Tailgate removal for PDR access.

Tailgate removal is sometimes necessary to correctly repair a 4wd roof with Paintless dent removal.

The reason for this is because to get the right reflections and vision of the dents in the roof of a large vehicle like a 4wd or a station wagon, you need to work from the back of the car. You will have to remove the tailgate from the car if the tailgate lifts upwards.

The best and easiest way to do this is to get yourself some welding wire, then remove all necessary trims and clips. You will see on the inside of the tailgate the wire connection plug for the brake light, what you need to do is disconnect that plug, and tie the welding wire around the movable end.

Then in the jam of the tailgate, edge closest to the roof, gently slide the wires out, making sure that the wire is still connected to the plug.

When the wires are all the way though, disconnect the tied end of the wire and twist to fasten in place and do the same to the free end of the wire close to where the plug originally came from.

Remove the rest of the bolts and then remove the tailgate.

When the job is completed attach the tailgate, and fasten the bolts, and then reattach the wire plug to the welding wire.

Now it should be just a matter of pulling that welding wire back out the hole and it should slide the lights plug with it, returning it to its normal position.

Head from tailgate removal page to the dent training simulation program