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Fixed My Own Liftgate Alignment Issue


Escapism

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Screw the dealer. They had 2 attempts and it still looked like crap, so I did it myself today and I'm very happy with the results. This operation was a GIANT PITA. Also, CAUTION, this DIY is not for the unskilled!!! The support arms are under tension so things can go south in a hurry!!!

 

In one picture you will notice my passenger side needs to go up. It looks a lot worse in person than in the photo. I marked the location of the hinges and striker plate. You MUST remove the support arms in order to do this or they will just push your door backwards. And don't forget, you have to support your door first. I needed to move the door to the left 1/16" and the right side up a heavy 1/16"". This is what my marks looked like after movement. Then I tackled the striker. Mine was on with blue locktite and I swear I thought the T40 driver was going to break. I have never encountered a bolt on this tight. Again, using a sharpie I outlined the plate before starting.

Moved it about 1/16" to the right. It is a great design for non movement because the bolt is an oval head and the plate has a conical countersunk recess. The PROBLEM is when you adjust it will just keep going back to the original factory location. So to overcome this I used washers to ride above. I put it on as frigging tight as I could and crushed the washer a little and I'm confident it won't move. But I may buy another striker plate and have my welder friend just fill in the countersunk holes. Then I can put it on the milling machine and make proper through holes and use grade 8 flanged bolts. Or I can use the plate I have and just drill through the plate in two other location and tap it using like a 10-32 and "lock" the plate in position.

 

 

 

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Edited by Escapism
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All of that for a 1/16" of an inch?

Like I said, the photo's never tell the whole story. It is also twisted but the other set of bolts are only accessible by removing the headliner and that is too much. Because of the body and liftgate design of the lenses, if they are out of alignment by an 1/8" (which mine was, never put calipers on it) then it is very noticeable. The horizontal gap at the bottom in relation to the bumper was also very noticeable.

 

Also, in the oasis message, if I recall, the time allotted to fix the hatch was like 2.6 hours. It took me about the same.

 

Thanks for your reply. Its always so nice to hear from you.

Edited by Escapism
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Would be interesting to find out what LAP allows or considers OK with deviation from specification such as gaps between door panels or the windshield and the vehicle body.

Appears the tolerance level is too large for some owners expectations.

In this day in age of high tech robotics which LAP is equipped with for this not to happen, I can only assume the decision makers at LAP presume most owners are OK

with crooked panels, tail gates etc.

 

I think transitman's comment "All of that for a 1/16" of an inch" indicates the priority level from a owner on issues like this.

Edited by MKII
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Would be interesting to find out what LAP allows or considers OK with deviation from specification such as gaps between door panels or the windshield and the vehicle body.

Appears the tolerance level is too large for some owners expectations.

In this day in age of high tech robotics which LAP is equipped with for this not to happen, I can only assume the decision makers at LAP presume most owners are OK

with crooked panels, tail gates etc.

 

I think transitman's comment "All of that for a 1/16" of an inch" indicates the priority level from a owner on issues like this.

Funny thing is, I have seen vehicles on the lot that are perfect and others worse than mine. That window of tolerances from one extreme to the other is just too much. Something is not right in the assembly process.

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  • 2 weeks later...

^ I hope you get one of the good ones.

 

I even had to align the front passenger door. It was out at the bottom and when the light racked across that side it looked so bad that one of my neighbors asked me about it. Some people on here don't think 1/8" is a big deal. I guess their used to small things. Go look at a Honda or Toyota. That are all perfect. Even their lower trim levels.

Edited by Escapism
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Screw the dealer. They had 2 attempts and it still looked like crap, so I did it myself today and I'm very happy with the results. This operation was a GIANT PITA. Also, CAUTION, this DIY is not for the unskilled!!! The support arms are under tension so things can go south in a hurry!!!

 

In one picture you will notice my passenger side needs to go up. It looks a lot worse in person than in the photo. I marked the location of the hinges and striker plate. You MUST remove the support arms in order to do this or they will just push your door backwards. And don't forget, you have to support your door first. I needed to move the door to the left 1/16" and the right side up a heavy 1/16"". This is what my marks looked like after movement. Then I tackled the striker. Mine was on with blue locktite and I swear I thought the T40 driver was going to break. I have never encountered a bolt on this tight. Again, using a sharpie I outlined the plate before starting.

Moved it about 1/16" to the right. It is a great design for non movement because the bolt is an oval head and the plate has a conical countersunk recess. The PROBLEM is when you adjust it will just keep going back to the original factory location. So to overcome this I used washers to ride above. I put it on as frigging tight as I could and crushed the washer a little and I'm confident it won't move. But I may buy another striker plate and have my welder friend just fill in the countersunk holes. Then I can put it on the milling machine and make proper through holes and use grade 8 flanged bolts. Or I can use the plate I have and just drill through the plate in two other location and tap it using like a 10-32 and "lock" the plate in position.

