Geoffrey Miller's website

Both the top and bottom tailgate on the Range Rover Classic are prone to rusting. This can necessitate their replacement.

Top Tailgate Swap

A fellow Register member enlisted my help for this, as it is much easier to do with two people.

The Vogue Tdi's upper tailgate was badly corroded, so that the lip holding the rubber seal had broken away.

This neat little tool from Snap-on extracts the studs retaining the headlining, without breaking them, to give more room to work.

Now the headlining can be eased out from its support and the side of the headlining needs to be moved down to give access to the cables, which run inside the shrouds.

There's only a single heater connection on the left side, but the right side also contains the remote locking leads in later models, which can be fiddled out of the headlining with the connector block still attached.

The top tailgate is fixed to the rear body frame by a single hinge bolt on each side, which can be loosened with a small socket wrench before disconnecting the gas struts, but don't undo them completely yet.

This is where the second pair of hands comes in, to support the top tailgate and prevent it falling when the gas struts are disconnected. Now undo the hinge bolts and remove the tailgate.

The central locking mechanism and outer handle with lock are removed from the old unit and will be transferred to the new tailgate later.

Remove the wiper blade and tie back the wiper arm to keep it out of the way when fitting the new tailgate. We needed to adjust the hinge position, to get the seal to fit properly (the middle picture shows it gaping on the left).

You can see how badly rusted the old tailgate was. After refitting the central locking mechanism, handle and exterior lock, adjusting these turnbuckles inside the lower part of the frame is how you get both catches to release simultaneously.

Job done! Time taken about an hour and a half. No special tools required, but copperslip grease on all the threads is a good idea to make it easier next time.

Bottom Tailgate Swap

It was a year or two later that the bottom tailgate needed replacement. Although it can be done single-handed, it's quite a bit easier with two people.

First remove the trim panel. The buttons nearest the hinge unscrew off metal studs, whilst the handle surround is attached by thin plastic pegs (which can easily be broken) into spring clips in the tailgate.

Remove the circlips which secure the side stays, taking note of the order of the components especially the washers on the inside. Slacken the four bolts which attach the tailgate to the hinges, but do not undo them completely yet.

Slide the tailgate away from the car to reveal the leads for the number plate lamps (one runs on each side lamp circuit, so there are two red and two black wires). The grommet in the bottom edge of the tailgate comes out and remains on the car side of the connectors.

Now remove the hinge bolts and slide the tailgate away from the car, taking care to let the spring-loaded hinges return gently to the default closed position. This is where an extra pair of hands comes in very useful.

The hinge fits between the outer skin (bottom) and the reinforced bracket inside the tailgate.

Fitting the replacement tailgate is exactly the reverse procedure. Don't forget to connect the electrics and the grommet. Some fiddling of the hinge bolt positions and of the latches may be necessary to get it to align with the rest of the body panels, so don't tighten anything up until you're sure it's right. A neat trick to help make this easier is to nip all the bolts up just short of tight, close the tailgate and tighten everything up from inside.

Time taken just over an hour, but I was helping a friend who had done another one previously.