How to Replace Tailgate Cable 2001-10 Ford Explorer Sport Trac

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Hi, I'm Mike Green. I'm one of the owners of 1A Auto. I want to help you save time and money repairing or maintaining your vehicle. I'm going to use my 20-plus years experience restoring and repairing cars and trucks like this to show you the correct way to install parts from 1AAuto.com. The right parts installed correctly: that's going to save you time and money. Thank you and enjoy the video.

In this video, I'm going to show you how to replace the tailgates on this 2005 Explorer Sport Track, the same as any '01 to '05. It's pretty easy. All you need is a T45 Torx bit and ratchet handle.

Okay, so this is really a pretty easy change. One thing you'll want: this is a T45 Torx bit and you undo this side. You want to do these. You want to make sure you don't ever let your cables break because if your cables break, your tailgate will fall down and you'll get a big dent right across the bottom of your tailgate. So if you ever see them fraying or cracking or anything, it's an easy and low-dollar replacement and it will save you getting a busted up tailgate. So I'm just going to take this one out and then this one has a little metal tab. I'm just using my fingernail actually and pulling up on the tab and then out. We really need to retain this bolt and washer.

So obviously, here's replacement. Lifting up on the tailgate helps just get it in the right spot. Make sure you get the tailgate out on this bolt because this bolt is shouldered. You don't want to tighten the nut up with that in the wrong place. So you want to make sure the cable is out against the head. Then you want to make sure that this is positioned basically pointing straight up to the top of the tailgate as you tighten it up. What that does is it forces the tailgate cable to go to fold down.

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