puckhead32
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2020
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i dont use the truck much. during the winter, i broke the lift glass backing up in a snowstorm, hit a tree branch. anyway, bought a used glass at a junkyard. when i went to put it on, the hinges didnt look like mine so i used my old ones. froze my ass off for 2 days, then the glass arrived. quickly slapped it on in the cold, all seemed well. this week i noticed the back mat wet. looking at the glass, it was all f'd up. the top rubber lip was under the frame, not over it. problem was, the glass was so far from the strip, it didnt reach enough to go over. i looked at lots of posts here, many people frustrated, but no real solution. there is next to no adjustment.
my glass needed to go in the left side 1/4 inch toward the body, and slightly down. the right side 3/16 in, and slightly down.
i scribed a horizon on the side of the hinges with a small bubble level. then on the left side, i pulled the pin, and then removed the hinge from the body. put it in a vice with the horizon line even with the top of the vice. now i made sure the opposite side was the same hight from the vice . when it was, i used the top of the vice to scribe my second horizon, knowing they were now equal. i then scribed a enter line from the pin hole perpendicular to the horizon line, so i would have a reference to move it from. then i cut the ear off at the horizon line with a hacksaw. i used the kerf from the cut to slightly lower the ear. now using the perpendicular line as my guide, i moved the ear 1/4 inch forward on the hinge. clamped it with a vice grip, and tig welded it back together. did the same on the other ear. now i had a hinge that would locate the glass closer to the weatherstrip.
i reinstalled that hingle, and liked what i saw. i then pulled the rightside hinge, did the same, but 3/16 instead of 1/4. scribe, cut, move, tig. both ears. reinstalled, and now with the gate down, the top weatherstrip sits well over the frame, and doesnt fold under and stay there when it raised. at that point, loosening the hinge nuts allowed me enough to even the sides, and even the hight over the gate. closes and opens well, rubber stays where it should. i used a little fluid film under the rubber to make it slide easily as the gate moves under it, no pinching .
kind of drastic, but i honestly saw no other alternative. the way it was, it was wide open to the elements, like leaving a window down . its odd that the top rubber goes over the glass, its counter intuative to normal . its high up, no reason to have even really seen it to know that. i didnt look when i change the glass, it was cold, and i just figured it would be remove and replace. nothing of the sort. i still cant wrap my head around how they made it like that. next to no adjustablity in the hinges. its also tricky cause where the hinge bolts it the body, its on an angle. any movement , however limited, changes it on two axis. i had been scouting traffic for a 2nd gen tahoe to possibly eyeball a correct fitting gate. the few i saw were barn doors. i did see one with a tailgate at a light, but wasnt able turn around in time to catch up with it, so i had to wing it.
my glass needed to go in the left side 1/4 inch toward the body, and slightly down. the right side 3/16 in, and slightly down.
i scribed a horizon on the side of the hinges with a small bubble level. then on the left side, i pulled the pin, and then removed the hinge from the body. put it in a vice with the horizon line even with the top of the vice. now i made sure the opposite side was the same hight from the vice . when it was, i used the top of the vice to scribe my second horizon, knowing they were now equal. i then scribed a enter line from the pin hole perpendicular to the horizon line, so i would have a reference to move it from. then i cut the ear off at the horizon line with a hacksaw. i used the kerf from the cut to slightly lower the ear. now using the perpendicular line as my guide, i moved the ear 1/4 inch forward on the hinge. clamped it with a vice grip, and tig welded it back together. did the same on the other ear. now i had a hinge that would locate the glass closer to the weatherstrip.
i reinstalled that hingle, and liked what i saw. i then pulled the rightside hinge, did the same, but 3/16 instead of 1/4. scribe, cut, move, tig. both ears. reinstalled, and now with the gate down, the top weatherstrip sits well over the frame, and doesnt fold under and stay there when it raised. at that point, loosening the hinge nuts allowed me enough to even the sides, and even the hight over the gate. closes and opens well, rubber stays where it should. i used a little fluid film under the rubber to make it slide easily as the gate moves under it, no pinching .
kind of drastic, but i honestly saw no other alternative. the way it was, it was wide open to the elements, like leaving a window down . its odd that the top rubber goes over the glass, its counter intuative to normal . its high up, no reason to have even really seen it to know that. i didnt look when i change the glass, it was cold, and i just figured it would be remove and replace. nothing of the sort. i still cant wrap my head around how they made it like that. next to no adjustablity in the hinges. its also tricky cause where the hinge bolts it the body, its on an angle. any movement , however limited, changes it on two axis. i had been scouting traffic for a 2nd gen tahoe to possibly eyeball a correct fitting gate. the few i saw were barn doors. i did see one with a tailgate at a light, but wasnt able turn around in time to catch up with it, so i had to wing it.
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