1998 Tahoe tailgate difficult to open and close

[OngoGablogian]

I have searched here, other forums, and youtube, and have not found any help. I can't be the only one with this issue. So here it goes.

I have the tailgate style rear hatch/glass on my ‘99 Tahoe. With the glass open (opens fine usually, sometimes sticks a little), opening the tailgate takes multiple hard pulls. The first pull opens it a little bit from the “fully closed” position (loose but neither open nor closed all the way), then again to open it all the way.

Closing it, I have to slam it like 10+ times on average to get it to close all the way. Most of the time it latches to the “half way” latched-but-not-closed position. It is infuriating. And I bet its not good for the other internals that I'm slamming it closed over and over.

After I have the plastic interior panel removed; what am I looking to lube, tighten, re-align or replace?

Am I looking at two separate issues for opening and closing?

Thank you,

OngoGablogian

 

[east302]

Mine’s not quite as bad, but white lithium in the side latches seems to help a little. Best guess is that the internals need to be lubricated, but I haven’t opened it up to see how it works.

 

[TechNova]

lube everythign and lube your hinges multiple times, opening and closing it alot to free up the hinges