[fishEH]

Upon replacement of the liftgate latch and cable my fears about the window were confirmed. Significant rust existed on both the vertical supports/guides. On this discovery I was glad I never tried to open it since I purchased the Sequoia last July.

The replacement parts were easy to find and I ordered online from McGeorge Toyota.

That was the end of the easy. Parts arrived and I went to install. At that point I noticed the part of the regulator that attaches to the window on the drivers side was rotted through. Well you can’t just buy that part of the regulator, it’s all or nothing. I wasn’t about to drop $225 on a whole new regulator assembly for that one part. Looking at pictures online it appeared the regulator for the Sequoia rear windows came with the slide attachment piece I needed. $30 and two days later I had my donor regulator.

To be continued…..

 

[fishEH]

So I set in to replace all the parts.
First I pulled the old out….in pieces.

Then I tried to remove the slide piece from the regulator. Rusty bolts made this a major headache. There was no bolt head to grab onto.

Had to bust out the angle grinder and get to work. Only one gave me a major issue. I started drilling the bolt and then tried a bolt extractor. Big mistake. I don’t even know why I bother with those things. It ended up shearing off inside the bolt, and those things are impossible to drill out. After enough drilling the bolt transferred enough heat to melt the plastic the nut was sunk into and the whole thing popped out.

I measure the bolt holes and cut down the slide off the donor regulator. Unfortunately the fit was JUST a bit to snug for the slide. So I took a piece of 3/8” thick aluminum flat stock, jammed it in the track, and gave it a tiny twist. This opened it up just enough to work.

Drilled some new holes and Bob’s your uncle!!

 

[fishEH]

I meant to get back to this…..
The next challenge was the angled part that slides vertically in the driver’s side track. The new track didn’t come with it. I actually couldn’t find this part pictured anywhere online. It’s like Toyota forgot to include it with the track or the regulator. The old angled part was far too rusted to reuse. I wasn’t about to give up though, this window WOULD get fixed this night.
I grabbed some spare aluminum I had from an old street sign. I cut a strip off, drilled two bolts holes, and bent it twice. I was able to salvage the little plastic piece that slides in the track. I cleaned it up and glued it on to the custom piece I made. It ended up working great!!

 

[fishEH]

thanks for sharing. i'm scared to look at mine. sounds like a pound of rust sloshing around when i open and close the liftgate.

I’m happy to say this repair eliminated that completely!! Every time I used to close my liftgate I’d get that rust sloshing sound. When I’d open it there would be a pile of rust by the latch.
Now that’s all gone. All I hear is a nice crisp latching sound, it’s glorious! And I can use my rear window.