Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was able to get some work done to the Blazer.
I received a new manual rear window crank handle to replace the broken piece that was on the tailgate when I purchased the truck. In the process, I had some fun with some of the bolts in the tailgate. If I had of thought of how to properly attack this, I would not have gone through all of the trouble that I did. I ended up removing the window, regulator, and latch to get down to the bolts that hold the crank handle in.
As I did not get the lock cylinder, I also did not get the latch pawl and spring. I was able to fit a 1/4-20 x 1/2” long bolt into the clutch portion of the crank handle assembly so that the outer crank would drive the regulator. The window can now be opened by anyone. At this point in time, that is not a concern. Before I actually put the truck on the road, I will have to remove the crank handle assembly again and install the proper lock cylinder, spring, and pawl.
In the process of messing around with the crank handle, I realized that some one had done a “modification” to the tailgate latch assembly which consisted of drilling a hole through the top of the tailgate and welding a screw driver to the latch lever inside the tailgate. I guess that the original latch handle had broken and it must have been easier for them to do this “fix” instead of replacing the original components.
Prior to doing any work on the tailgate, I removed the spare tire carrier from the back. The carrier itself is bent up pretty good and was often in the way of the tailgate when you would drop it down. Once I had finished working on the tailgate, I took some time to attempt to straighten the tire carrier. I was successful in straightening the lower bar, however, I have come to find that it really should have some degree of a bend in it to maintain the alignment with the bracket on the back of the tailgate. This bracket on the tailgate also has to come off and undergo some straightening as it is bent a bit as well. I also noticed that the bolts that hold the bracket inside the tailgate are prohibiting the window from fully retracting into the tailgate.
I did not take any pictures (I know shame on me!), but hopefully next time I will remember to take the camera out there with me.