Upper tailgate rubber

[onemanarmy]

Looking over my rig the other day, and the next little project I'm gonna do is to replace the dry and cracked rubber on the top of the tailgate...and use the 4runner piece like this thread...
https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-...ty/395694-external-rubber-top-tailgate-2.html

However, just looking at the area to work on, how do you remove the screws holding the weather strip in place? Do you have to remove the window? Even with the window removed, there doesn't appear to be enough space to work with. Is there a trick to this?

Thanks

 

[nuclearlemon]

there aren't screws holding the metal trim on a pig. it's just little push in clips. can be done with the window in. kind of a bitch to do without tweaking the metal, but it can be flattened back to shape in a vise

 

[riderjgs]

Clips are still available from Toyota and other vendors. I'd intended to use the same thread and modify the FJ60 rubber but got lucky. In purchases of two separate batches of parts there were both sides of unused NOS two piece top rubber. Hot damn! Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.
Absent the Pig gods smiling on you like that, the FJ60 piece looks like the best alternative.