LX rear gate trim removal help needed (1 Viewer)

[Higgin]

I need to remove the rear gate trim piece on my 06 LX. The painted plastic piece that hold both rear backup lights and goes behind the license plate. Long story short, head broke off license plate bolt, drilled through bolt to use extractor, broke off extractor in the hole. I know, I know, amateur hour. Anyway, I'd like to get this trim piece off to have better access to the the plate screw location to get this sorted out and this piece is insanely expensive to replace. Like almost $900! So I don't want to break it. From what I can tell, both rear backup lights need to come off, but from there on, I'm not sure. From the online parts blowups I can find, they call for 2 plastic clips, so from what I can tell, that's the only thing else holding it on. So my thinking is to just get my trim removal tool under it, and pop it straight back and off once the lights are out. Just wondering if anyone else has pulled this piece off and can give me some advice.

Here's a pic of the piece I'm talking about.....

 

[Burch1]

You need to pop off the carpet on the tailgate and then the nuts that hold that piece on are visible through the back of the tailgate.
You might want to take to two covers off that allow access to the rear taillights as well for complete visibility.
There are also a couple of black clips at the edges that hold it on as well so be sure not to snap those off.

 

[Higgin]

Awesome! Thanks for the explanation and the parts diagram. I have the inside cover off already but I just wasn't exactly sure what was going to what. Should be able to figure it out now! Next step is get that broken off extractor out. Thanks again!

 

[LongHaulCruiser]

If it were me, I'd use the Japanese license holes below the US ones by re-drilling the license plate and call it a day.