Loose panel on tailgate, how to fix? (1 Viewer)

[TAckhouse1]

Hey all, I have an issue with the panel on my 04' LX that contains the reverse lights and license plate (outlined in red), it's loose and I can't figure out how to tighten it. I removed the inner panel of the tailgate, but I couldn't find any nut/bolt that would tighten this area down. I'm worried that eventually it'll fall off.

Apologies, I'm sure I'm not the first one with this issue, I tried searching but didn't find much.

Many thanks in advance. (also the photo is not my truck)

 

[P Hill Up]

I’ve got the same issue. I’ve seen other discussion of the clips breaking (as opposed to any screw/nut to tighten) requiring double sides tape to secure but haven’t opened it up. If you figure it out and can document the process, I’m very interested.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I'd dig into the FSM body section, that should give you an idea of what's holding it on.

 

[TAckhouse1]

I'd dig into the FSM body section, that should give you an idea of what's holding it on.

Apologies for the lack of knowledge. What is the "FSM body section"?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Factory Service Manual, which now that I'm looking at, doesn't have a darn thing about the rear trim. I'd guess you remove this panel under the carpet and that should give you a look at the back side of that trim piece.

 

[Rebus Knebus]

Take a look at this thread: remove lx470 reverse lights and install 06+ Taillights - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/remove-lx470-reverse-lights-and-install-06-taillights.965809/

 

[RAMf1]

I bought longer SS Screws and nylock nuts and bolted the license plate completely through the back of the tailgate. I put some weather stripping on the back of the plate and snugged everything down tight. It’s still tight after a few years. I think the plastic clips break on these when the tailgate is dropped down with no license plate in place.

 

[Trail Badger]

I also have this issue… interested in a fix.

 

[MongooseGA]

Ditto

 

[suprarx7nut]

Here's the scoop my dudes: We're all screwed. That darn panel has screws and clips molded into the main plastic part which is just a big piece of molded plastic. The plastic holding the screws and clips in place gets brittle and fractures all over. There is no fix, short of buying a new piece or drilling through the part and using a nut or something (ghetto). Perhaps you could weld some custom cut ABS structure back over top or something, but it would be a very skilled piece of work to last. You can attempt to JB Weld or similar the mounts for the screws, but despite my best efforts, they all failed again promptly.

I took some videos of my attempt to fix this with JB weld, but the video is awful. Here are some snap shots.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Mine is pre-03 and suffers from the same issue!