How Can I Break Into My Own Tailgate?

My tailgate (2010 Tacoma) is stuck closed and the handle just flops around like a raw hotdog. I have a hard top tonneau cover with springloaded handle latches that I had to force open a few inches and snap the latches off just to get into the bed of the truck.

Is there a way to "pick" the latches open and see if they are just jammed, and unjamming them to get the handle to work again or what's the best plan of action here? Thanks in advance for the awesome replies, you guys never let me down

 

If you are in to the bed of the truck, just remove the inside cover over the tailgate and see what is wrong.

 

^^ Bingo!

 

It may just be that the latches are dry and stuck in shich case you can spray some lube in them and get them freed up but there's a good chance you've got some broken clips on the actuating rods.

If you can get access then take the cover off and manually open it by pulling the rods. Watch the edges of the plastic cover, one of my friend's was really sharp. Be prepared to drop a couple of bucks at the dealer to replace the cheap POS plastic clips that Toyota used connecting the rods to the latch mechanism. Given that the dealer will likely not have them or will only have part of what you want and that they will break again I'd recommend going ahead and buying a spare set to put in your tool box. I've replaced parts twice now. While you're at the dealer go ahead and buy several of the POS plastic netsert things for the tailgate too as once you've undone them once or twice they don't hold snugly anymore. Do not use an electric driver when unscrewing or screw the screws into them- do it by hand or you risk stripping them.

I'd also recommend cleaning the latch mechanism thoroughly and regreasing all of the moving parts.

 

Great post. Good luck with fix.