I wanna tint the windows in the hatchback, but of course, it's a real pain "upside down"... so I'd like to remove the hatchback so I can do it on a table, etc. I see that I have to remove the hinge bolts and the struts, but what do I need to do about the two rubber "boots" next to the hinges? Can anyone help me? I'm afraid to pull them up without knowing what they're for... for all I know, they cover some kind of electrical harness.. Thanks for your help!
do what i did, and pay someone to tint your windows, mine came out great. Why run the risk of breaking something?
Those "rubber boots" as you call them carry ALL the wiring to the hatchback. There are connectors you could unplug to remove the hatch, but it's going to take some doing! Sounds like an interesting project, let us know how it works for you!
The hard part isn't getting the hatchback off - the hard part is getting it back on again (correctly). :madgrin:
put your back seats down and then sit inside the trunk with the hatch closed. If you need more leg room, take out the storage compartment and the spare tire.
I thought tinting the rear hatch window was fairly easy compared to the doors. I just took the plastic frame off to get the edges, and stood at the rear bumper with the hatch all the way open, making the work surface right in front of me. I used a pre-cut tint kit from eBay, so the hatch window film was one piece.
Unless you are capable of doing a professional quality tint job, I would not recommend removing the hatch to DIY. That's a HELL of a lot of work if it's even feasible. And if you can't do it with professional quality, it will show.
This will be the best approach to tint the hatch glass. Attempt to remove the hatch just for tinting is OVERKILL.....you'll have a lot more troubles screwing the thing back on than darkening it. Imagine how are you gonna hold the hatch while bolting it back on, and the alignment to the latch...etc. Factory has special rig to do this job, you'll need 2-3 extra guys just to holding it.
