Hey my tailgate mechanism isn’t working, I’m assuming the latch broke because the motor mecaninism still works but nothing opens. So here’s my issue, I need to remove the back panel from the inside so I can open and work on it. I’ve unscrewed the door handle but I see nothing else that can be removed. I’ve pried pretty hard and the back panel is on there good, doesn’t seem like it’s just held on by brackets, it feels like I would have to break it. Any help would be awsome.
Thank you

 

I was having a similar issue on my 95 Jimmy. When my father-in-law gave it to me, the rear tailgate would only unlatch on the drivers side and not the passenger side causing the tailgate to not drop. Unfortunately, in order to remove the plastic back panel you have to drop the tailgate because there are screws on the side of the panel that are not accessible when the tailgate is up. I tried doing the same thing you did by removing the door handle and pry away the plastic enough to stick my arm in there to pull the linkages but that didn't work. So I took a small hacksaw blade and cut off the striker latch on the passenger side and I was able to drop the tailgate. I'm not telling you to do this but I had no other options. I realized after taking everything apart that the latches have a switch on them, when tripped, that do not allow them to unlatch from the striker. I would've never been able to drop my tailgate if I didn't cut off the striker latch. I would try prying up the plastic and pulling the linkages first and see if you can drop it that way before resorting to what I did. Good luck.

 

I read in the owner manual there is an emergency release for opening endgame. It says peel back or slit the carpet locally to expose access hole in the trim panel. Use a thin object to reach through the access holes in both the trim panel and the hardware cover. Pry release lever towards passenger side until the glass latch pops open and reattach carpet securely. Ha I don’t see the carpet reattaching so well, but seeing how yah that back panel isn’t coming off I will try this before sawing it off.

 

Are you trying to pop the glass or drop the tailgate? If you're trying to pop the glass you can do it with a small flat head screw driver. There should be enough room to do so if you take the door handle off. I would have to look at the mechanism but there is something you push on the lock mechanism that will release the glass.

 

So theres a small screw that holds the plastic part by the window hatch part of the tailgate. That is what's preventing you from pulling, and giving you that feel like I'm gonna break it.


if your ok with that, then pull away, they are just push in clips.

along the top of the glass, they tend to slip out of the holding area, and stay connected to the door.