Hello, I am new to the forum. I just bought my Avalanche on Thursday. It is a 2002 model, and there are a few things it needs. Today I was trying to tackle the tailgate. I did a lot of research, and found the tailgate latch assemblies are notorious for failing. Well, I went to AutoZone and bought a new tailgate latch assembly. Come to find out that theirs would not stay in the unlocked position when the internal lever was pulled down, and replacing it with the original tailgate latch assembly (well oiled up), and transferring the plastic rod holders from the new part to the old part worked great. it will stay in locked or unlocked mode as I move the lever with my hand and try the tailgate.

HOWEVER, I am having problems when it comes to putting the bezel back on and trying to lock and unlock the tailgate. I can put the lock in once and lock it, but turning the lock the other direction won't allow me to unlock the tailgate. Upon further inspection, it looks like the lock lever wants to go higher than the arm it is moving can go, but doesn't want to go down low enough to trigger the assembly to switch to unlock mode.

I have tried bending the locking lever to see if I could adjust the clearance, but it's been no dice. Does anyone have any suggestions? I can get pictures tomorrow.