Its_Chaynes

I recently bought a 2000 jeep cherokee sport. Everything in and outside it looks pretty nice except one thing.. -The hatch. My sensor light is on and me and my buddy couldn't figure out why until he looked at the hatch from the inside and saw there is about a half an inch of gap from it being fully closed, enough to clearly see what's on the other side. I'm unaware of you can adjust this, (we tried adjusting the bolts on top and no luck) so any advice would be appreciated! (And the seal is in pretty good shape, just not closing all the way even though it latches pretty good)

Dave51

Rubber cushions by the taillights?

BimmerJeeper

Post photos

Dave51

Recent trip to Italy:

Its_Chaynes

I tried tightening these bolts down all the way and no luck, it won't close any farther. I will post pics of the gap soon

Its_Chaynes

PatHenry

So obviously that's not the original rear hatch.

Go to http://cruiser54.com/?page_id=365, get the 2000 XJ Factory Service Manual and look for the section on aligning/adjusting the hatch door. You might require shims. If the Jeep was in an accident, it might not be possible to get a correct seating of the hatch without the help of an auto body professional.

I'm pretty sure that the catch part on the bottom is adjustable. See if you can loosen the mounting nuts and slide it in a little.

Its_Chaynes

I think this is what you are talking about, if I'm not mistaken. I'll have to look at it sometime tomorrow and see if that bottom latch is adjustable, and thanks for the link to the manual, it really helps! I am fairly certain the jeep has been in a collision as it has a small dent on the front passenger side up near the fender panel, but I'm not sure how much it did damage wise. I hope it isn't too big of an ordeal to fix this hatch issue, as I don't want to park it outside with that gap and have it filled with water

Dave51

Definitely need a Sticky Thread entitled "BTW did i forget to mention..."