I have an 05 chevy colorado and I cant seem to get the tailgate to open. When you pull the handle to open it, you feel a slight click like you would if it would open but it wont budge. Ive tried pushing into it and pulling, ive had someone sit in the bed and push while i pulled and nothing is working. Any ideas?
Is the inner sheet of metal attached via a row of screws around the circumference (a common tailgate design)? If so, removing the inner panel should give you access to the latch workings. Typically, there’ll be a central mechanism that pulls two metal rods, one on either side, to release the latches. One of yours may have somehow become unattached.
I checked that. It was the main mechanism that was slightly out of place. I got mad when trying to figure the thing out and hit it… and now it works just fine, but thanks for helping
When faced with a problem just get a bigger hammer.
In the Air Force we called that “brogan maintenance”. As in “hit it with a shoe”.
Congratulations. I hope the fix holds permanently.