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rear window swap


LeBronCo

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I just bought an 87 XLT and an 86 EB. The EB has a window that opens on the rear hatch. The XLT not so. Question is, can I swap out this set up from the EB to the XLT without having to swap out the entire rear hatch.
 


duffy

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I would guess not.......hinges and all that stuff. Swapping the hatch would be much easier.
 

LeBronCo

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Well Duff my boy, I'm going to give it a good ole' college try. If it works, I'll photo document the procedure and share with Clan Bronco II. Ford has done some odd (questionable) things in the past, but I don't think they'd design two different hatches.
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McWillies

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Was browsing through the site and found this thread. Did you have luck with the swap? Have to swap the entire liftgate?
 

LeBronCo

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Not yet Mac. I sold the 86 EB. I tried to buy a rear hatch with opening window but someone got there before me. What was nice about this one was it was the exact same color as my B2. It would have been an easy swap. Since then I have been scouring junkyards for another one. Once I can get a look at one with the glass out I'll be able to ascertain if there are castings for the hinges to mount. If not, then Ford did make two separate rear hatches.
 

McWillies

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Gotcha. I did some digging and found a little bit of what you might be looking for.

Hinges:

Glass (with hinges and handle):

Take a look at this picture. It's blurry but you can see where the mount is, and what it looks like somewhat, for the strut that holds up the window.
15357

And the way the glass mounts with the hinges at the top:
15358


This is the listing I found those pics from:

It looks to me like the hatch is the same, the only difference being the strut mounts which are screwed into the side of the window opening and the hinges for the window which are screwed into the upper ledge of the window opening. The gasket is probably different as well.
 

LeBronCo

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Thanks for the info. I think that if one were to remove the rear glass and rubber we would see the mounting holes for the hinges if that option came with the vehicle. I just have not been able to find a hatch with the opening glass. How old is that listing you have here?
 

McWillies

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I really have no idea how old any of the listings are or if the sites are reputable, I just spent a little while googling and came up with that stuff.

Do you mean if you removed the rear glass and rubber from a non-lifting-window liftgate you'd see holes at the top ledge where the hinges mount on a lifting-window liftgate? That's possible but even if there weren't holes I'd think you could just use some self-tapping sheet metal screws to attach the hinges. That might be what Ford did honestly.

Overall I really don't think it'd be a tough deal to swap in a lifting window into a normal liftagte, just need all the brackets, some screws, and the ability to measure the holes correctly. Also the correct seals.
 

LeBronCo

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I agree it shouldn't be hard. There is a catalog LMC truck that has just about everything we need for our Broncos. Check 'em out. I purchased two Coverlay dash covers from them and I'm waiting on door and window seals.
Nelson aka LeBronCo
 

McWillies

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I've used LMC for parts before, Bronco Graveyard as well. Both really good resources. I found some more diagrams for the rear hatch window if you're interested, might be stuff you've already seen but doesn't hurt.
15360

15361

You can see the difference in the latch mechanism on the stationary and moving hatches is a single bracket. Edit: Looking again it's a little more than just the bracket, but overall not too much is different.
15362
 
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Buckup

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Not yet Mac. I sold the 86 EB. I tried to buy a rear hatch with opening window but someone got there before me. What was nice about this one was it was the exact same color as my B2. It would have been an easy swap. Since then I have been scouring junkyards for another one. Once I can get a look at one with the glass out I'll be able to ascertain if there are castings for the hinges to mount. If not, then Ford did make two separate rear hatches.
When you say EB, you're talking about an Eddie Bauer right? I hadn't ever seen the hatch open on the B2, only on Explorers. I looked into that, but the lift gate shape seems to be different. But as you say, if the glass and latches, etc are the same, maybe that could be made to work... You'd need them side by side to see for sure.
 

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