Rear Hatch allignment

[Brian Carpenter]

I broke my fiberglass hatch and replaced it.. but the new one has an allignment issue-- its hitting one of the taillights, and its about an inch away from the other..
How do you align it?
also.. Should I keep it?
When I went to remove the rusty latch and put in my key cylinder I managed to push two of the three mounting bolts through the fiberglass. heads and all.
Has anyone dealt with this and how did you fix it?
thanks, in advance,
-bc

iratefla
I just love Pirrrrrrates.

 

[jordo]

best to align with two people and a few brews. take the shock absorber off the side you're aligning and have someone hold it up. this will release the upwards pressure on the hinge so it's easier to move the thing around. first make sure all the shims are in there-two on each side on the roof and 1 on each side on the hatch iirc. most of the adjustment comes from the roof. the farther towards the front of the vehicle the hinges are, the higher the hatch will sit when closed because of the slope on the roof. they gotta be even or she'll hang crooked. trial and error to get it even at the right height and seal nicely.

isn't there a metal mounting plate on the bottom that the latch bolts thru?

hopefully someone can tell you how to fix it as i know up here hatches are one of the more expensive things from the junkyard

mine was destroyed about a week after i bought the jeep when the bottom of the factory tire carrier ploughed into a stump. since the carrier locked to the hatch it ripped it right off the truck jsut shredding the fibreglass in the process. twisted the mount and bumper up nicely too.