How to Replace Tailgate Handle Bezel 1999-2006 GMC Sierra

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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 and maintaining your vehicle. I'm going to use my twenty 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 we'll be doing a tailgate handle on a 2004 GMC Sierra. Same as any 99-06 Sierra Silverado. Only tools needed are a half inch wrench and an Exact-o knife if you have a Rhino liner in your truck. Also if you're going to order the tailgate handle we do recommend ordering the bezel as it's kind of difficult to get off without breaking it and actually we found on our truck it had already been broken. So it'll just save you a little time.

Okay, so to remove your tailgate handle the first thing you want to do it is remove this bezel. Basically there are two pins that go down and then it clips in. So you want to push down on top and then pull out, this is interesting. This truck has already been damaged and somebody used two sided tape to put it in there. See the close up, the tabs are broken off. It commonly happens. Two sided tape is okay for awhile, the problem is what happens is these trucks, the dirt just kind of swirls up and around here and sooner or later the two sided tape is going to let go and this thing's going to look like that.

Here on the tailgate you've got three bolts, you can see ones already loose because I was experimenting a bit. This truck's got a Rhino liner in it and a lot of trucks do now. If you don't obviously you can just take these bolts off but if you do have a Rhino Liner you want to use a knife and you just basically want to cut very carefully, so you don't cut your fingers off, cut each hex. I'm trying to do this quick. If you don't cut this off you won't be able to get your wrench on there. You could probably force your wrench on there but this is the best way not ruin your bolts. Just kind of back it in there and peel it off. You don't have to get it all off, it doesn't have to be perfect but you definitely need to get enough off so that you can get your wrench on there. Okay it's a half a inch, you push down and the bolt comes up and out. You want to remove these three bolts.

As I was taking these out I wasn't filming because you don't really need to see me tearing out but something funny, this has washers and the Rhino Liner has actually trapped the washers in there but that's okay. You can just remove it to that point and you'll still be able to remove your handle. You just back it out and you can hear my handle just dropped down there's. We're going to put our bolts on our 1A Auto magnetic tray.

Okay here's your handle and there's two rods right here held in by clips and basically you just need to move these clips down. Okay and the rod pulls out and then there's your tailgate handle. New handle, see it's all basically the same as the old handle. Okay what you want to do always, is lubricate. Any point where it might pivot, spray them with a bunch of stuff. Put it in here and it'll attach. This goes that way. Push them in. Push these rods into the clips. They don't want to go easily, there's it goes, it's kind of working in a little bit. You basically do it one side at time, just kind of grab the rod, push on the tailgate. Grab this rod, push on the tailgate and it'll open up.

Okay then down here and we'll take the handle and we can line it up by and I'll need my wrench here. These washers are kind of stuck in here. Get that bit with no problem. The last one here. As far as tightening, it doesn't have to be incredibly tight. Holding it with my fist, and that's good. So we have our new bezel here and here's the old one, you can see the little teeth that are broken off. Remove some of the two sided tape because it needs to bite under the metal and that will just get in the way. Basically this just goes in. Push down on it and there you go all set.

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