the cost of a second hand unit.
So they came out to fix it, brought the wrong glass, went away again, couldn't find the right glass, found it, it was scratched, found another one, blah blah, and they are coming to have another go at fixing it again today. Pray for me.
I guess it's not that woeful a tale actually. But it was a major pain in the arse and money I could have spent on beer, so I suppose what I'm saying is, don't be a dickhead and force your rear tailgate.
And now (sorry, this is turning into a bloody novel) I will explain how you might be able to prevent that need to force it in the first place. There are undoubtedly other reasons why your tailgate might stick, but in my case it turns out it was a piece of pish to solve it, by a simple adjustment, so maybe check this before you start looking for the issue elsewhere.
There are two rods that move back and forth in the lower edge of the tailgate when you press the opening-button. They pull the mechanisms which open the tailgate. They are enclosed by a metal strip. Take this off (it's about 6 screws).
Inside, at the far end of each of the linky rod things is a hex-sided tube, which is used to adjust the effective length of that rod. All you do is grab a pair of pointy mole grips or pliers, undo the little lock nut, then turn the hex-sided tube to lengthen or shorten the rod (and do up the locking nut again).
In my case the opening button was not depressing far enough to release the left hand mechanism, so I shortened the rod, a bit too much, then back again, testing each time by setting the mechanisms manually (push the catches up into the mechanism) and then slowly depressing the release button until both sides 'click' down again.
I can tell you that the first time you get those two mechanisms to 'click' at exactly the same time, it is practically orgasmic. You will then stand there for hours clicking, resetting, and clicking again. It's bizarrely compelling. Your wife will finally get you to come in at about 3am.
There is more on this here but the more info out there to hopefully save people hassle the better, so the above is my own take on it.
Oh and finally, the cost (to the insurance company, obviously) of the new replacement glass? £1,180!
Cheers! :beer:
The catch on the left of the upper tailgate had been sticking for ages, making it very hard to open. I had to really yank it, and I was concerned about breaking the mechanism. However on one occasion when I was a tad annoyed about something I applied a leeeetle bit too much force, and... the bloody glass shattered. Not what I was expecting AT ALL (ed: why the feck not? Idiot).
So I checked the Bay and found various second user tailgates for various amounts, but didn't much fancy transplanting the glass myself (it's an ali tailgate so I want to swap the glass, not the whole tailgate), then on a whim I called my insurance company and luckily it is covered for glass with an excess about the same as the cost of a second hand unit.
So they came out to fix it, brought the wrong glass, went away again, couldn't find the right glass, found it, it was scratched, found another one, blah blah, and they are coming to have another go at fixing it again today. Pray for me.
I guess it's not that woeful a tale actually. But it was a major pain in the arse and money I could have spent on beer, so I suppose what I'm saying is, don't be a dickhead and force your rear tailgate.
And now (sorry, this is turning into a bloody novel) I will explain how you might be able to prevent that need to force it in the first place. There are undoubtedly other reasons why your tailgate might stick, but in my case it turns out it was a piece of pish to solve it, by a simple adjustment, so maybe check this before you start looking for the issue elsewhere.
There are two rods that move back and forth in the lower edge of the tailgate when you press the opening-button. They pull the mechanisms which open the tailgate. They are enclosed by a metal strip. Take this off (it's about 6 screws).
Inside, at the far end of each of the linky rod things is a hex-sided tube, which is used to adjust the effective length of that rod. All you do is grab a pair of pointy mole grips or pliers, undo the little lock nut, then turn the hex-sided tube to lengthen or shorten the rod (and do up the locking nut again).
In my case the opening button was not depressing far enough to release the left hand mechanism, so I shortened the rod, a bit too much, then back again, testing each time by setting the mechanisms manually (push the catches up into the mechanism) and then slowly depressing the release button until both sides 'click' down again.
I can tell you that the first time you get those two mechanisms to 'click' at exactly the same time, it is practically orgasmic. You will then stand there for hours clicking, resetting, and clicking again. It's bizarrely compelling. Your wife will finally get you to come in at about 3am.
There is more on this here but the more info out there to hopefully save people hassle the better, so the above is my own take on it.
Oh and finally, the cost (to the insurance company, obviously) of the new replacement glass? £1,180!
Cheers! :beer:
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