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Re: My 86 f150 tailgate wont open..latch is broken.left...
Remove the bolts from the forward side of the tailgate but be sure to keep control of the handel itself to give you access to the rods to pull the locks inward to release........Hope this helps.
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UHOH, might try a bent butter knife or other bent metal and slip it in the crack between the tailgate and the side panel on the side that the rod from the handle came off on, but if it came off both sides you'll have to work both latch at the same time which will require the help of a buddy unless your pretty acrobatic. You have to push in the catch or catches that are not retracting to unlatch the tailgate. Good luck if all else fails you'll need to take it to a body shop. Some trucks you can get to the rods to the latches trough the hole where the handle mounts with some needle nose and pull the rods if they came loose at the middle.
I had a similar problem. Rust can be a pain in the ***! It might be best to hit the junkyards for a replacement ! Then spray the hell out of it with rust inhibitor. The one you have probably has bent control rods, broken springs and bent or cracked latches. I had the '95 F150 with extended cab...it rusted so badly it was dropping parts all over the road just before I dumped it last year.
You'll have to get the trim piece that goes around the latch off. It just snaps off. If you push up on the bottom while you're pulling out on it the retainers should disengage. Push down on the top while pulling out should allow you to remove it. If you look in the tailgate under the latch you should see two rods one going left and one going right. They are held on the latch with plastic clips. The clip for the right rod is probably broke and the rod disconnected. Assuming that is the case you can lift up on the latch to release the left side while reaching a finger in under the latch to push the right rod left. This should allow you to open the tailgate. Once it's open you can remove three bolts on the inside of the tailgate and diconnect the left rod allowing you to remove the latch. I was told by a GM parts guy that those clips are only available with the complete latch. I found one at a parts store (Carquest) that I could make work. The GM dealer had a similar clip but I couldn't make it work plus the clip was over $5 wholesale. Hopefully that will work for you.
Take the center latch out and pull each rod from the center of the tail gate inwards to open the gate....you may find the center latch is bent or broken and not pulling one of the rods on one side.
I had the same problem. I figure that dirt/rust may have accumulated inside the latching mechanism. I was able to fix it using the following steps.
1 - Remove the plastic cap that covers the top of the gate.
2 - Remove as many of the remaining torx bolts from the inside cover (you will need to do this to get inside the gate).
3 - Next, try and get some WD40 on/in the latch mechanism.
4 - Using a large screwdriver, you will need to pry the lever attached to the cable in order to release the latch.
Not a pretty process but it seemed to work. I give the latches a good lubrication frequently now, until I get around to replacing them.
latches for this are on the sides. The are connected by the handle in the middle of the gate. Latches are either stuck open (dry or frozen open) or stuck closed and you are banging on them when trying to close and "latch" gate. Get a screwdriver and while pulling up on tailgate handle make sure latches(on gate) are open to engage "striker bolt". If they are spray them liberally with WD40 or silicone SPRAY. latch and open several times to let lubricant attack rusted area on mechanism.
If latches won't open they may be stuck closed and won't open because cable going from middle handle to that side or both sides is disconnected. Does tailgate have star shaped bolts on "inside-bed-when-closed" side? If so you will need to spray these with WD40 and let set then get a star torques bit and remove them to access middle handle actuator.
You may have to pull the latch, the latches inside the tailgate got loose or the tailgate is bent inward take a sluge hammer and hit it on the oppisite side to make flush!
You can access it from the inside of the tail gate,there is a plate directly on the other side of the handle,Just take that plate off and reattach the rod mount or replace the handle if it's broken.
remove the tailgate handle trim cover, disconnect handle from side that's not working & pull on rod manually. ( thats if it's not broken already) You have probably broken rod from handel.
I have a 2002 Chevy 3500 and the same thing happened to me. It turns out the latching mechanism on the left side would not release when I pulled on the latch handle. I stuck a small screwdriver in there to release the latch handle (as I pulled on the latch handle) and it popped open. I then squirted some WD-40 on that latch mechanism because it was hung up. I didn't have any problems after that.
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