I was hoping that someone could come up with a way to open a broken rear gate on a '99 Cherokee Sport.

 

mine is a 91 and I dont know how different they are but my lock mechinism was broke, I had to take off the inner pannel and switch it to unlock position from inside. Ihavent had any problems with it since but I also cant lock the back hatch without fixing it.

 

yea I had the same problem with mine...what i had to do was push on the tailgate just to the left of the lift handle and actually pull on the handle at the same time ( push and pull at same time ) and once its open replace tailgate handle (if it works)

 

hammer, some chain and another vehicle.

 

Well, mine is really stubborn, and def. broken some how. What I did/do is just keep pulling on it...like continually yank, not a single long hard pull...but multiple yanks...were still talking about jeep doors right???? but for the record...I found that it all goes more smoothly if I push on the left side of the handle as i open it. I think it just gives your jeep character.