Lift Gate Panel replacement/fix?
 

Okay, so the Cherokee is my wife's, and today we replaced the lift gate lock actuator. Replacing it went fairly easy, but while pulling off the trim panel, the plastic tore/cracked in one place.

I'm gonna be calling around to junkyards to try and find a cherokee with the same color trim, but if I can't find one, where else would I look for one of these panels? I didn't see any on Ebay, shockingly enough.

Also, if I can't find or afford a replacement, anybody here tried to repair a break in this stuff with any moderate success? I'll end up replacing it eventually anyhow if one's available somewhere, but if a new ones really expensive, I'll be having to put the old back on for a little while, and don't want it rattling all the time.


Thanks for any suggestions, Stephen.

P.S. The jeep is a Grand Cherokee Laredo, 2000. And the interior is gray. Thanks again.

Well all I can say is duct tape, actually that gorilla tape is stronger. If you want it to look clean (not broken) you will have to spring for a new plastic panel. Unless anyone has a better idea.

Maybe tape it from the back side so nobody sees it

Yeah. But be careful about those plastic pins that hold the panel down. They break really easily (if you break the part of the plastic they mount onto then you will have a rarely trunk like I do and there should be only 2 screws

Well, I'm gonna do some looking at Junk yards and see what I can find. If nothing, my next step will be fixing the crack till I can find a panel.

I think I'm gonna end up using some high end Cyanoacralate glue (super glue) on the crack (if you buy the good stuff, it really works pretty well. And you can get rubber reinforced CA glue that flexes). And after gluing it, I'll drill holes on either side of the crack, and basically stitch it up with small ZipTies.

Won't look perfect, but it'll hold.


I do want to replace it when/if I can though.

Sounds like a good plan:thumbup:

The interior panel is likely made from ABS plastic. You can use ABS pipe cement to repair it. Similar to this guy,
Be sure to get ABS cement and not PVC.

Found a decent one yesterday at the JY for $15. I was gonna put it in today, but the wife went and did it by herself while I was at work. I'm so proud! Haha

Definitely the type of lady I want in my life when I'm older!!:thumbup: that's awesome. I live in Los Angeles, California so JY's here are expensive for a JY and there's only 1 Jeep Junkyard that has mainly Cherokee stuff pre-pulled luckily but it's still far and costs a fair amount. The guy there would've charged me at least $30 for the trunk trim.