I slid off the trail and had my D2 at a very steep angle this past weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Rally in VA, and I attempted to open the rear gate to get some recovery gear. DUH!, It swung hard open with the weight of the door and the spare tire and then I could not get the gate to shut. It is now high and too far toward the latch side of the rear gate opening to close cleanly.

Once on the trail and back to camp, I loosened the hinge bolts and was able to put downward pressure when closing enough to get it in the first latch position. I had to take off the alignment guide wheel on the gate as it was hitting the latch side as extending out too far towards the latch to fit in the opening cleanly. It stays shut, but will cannot lock or go to the second latch position. I can see where the bottom hinge has been stressed and deformed out of shape. My guess is it is better to replace the hinges than trying to beat them back into the correct shape. Am I correct?

Is the removal of the hinges from the rear gate as simple as removing the gate by the hinges and then drilling out the rivets that appear to attach the hinges to the door and re-riveting new/replacement hinges? Any tips or suggestions will be appreciated.

 

fo sho, you have to replace. no hope for using those in there current condition and position. You'd have better luck with home depot strap hinges cause it only takes a tiny tweak and you're twerked. I would find some replacements before i tweaked the rest of the latch assembly.

 

Any body have any good used D2 rear gate hinges?

 

Believe it or not, I had a similar experience and have been looking for the same thing. A set of tailgate hinges for a 1999 D2.

 

I was able to get mine and in the right color from a LR parts guy. They usually have them, as they are not really needed when you replace a rear gate. New ones are pricey. Check Ebay,

 

Thanks.

One of mine snapped, so now I have to avoid opening the tailgate, which doesn't make this truck fun.

I will see what I find on ebay.

 

The same thing happened to me yesterday.
I opened the back door while on a incline and it wouldn't close! I thought I had closed it (rigged),however it did swing open before I could stop. The back door hinges are not bent out of shape.
I will need to replace.
Did you end up doing this yourself ?
If I can find them,then how?
Any advice will help!
The body shop quoted 1000.
thanks