dirtyzachattack

Hey All - First post here.

My wife and I just bought a 2005 XB last week. Last night was the first time I got to drive it, and low and behold, i broke it already

I was trying to open the hatch, and when i reached underneath to pull the handle, i evidently pulled too hard and the piece of plastic with the handle broke off. It looks fine, but the part just dangles there.

Help! i felt terrible - my wife hasn't had the car for a week, and i already broke it

bmph8ter

It's not a handle you need to pull to open; you're just tripping an electrical switch to open the latch. Hard habit to break though. Your local Toyota dealer (or try TRD Sparks online) should be able to order you one already painted, or you could post an ad in the WTB section here at ScionLife.

Or, call some local junkyards in your area and one should turn up. Or, ScionPro
has one in chrome that is supposed to be stronger than the factory one.

Sparks_Scion_TRD_Parts

iTrader: (1)

Here's a link to our site. Just click on the Body & Appearance section and you can check the part there. http://www.trdsparks.com/displaycategory.php

Ken

vintage42

Some posted this a few years ago. When my handle felt loose, I removed the big cardboard panel on the hatch and tightened it before it broke.

xB Hatch Handle Repair


1 - Remove the inside panel from the rear door by carefully prying the pop-fasteners off.
2 - Remove the two harnesses for the license plate lights at the connectors.
3 - Remove the two 10mm nuts from the studs that hold the lift gate handle.
4 - Block the door so it doesn't close with a rag over the door sill catch and lower the door.
5 - The handle should slide up and off the rear door, not out and away.

You will now see the two studs that the 10mm nuts threaded onto. They are pressed into two plastic stand-offs that is a part of the handle. These stand-offs have very small and inadequate gussets.

6 - What you do now is take two plastic caps from soda bottles and remove the inner seal.
7 - I used a 7/16" drill bit and made a hole in the cap mostly on the side and a little on the top. The stand-off comes off the inside of the handle at an angle so you can't make a hole straight down through the bottle cap. It must be an elliptical hole penetrating the corner of the cap where the top and the ribbed side of the bottle cap meet. When you take the handle off it will make sense.
8 - Test fit over one of the stand-offs and trim to fit. The open side of the cap will rest flush on the backside of the handle.
9. Complete both caps before proceeding.
10 - With a strong, reliable 2-part epoxy, fill each cap and set them in place. Add more epoxy to form a fillet around the outside of the cap. You do not need a lot of epoxy as epoxy in itself is not a structural material necessarily, depending on the kind you use.
11 - Allow the handle to cure and dry for 24 hours! This is essential. There is no shortcut here, no way to speed it up - not even oven-curing.

To reinstall, the handle slides back on to catch the two clips. Put the two nuts back on but do not over-torque. My rule-of-thumb is snug plus 1/8th to 1/4 turn for plastic parts. Reattach the harness (you can't get them wrong), put the rear panel back on and you are finished.

bB2NER

Congrats on the xB. Did you find a replacement part yet?

Big_Bird

Wow, first post covered it. Impressed.

I still don't understand why people can't figure out we don't have a handle. We have an electronic trigger that you lightly press and pull up on. Everything else is a plastic garnish.

dirtyzachattack

thanks to all... i bought the chrome license plate piece and replaced it last weekend. it was very easy, and looks really sharp on the car..