Change rear window to manual

[wjjeeper]

I currently have an electric rear window in the rear of my 80 Jimmy. My previous 77 Jimmy had a manual window, which I prefer.

Is it simply a matter of changing the outside handle and the regulator to convert, or more complex?

[mickeykreg]

That's what I did one time. Got a rust free, electric window tailgate out of the junkyard and transferred most all the manual window guts to it. Worked fine.

[grillzy]

Wish they would have left the K5's with the lift hatch in the top and had the pick up gate. Also wish they would have made the window go down 1/2" lower so the top edge of the glass wouldn't be exposed getting chipped.

[phillipm]

Yeah I could never figure out why the window didn't go all the way down.

[buffydores]

I spent yesterday evening working on my electric tailgate. I thought the switch key was bad, but turned out to be a fuse. New key switch came with the proper seal to stop water from screwing up the switch.. It's actually really simple to work on. We converted this tailgate from a manual. I would never recommend going to manual when having the benefit of a dash switch.

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by buffydores

I spent yesterday evening working on my electric tailgate. I thought the switch key was bad, but turned out to be a fuse. New key switch came with the proper seal to stop water from screwing up the switch.. It's actually really simple to work on. We converted this tailgate from a manual. I would never recommend going to manual when having the benefit of a dash switch.

Good info on the switch coming with the new seal. I've got the opposite outlook on the manual/electric debate. My 75 was manual. Once I pulled it apart and replaced the wiped out rollers on the regulator I could raise/lower with one finger on the crank. I could always get it to the rear with a load of camping gear back there.

Fast forward to my 91 project. I ran through the same stuff to lube the regulator and slides. Wouldn't work from either switch. Wiring was butchered by a Previous owner. I could jump it and make it go either way, but wiring issues were problematic. Then it dawned on me. If I had a load of gear packed up to the tailgate I wouldn't be able to use the cordless drill maneuver to open the window. At least without unloading enough gear from in front of the gate and crawling back there. I don't get to go wheeling/camping enough and I was certain I didn't want a trip to get off track (no pun intended) by not getting to the gear.

So I retrograded my 91 gate back to manual specs with the parts from my old 75. Swapped right across. No more worrying if I can get into the back of my Blazer or not. Just have to lubricate every now and then to keep the rollers from getting worn flat on one side.

[buffydores]

Good counter. It's awesome we have options.

[tobiahr]

Originally Posted by Zoomad75

Fast forward to my 91 project. I ran through the same stuff to lube the regulator and slides. Wouldn't work from either switch. Wiring was butchered by a Previous owner. I could jump it and make it go either way, but wiring issues were problematic. Then it dawned on me. If I had a load of gear packed up to the tailgate I wouldn't be able to use the cordless drill maneuver to open the window.

where were you jumping it at? I currently have one stuck in the up position and cannot get to the inside panel to manually operate the cable and the switches don't seem to be working

[wjjeeper]

I don’t know for sure. It there should be a connector under the tail gate on the driver side that you can pull apart and put power to the electric motor there.
I converted mine to manual so no more problems with electrics

[xs-style]

https://youtu.be/ecU9Frs1D7g


Here's a good YouTube link for the rear window. Kind of a long watch, but the guy who put it together does a pretty good job with the breakdown and lmc parts listings.