Fixing Your Silverado Tailgate Handle is Remarkably Easy
Don’t pay a mechanic to fix the tailgate latch in your Silverado. It can be done with one hand.
This week’s “Mechanic Monday” video comes to us from the Me Not Brainwashed YouTube channel and it features host David Webb showing us how easy it is to fix a non-functional tailgate handle on a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado. While this applies specifically to a 2007 model year truck, the fix should be similar for all of the Chevy and GMC pickups during that generation.
The Broken Handle
It is a common issue for the second generation Chevrolet Silverado (2007-2014) tailgate handles to fail, leading to a frustrating situation for owners who use their bed. As Webb points out in the video, it isn’t very hard to “break” the tailgate handle, as his stopped working after some light off-roading, but a hard bump can lead to an inoperable tailgate.
In many cases, owners will quickly rush to their mechanic to have the tailgate fixed, but as this video shows, the fix is so easy that there is no reason to pay someone to do it. In fact, the fix is so easy that Webb repairs his Silverado with one hand while holding the camera in the other hand.
Investigating the Problem
After the short introduction, Webb shows us what fails within the Silverado tailgate latch handle assembly. This begins by removing the plastic cladding around the handle, which comes off with light pressure. He points out that in some cases, the tabs that hold the plastic shroud into the metal tailgate will break, but he is able to remove his without any issue.
One that plastic piece is out of the way, we can see the inner workings of the tailgate latch handle assembly, with a metal rod extending to the driver’s side, but no metal rod on the left side. That is the failure, as the metal rod being disconnected from the handle prevents the passenger’s side latch from unlocking and as a result, the tailgate cannot be opened.
The Fix
This failure is caused by a small plastic clip that connects the metal rod to the latch assembly breaking from the shock of a hard bump, but as Webb points out, these clips can be purchased on Amazon for a few dollars. The image below shows the plastic clips, with the stock clip on the left in white and the new clip on the right in green. Once that plastic clip is installed in the interior portion of the latch handle assembly, the metal rod plugs into that clip and the handle is fixed. The fix doesn’t even require any tools.
Webb opens and closes the tailgate a few times to make sure that it works before reinstalling the plastic shroud on the rear of his 2007 Chevrolet Silverado. He does all of this with one hand, so provided that you have the plastic clips, anyone can fix this problem themselves.
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