Hi
Looked under the tailgate handle and saw some rust so I thought I would just remove the handle that's when the problems started.The lower of the three studs just pulled out as I was trying very gently to turn it so I continued and removed the other two without any problems.
I put rust remover/killer on and cleaned it all up,Went to put the handle back on temporary until I could sort it out and the other stud pulled out I had to tape the handle back on.
Ordered a new genuine rover handle on e-bay for £75 so easy to fit,In the book it tells you to have the window up to get to the nuts I found it easier to do the left hand nut and the lower one with the window up then lower the window to get to the top right hand nut.

I sympathise with you !!!

Like yourself I found some rust on the tailgate, under the handle..in my case there was a hole about the size of a 50p piece rusted through. The hole was adjacent to the centre handle stud...I reckon it's a fairly common problem.
I finished up getting a tailgate which was rust free and had it resprayed by a friend.

I also had to replace the handle this week as the daughter, who is not used to the opening sequence, pulled the handle off the tailgate !!! (see my recent post "Window problems).
When replacing the handle I put a thin run of sikaflex sealant on the plastic handle gasket before fitting it to the door in the hope that it will prevent further water getting to the mounting studs.

dont be silly. Freelanders dont rust.

Hippo says so

The Mad Hat Man said:

dont be silly. Freelanders dont rust.

Hippo says so

Click to expand...

:behindsofa:

Probably 'cos he keeps his in California :hysterically_laughi:hysterically_laughi