Here's what you wrote, no mention of 1/8th inch and that's what I responded to.

 

^ I hope you get one of the good ones.

 

I even had to align the front passenger door. It was out at the bottom and when the light racked across that side it looked so bad that one of my neighbors asked me about it. Some people on here don't think 1/8" is a big deal. I guess their used to small things. Go look at a Honda or Toyota. That are all perfect. Even their lower trim levels.

If you're referring to my reply, I never said 1/8th of an inch wasn't a big deal, I implied that 1/16th of an inch wasn't a big deal. Despite my obsession with detail and perfection, I still don't think moving the tailgate 1/16th of an inch is something worth doing, especially because the consequences of messing something else in the process isn't worth it, IMHO. If you believe "all" Honda's and Toyota's are perfect, you should take a closer look, IIRC, Toyota just announced another recall.

Edited by transitman
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Here's what you wrote, no mention of 1/8th inch and that's what I responded to.

 

If you're referring to my reply, I never said 1/8th of an inch wasn't a big deal, I implied that 1/16th of an inch wasn't a big deal. Despite my obsession with detail and perfection, I still don't think moving the tailgate 1/16th of an inch is something worth doing, especially because the consequences of messing something else in the process isn't worth it, IMHO. If you believe "all" Honda's and Toyota's are perfect, you should take a closer look, IIRC, Toyota just announced another recall.

We are talking about fit and finish here, not all the other recalls you hear about. Basic fit and finish on a 30K plus vehicle.

Edited by Escapism
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I agree no way I'm spending my valuable time adjusting for 1/16 of an inch. That's crazy.
It didn't take that long and to me it was worth it. I guess that's whats important. Yours must be one of the good ones, I'm envious.

 

And on a side note, I used to get the error message "rear hatch ajar" on my dashboard probably 30% of the time. Now that everythings adjusted haven't gotten one. And I open it at least 3 times a day. I guess that was just an added bonus. Its also quiter when closing, used to get a loud "clunk" feel throughout the car.

 

Maybe I should send Ford a bill for 2 1/2 hrs labor. Hmmm, now what was that hourly rate?

Edited by Escapism
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  • 1 year later...

Funny thing is, I have seen vehicles on the lot that are perfect and others worse than mine. That window of tolerances from one extreme to the other is just too much. Something is not right in the assembly process.

 

My passenger side of the lift gate was perfect but the drivers side was down about 1/8 inch. Like you, it bothered me. Not only do the body lines not match up but the inner design of the tail lamps don't either and this looks bad (at least to me). I didn't even bring it to my dealer because I know they would tell me "it is within spec". So I fixed it myself. While it is not absolutely perfect, because 4 body lines have to match up perfectly with 4 lines in the lift gate, it is really close. I am happy with it.

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  • 8 months later...

I have a 2013 Escape. The rear hatch alignment is a mess. When latched, the passenger side of the hatch is "pulled in" past the rear quarter panel (and tail lamp). The driver's side is the opposite (hatch isn't flush with quarter-panel or tail lamp -- doesn't close flush). Really, there isn't one body line related to the rear hatch that lines up.

 

I took the vehicle to the dealer last fall (Nov 2014) to have this looked at (as well as a few recalls done). Despite the dealer having the vehicle for an entire day, they weren't able to "get to" the hatch issue (nor to one of the recalls).

 

The hatch situation continued to get worse to the point where the hatch was beginning to rub against the body on the passenger side -- close to where the reverse light is on the taillight lens. I was concerned that any further shifting might cause the two parts of the taillight to start rubbing. Inspired by a thread on this forum, I decided to attempt to align the tailgate myself. I wasn't very successful, but I at least got it to a point where things weren't rubbing against each other.

 

Yesterday, I took the vehicle back to the dealer to have the gate issue addressed (and to get some recalls done). The dealer had the car for most of the day (they called me at around 4:00pm to tell me it was ready). I picked it up after the day shift had left for the day. When I looked at the hatch, it seemed like it was in worse shape than when I dropped it off -- it wouldn't even open via the key fob without a little manual assistance.

 

Anyway, my confidence in the dealer to get this resolved is pretty low. So I'm curious if someone who has taken this task on themselves can tell me the details of the process they went through and exactly what all "points of adjustment" were involved (hinges, latch on hatch, plate on the body). Did you complete remove the struts so you could "test fit" (I didn't do this -- I only removed the struts from the hatch thus wasn't able to fully close the hatch to do a complete alignment check)?

 

I may give another dealer a shot at this, but if nothing else I'm curious how those that resolved this on their own did so.

 

Thanks.

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