tailgate glass

[Jonthefish]

Dammit. Just got the Surf running with its new Roughtrax head (going good and sounding sweet) and I've only gone and bust the rear glass.

I see a Gen 2 one on Ebay at £55 + £15 post. Seems expensive bay have to grab it.

Any tricks to fitting these? I've searched the forum but not seeing much and it isn't it the workshop book at all.

Time for a consoling beer.

[Tokyo drift]

When my last surf rear glass broke ( attempted theft of vehicle ) and if I remember correctly I had to remove the trim at the bottom of the window ( weather strip ). Removed the inner card ( clipped on ), steel plate behind that ( 6 screws I think ), then disconect the motor and guide arms that attach to bottom of glass guides.

Sorry not vague but I'm sure I got the how to off here..

[stormforce]

Yea thats the way to do it.If the runner guides are decent thats left on the glass then its worth keeping hold of as they will be ideal for spares

[Jonthefish]

Thanks Guys. New glass on the way and I'll keep those old metal mounts/runners as they look in pretty good nick.

[Vagrant No2]

If you a Black and Decker Workmate or similar put this up behind the tailgate and lower the tailgate. so the workmate sits where the glass would be if it was up. Put a blanket on the workmate and put the glass on the tailgate. Click both the catches on the tailgate shut . This will let you lift or lower the glass with the tailgate down. You need to have the mechanism about 3/4 up and with the glass on the workmate you can feed the glass into the tailgate and fit it on the runners. Basic description, but I am no writer of workshop manuals. I done a few of these and takes about 1 hour to do.
Make sure the catches on tailgate are released when the glass is fully down.

[Jonthefish]

Vagrant man - that sounds like great advice. Many thanks. Hopefully glass will arrive tomorrow and when/if the gales, lightning and 40 waves cease I'll get on the job. Just fixed window motor too using guide on this site. Cheers and thanks again.

[Jonthefish]

..still waiting for window to arrive. Foreign Car Parts in Birmingham - chaos.

Anyway. Decided to make the truck ready for new window in case a Christmas miracle occurs and it get here. Cleared old glass and installed the repaired motor. Lifting mech working .

I removed the old metal and rubber runners (supports at base of window) and they are pretty good. Rubbed down and rust treated in case needed. This set me to wondering about how the runners and glass go back. Is it:
1. Install runners (minus window) on lift arms then push glass into runners while within tailgate?
or
2. Install runners on glass then fit the whole lot onto the lift arms?

It looks to me like to do the latter I'll need to detach the mech and lift arms from the tailgate to get the wee plastic wheels onto the window runners. Or maybe I just need to be able to move runners along glass to get the wheels over the ends of the "rails". No doubt I'll work it out when/if glass ever arrives as by then I'll be much older and hopefully wiser. Just wondered.
cheers to all

[stormforce]

Fit the runners on the glass before fitting the glass as you may need to tap then onto the glass as they will be tight

[Jonthefish]

The new glass is in. Easier than I expected - largely thanks to the tip about placing new glass on a table at working height. That was essential as i was on my own.

For anyone tackling a broken rear window, it goes something like this:

1. Lower old glass fully.
2. Open tailgate. Press down catches each side (two clicks) so that you can operate the lift arms using the key in the tailgate.
3. Remove fabric covered inner panel and the metal plate beneath it to reveal broken glass and lifting mechanism (regulator).
4. Remove broken window bits. Unclip the rear window heater element connections from old window. Clean out all the old glass and and hoover out the tailgate. Slide the metal and rubber window supports (runners) off the plastic roller on the end of each lift arm.
5. Fully lift and lower the arms a few times to make sure there's no bits of old glass caught up in them.

In my case the runners on the new window were in good shape. So i just rubbed them down and rust treated before installing the new window. Also waxoiled the inside of the tailgate and greased the lifting mechansim.

To install new window:
1. Pull off the rubber weather strip on the outside of the tailgate. This will give enough room to get the new glass in with the runners attached.
2. Raise the lift arms about 2/3 of the way up (3 o'clock and 9 o'clock worked for me). Undo the four 10 mm bolts holding the lifting mechanism to the tailgate so that you can move it. But leave it in place for now.
3. Spray the rubber guide runners inside the tailgate with silicone lube (having made sure there are no bits of old glass stuck in them).
4. With new window lying on a padded table at the correct height, ease it into the tailgate until the metal runners at the bottom of the window are level with the ends of the lift arms.
5. Slide the lifting mechanism sideways to get one wee wheel into its runner. Then slide the mechanism in the opposite direction to get the other wheel onto its runner.
6. Bolt the mechanism back to the tailgate. Test that the window goes up and down ok - MAKING SURE IT IS FULLY SUPPORTED.
Assuming all ok, connect rear heater wires then replace the weather strip, plate and card back on the tailgate.

Beer time.

Thanks for the help guys and I hope this might help another numpty like me.