Has anyone ever replaced a rear sliding window latch??

I have a '99 Tacoma 4x4 5 speed standard cab with the rear sliding window. So one morning last week I arrived at work and as I was standing in the parking lot closing my door about to walk away, I noticed this little black piece of plastic sitting in my bed. I looked at it, and it took a second to realize what it was.

Ya know how you can see 2 pieces of black plastic from the outside of the rear sliding window? (1 on each side where the latch is). Well that's what it was. Apparently it just fell apart on its own while driving to work I'm assuming because I think I would have noticed it before if it had been in there awhile. I don't think it was an attempted break-in because I park in my garage every night and I work on an Air Force base so I don't think that is likely.

The other half of this piece was laying between my center console and my passenger seat, with the 2 screws still in it. It just looks like it literally just got dried out and the plastic cracked. I have been living in Phoenix the last 2 years so the extreme heat/dryness probably played a role.

So now my window can be effortlessly opened from the outside and I don't like that obviously. I am wondering if this has ever happened to anybody or if anybody has ever replaced that latch. Do you get the latch from the dealer or somewhere else? Is it difficult to replace yourself? I have an appt. to get my windshield replaced today after work; I am gonna ask the people at safelite if they know anything about this issue. Sorry for the long post.

Any info. would be appreciated! Thanks

 

Mine still locks yet it can be pushed sideways from either end. What I did was to get 2 thin pieces of stock metal and grooved each end and put them in the window on each side. It worked fine until I got a cap. Now I don't worry about it.

 

You mean you put the pieces of metal in the tracks to prevent it from moving? I am thinking of possibly doing something like that as well to prevent any movement, but I still wanna replace the broken latch too. It looks like I only need the passenger side part of the latch that screws into that window itself. The actual latch itself is fine still. I guess I will look into getting a new latch online possibly because I'm sure the deal would charge $75 or more for the little thing.

 

yep, blocking the track with a wedge of some sort is the only solution AFAIK because I think you need to buy a new window to fix it. might be time to go solid back glass.

I never liked or used the back window anyway, and its gets very damn hot down here too and I see it as just something to cause you problems.

in fact I would gladly swap back windows with anyone who has the tinted solid back glass just to get rid of the sliding window.

 

Yeah, I think I will maybe try to find something to put in the tracks to keep it from opening. But, I found some latches online I may order. From the research I did, it seems like an easy fix. My window already has holes drilled in it where the latch screws in.

When I was at safelite yesterday they said they could fix it for me, but they would get the part from the dealer. Not sure how much this is supposed to cost, so I may end up doin it myself.

I don't use the sliding window very often, but I kinda like having it as an option I guess. I dunno, maybe one day I will swap for a solid window but right now I think I would rather just fix the latch

 

Years ago I locked the keys in truck. It was a company truck then and I was in the middle of nowhere. I broke the latch with a pocket knife to get in. I later replaced the latch with a part from dealer.

 

So what kind of latch was already on the truck that you broke?
Are you saying that the latch from the dealer is better than the one that was on it?
I am considering buying a latch from Amazon because its only about $12 compared to $32 from the dealer. Not sure which I should go with tho.

By the way, we have the exact truck. Same color and everything! I should get around to uploading a pic of mine one day

 

The latch I broke was original Toyota. I've had had too many problems with cheap aftermarket stuff. I know Toyota parts work right. Toyota built these trucks right. That's why we like them so much. If it deals with a big chunk of cash I'll weigh the differences.

 

you need the T10 bit to undo the small screws that hold the latch and catch parts

finally getting around to replacing the weathered stuff on a decent salvaged window after several months behind, had to find the proper bit first so as to not strip out

 

i have a new rubber packing plate but not sure how much you are to mash it down, the old one was squishied out, too much torque could break the glass and do not wish to do that!

seems that the person that had this totaled truck i got this window from painted these gray to match their truck color lol, most of it wiped right off to black underneath i thought they were getting all weathered and gray like mine are on the outside and just cannot seem to find the right product to return them to black (i think they are called the retainers that are on the outside)