is the upper tailgate hatch structural? (1 Viewer)

[SaturnAscends]

here's some pictures of the rust btw
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as you can see it's pretty bad, and i'm sure it's a lot worse underneath. i'd honestly prefer to replace it with something cleaner that i could just do an easy touchup on if needed than doing a full on cut and weld.

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Mine is a lot worse than yours. I've been looking for a replaceent hatch but mine is black onyx w gold trim, so pretty hard to find. The new part is NLA from Toyota.

AFAIK it's not structural, but you may have exhaust fumes entering the cabin if it gets bad enough, and/or possibly mold forming in between the cabin trim and weather stripping.

All that said, I'm not too sure on when, if ever, it might become a safety issue, as opposed to merely cosmetic.

 

[Krominicon]

My solution was to replace with a rust-free hatch from the junkyard. But that now is beginning to rust too. At least it's early enough stage that I can probably pull the window and repair without too much work. But knowing me, i'll put it off until it's serious again.

where did you manage to find a rust free tailgate? if i could find one then i'd love to get my hands on it. i think if you had a rust free tailgate you could probably pull the window out and maybe put some sealer primer ot something in there to seal the pinch weld and protect it better from water that gets trapped under the seal.

 

[Heckraiser]

Local junkyard had a wrecked LX450. I wasn't even looking for one, I was in there for an Acura part, but walked by the 80 and was like, "don't mind if I do!"

 

[Krominicon]

dang that's lucky, was it color matched and everything?

 

[Heckraiser]

no, wrong color, but I got the whole truck painted at the local Maaco a year or two later. My truck was three different colors for a while there.

 

[ppc]

Is this a window glass seal issue?

I think that the glass seal is a secondary issue. If you look at the pictures posted previously there are many small rust spots below the window/seal. On my vehicle there has been a few very small pinhole spots, in the same location, that have started to "bubble". Otherwise my vehicle is completely rust free. I've cleaned and polished those spots and seems they have not grown in size. My theory, the cause is either related a metallurgy material issue, stamping stresses, paint preparation, or the actual primers and paint applications. I wonder if the cavity is prone to collect moisture resulting from the constant heating from glass in the daylight and the cooling at night.

 

[Krominicon]

I think that the glass seal is a secondary issue. If you look at the pictures posted previously there are many small rust spots below the window/seal. On my vehicle there has been a few very small pinhole spots, in the same location, that have started to "bubble". Otherwise my vehicle is completely rust free. I've cleaned and polished those spots and seems they have not grown in size. My theory, the cause is either related a metallurgy material issue, stamping stresses, paint preparation, or the actual primers and paint applications. I wonder if the cavity is prone to collect moisture resulting from the constant heating from glass in the daylight and the cooling at night.

there are a lot of rust spots on the tailgate, and i'm kind of at a point that i want to just replace it and start with something fresh instead. as far as i've seen a lot of people who fix the issue it ends up coming back and they have to do the same thing again.

 

[SaturnAscends]

there are a lot of rust spots on the tailgate, and i'm kind of at a point that i want to just replace it and start with something fresh instead. as far as i've seen a lot of people who fix the issue it ends up coming back and they have to do the same thing again.

In the meantime you could hit the visible rust spots with some corroseal to try and stop it from getting much worse.

I think the hard part is getting the weather stripping to seal right after you take it apart and treat the rust. Personally I’d rather sand and paint a used upper tailgate in good condition than take out the windshield and hope it doesn’t come back.

 

[ppc]

there are a lot of rust spots on the tailgate, and i'm kind of at a point that i want to just replace it and start with something fresh instead. as far as i've seen a lot of people who fix the issue it ends up coming back and they have to do the same thing again.

Not really the case when the proper repair has been done, glass removed, metal replaced, rust converter primer etc. Half-assed repairs are not going to last.

 

[Pascoscout]

My opinion is the window seal is the issue. Over time the seal hardens and forms a small gap between the metal below the glass and the seal. This collects dust which traps moisture in that runs down around the seal. The moist dust then wears down the paint under the seal lip and starts to rust out the metal. On mine it was obvious that the rust started up near the pinch weld where the majority of wet dust was trapped. It likely moved down from there over time until it became noticeable as bubbling paint.

If I was going to go through the trouble of finding a rust free one I would just use it. The only exception would be if it has some other type of damage that was not repairable but the seal area was rust free. I'll bet, based on your pictures, that nearly the entire bottom portion of the pinch weld is rusted on that hatch so you're possibly looking at some work to repair it.

To prevent future rust, one, get a new seal, don't try to reuse the old one. You can also spray the inside with one of those rust converter/sealer products. I would avoid wax products since they will fill in areas that might otherwise need to drain out. I would not worry about color too much. You can get a couple rattle cans of matching paint and clear and spray the new hatch before you install it. Figure about $200 for the primer, paint and clear though. Mine took 3 cans of each. I also plan to regularly use compressed air to blow the dust build up out from under the seal to try and prevent the paint from wearing down again.