Common Rear Hatch Rust (1 Viewer)

[b4wheeler]

I was talking at the Tech Day last month with @davesax36 , and possibly others about the rust spot that "all" 80 series eventually get on the rear hatch. We were thinking of the ways it could happen to all FJ80s and in the exact same spot. We speculated about maybe the wiper dumps so much water there that it is susceptible to rusting.. a few other ideas came up, but I think I have it.....

Talked to a Mercedes guy today that has an early E Wagon and he told me that all of those particular vehicles have the same problem as us. They all rust in the same spot, the same way.....

He was calling about a wiper motor because the washer fluid is dispensed through the wiper motor somehow.

Got me thinking..... If our trucks are at all like that, then a bad hose connection or just a common failure point could be the cause, as this would allow water to sit in that are and cause a common rust issue.

I will be examining this this weekend because my truck is not rusting there yet, and if I can stop it I am going to try.

 

[davesax36]

It could also be an internal seam either in the sheetmetal or the rubber surround, but I'm not gonna be the one to take apart a functioning rear hatch to find out.

 

[JohnVee]

It could also be an internal seam either in the sheetmetal or the rubber surround, but I'm not gonna be the one to take apart a functioning rear hatch to find out.

Hmmm. I think I still have the lower 1/3 of a '94 hatch at the house. Maybe I'll bring it to you for xmas dissection!

 

[b4wheeler]

It could also be an internal seam either in the sheetmetal or the rubber surround, but I'm not gonna be the one to take apart a functioning rear hatch to find out.

I have to figure out my saggy rear wiper, so this is in my near future....

 

[NearJetties]

on a 60 that appears to be where the stamping comes together/has the biggest seam. Could be similar on the 80.

 

[AJP]

Reply to an old message ,,, pretty certain that the ‘issue’ starts when the the rear window is installed. I explained this in detail a while ago but briefly ... used to work on a Ford truck assy line years ago ... we used a braided nylon cord with a wooden toggle on one end when installing the rear glass. Before the window was installed it was prepped with the gasket installed around the window perimeter (not the frame) the gasket has a double ‘U’ sectional shape the inside of the U is placed around the glass... the cord is placed in the outer ‘U’ and wrapped around the entire perimeter .. starting and ending at the lower right..... a vacuum grip is used to insert the window sideways into the hatch and the window is ‘squared’ to the hatck opening and pulled outwards while the toggle is pulled .... this draws the braided cord around the perimeter of the gasket which in turn pulls the outer side of the gasket outside the frame of the hatch. When the installer gets to the end (has gone around the perimeter) he gives the cord a quick yank to pull the ‘tag end’ out (there is short overlapping length of cord) .... that yank and the pull of the length of braided cord over that final exit spot abrades the still soft freshly painted surface ,,,, the rest is history