Dirty Rear Hatch solution

Everytime I go on a dirt road the entire rear hatch collects dirt in every nook and cranny. I blow it off before washing. But…..the one spot where dirt just never stops flowing from in the seal on the glass. Is it safe to just blow that out first with an air compressor? It’s amazing how much dirt comes out of that seal if I don’t. Any other tricks or products out there that keep the dirt out of that seal at least? When it’s all spotless clean I come back 5 minutes later and little streams of mud are running down the door, below the door , everywhere!

 

That's definitely one of the issues with the 4Runner. The back up lights seem to fill with dust also even though they appear to have a tight seal.

I rarely roll down the rear window unless the car was just washed. I'm afraid of scratching the glass.

 

I have had mine just two months now not taken off road or even driven rain (work from home) but I noticed dust collects there and on rear hatch just sitting in garage. Time for a hand wash

 

Ive been in some high dust situations amd the amount of dust that collects in the tailgate is crazy. Just pop off the hand grips on the bottom of the tailgate, and stick your hand in there. You’ll be able to grab collected dust with your fingers.

Ive started to take those handhold cups off and stick a hose with low pressure water to rinse the dust out. Do it carefully and keep the water from spraying everywhere inside the tailgate, because it looks like the speaker cones could get wet. Just gently hose down the inside bottom of the tailgate.

It takes a while, but eventually you’ll get the water to run clear

 

In removing the handgrips and spraying water in tailgate; would that not be an issue with moisture and rusting later on?

I am just thinking of all types of SUVs and tailgates and how so many rust from inside out?

 

@McSpazatron pointed this out to me awhile back.

I believe the rust is a result of dust plugging the drain holes over time. The tailgate is designed for water to drain through.

I started to run water on the hatch window and let it run until the water draining out the bottom is clean.

 

Yeah, and it never gets totally clean when going through the carwash either! It is what it is on a 5th gen.

 

I always end up with a dirty bumper!

 

Going to wash and wash for first time this weekend. So far just garage dust. Getting fluid filmed in Sept and front windows tinted

So just spray extra water on rear window to go down through hatch if I understand correctly?

It’s just dusty now but still only two months old and a few hundred miles.

 

Yes. Just let it run down the window and it will drain out the bottom of the hatch. You'll be able to see it running out onto the bumper and see if it's dirty or not. It might not be too bad in there if you haven't been on any Dusty Rhodes yet

 

if you constantly have wet dust and organic crap biulding up in there, that stuff will is what will stay permanently wet, and lead to corrosion.

in my experience, after removing the dust as i described, the metal inside dries out quickly.

also keep in mind, even if you dont wash it like i described, it will get wet in there regardless, every time it rains or you wash the car. The question then becomes if you want wet mud in there, or a clean surface that will dry quickly.

Honestly, Im fighting the urge to figure out take apart the plastic tailgate cover and give it a real good hose down every once in a while, just dont know if its overkill lol

 

@mac1usa . If your truck is new and hasnt been in dusty conditions I wouldnt worry about it too much yet.

Going forward Making sure those drains are open and actually draining is priority number 1. But I also noticed that having clear water run out of them does not guarantee that all the pockets of dust/mud/muck have been cleared out the entire bottom surface of the tailgate. So it might be worth occassionally getting hands in there to feel around. The metal is kinda sharp, so watch yourself.

 

Thanks guys. This is my first Toyota and 4Runner. I came out of a 90s Explorer in mint body shape but I babied it. I know those Explorer tailgates rotted something awful especially here in Midwest.

I am most likely overkill but this 4R is my new baby and will not see winter and only see rain if I get caught in it. I just got a California car cover for winter. Since I know the frames rust I am getting fluid film and plan to do the hitch and skid plate myself.

I figure I will stabil the gas for winter, cover it, put a tender on battery and start her up every week for 20 mins.

If you guys have other suggestions please let me know (even on) I did not intend to hijack this thread

 

That's why I just stick to mall crawlin'. Cleaner and safer.

 

Negative pressure in the read end...happened on my 300C SRT8 with a flat rear end. There's nothing to do about it, unfortunately, and for clean freaks like me, Im sadge...

 

This was lesson one I learned after cruising the beach. They say sand gets into everything, but oh my. I opened the back window for the ride home.. and when I got there... well let's just say that I'm still finding it everywhere inside. I theorize (after opening the hatch) that sand collected between the hatch base and the body recirculated out, up, and into the open window. Woot!

And, I still have a nice pile of sand in my driveway after spending extended time focusing the rinse on the back hatch area. Ha!

 

One thing i do is spay fluid film in all the doors using the drain holes.

 

Nothing to be done? My friend you just hit on something...

First one to come up with an ingenious DYI or sellable system to positively pressurize the tailgate wins.... GO!!!

There’s gotta be someway to incorporate that hood scoop on OR models....hmmm

 

What do i win?

 

Dang, I should have spelled out “that doesn’t look like an abomination” in the rules lol.

 

I have the same wheels on my Trail Premium.......they are TASTY. Nice looking rig. (I love silver cars so I'm biased!)

 

Thanks for this Thread guys. Info on this tailgate is good to know. Double glad Krown Rustproofing did my rear hatch along with the rest of the vehicle.

 

I’m sorry but I don’t follow. Spraying water on the glass with it up and sealed won’t the weatherstrip prevent water from getting down inside the hatch skin??

 

That's what you would think, but actually a lot of the water ends up flowing down through the door itself. I think Toyota knew that even with the weather stripping rain would still find its way in there so they put the drain holes in the bottom of the hatch. The problem seems to be that dust and everything collect in there and they don't drain out well. So if you just run clean water down the window gently it runs down and rinses the rest of the crap out. Otherwise you can open it and pull out the little grab handle inserts in the bottom and you can feel all the stuff in there. I suppose if you had a small vacuum attachment you could just vacuum it out.

 

Interesting. I would have never thought that. I pick up a lot of dirt dust and sand constantly. I’ll give it a try this weekend.
Thx for a tip that may save some headaches down the road!

 

The truth is, I dont think the outside weatherstripping on any of the rest of the doors is “waterproof” either. That goes for any other car by the way. That’s why you’ll see every door has drain holes. Part of general maintainance is keeping those holes open.

 

If you just want to keep dirt off your hatch all you have to do is lower the rear window, then all of the dirt goes inside the vehicle. Ask me how I know.

 

Verified and guaranteed to work! I’m still de-dusting the inside after accidentally leaving the window open 3 inches on a dusty road.

 

Same reason I know, I reckon!

Fyi, a California car duster makes quick work of most of the dust. Then you can focus on the nooks and crannies!

Compressed air is great for getting dust out of hard to reach places as well.

 

Two of the best kept secrets that I adopted quite a number of years ago, especially the California Duster.