My poor Ford Excursion needs some attention now and then. It is now going on seventeen years and although it has been a solid vehicle, little things do break occasionally but I have been able to stay on top of them. The latest thing to fail was the driver side rear most barn door which allows access to the rear most portion of the vehicle. The cable broke about a month ago and although I had looked at Youtube and even determined what I needed to fix it and had even ordered the parts, I had not made time to replace said cable. This morning I decided I could do this in about fifteen minutes, so I should tackle it before I start making lunch on the grill.
I glanced through one of the Youtube videos as a refresher and then headed out around 10:30am. The first part was easy enough, removing the inner panel with a pry bar. It went about as well as the video showed, then I removed the rest of the stuff in the way and just like that, I was pulling on the cable with my hand inside the door frame and that released the door so I could work on it properly. I ran into trouble trying to remove the three screws holding the locking mechanism underneath the door. This pissed me off because I knew what I was doing but even then, the screws had some sort of blue Locktite material and made removing the screws way harder than it should have been. I was able to remove two and then I stripped the third one. I tried attaching the cable without removing the part, but it would not work, the lock needed to come out.
I had seen a set of tools that remove stripped screws so in a pissed off haste, I headed to Home Depot to get a set. I bought what looked like a good set, but apparently, they were crap. I did as the videos showed me and nothing happened. Luckily, as I had given up, DD got home early and I asked him if he had dealt with stripped screws, he said he had. He mentioned the removing bits I had just bought and he said he had a set. We went outside and tried mine, but apparently titanium is not that strong. He said his was cobalt and a better set. He went and got his set and within a few seconds did what my set couldn't. He removed the stripped screw, then we aligned the cable as it should be and now my Excursion is good to go.
I really appreciate having DD around for stuff like this. He threw himself down on the ground and took care of it while I just looked on. It is the same with the fence last week and Sunday, when we finished the last part. In that instance, he benefits the most because now his dog can't escape with the fence being solid and without holes or weak spots anymore. I might go and buy the better stripped screw removers, now that I know which set is better, but as far as my SUV, I am happy the doors are working again.
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