I'll start off with a bit of advice for those of you fortunate to have a rust free upper tailgate. PROTECT IT WHILE YOU CAN!! In the three years I've owned my truck, I've watched my tailgate go from straight, to bubbly to gone. The first major wakeup call happened when I hit a bump and the entire brake light/central lock/latch and pod ripped free from the glass. I figured "no problem I'll just screw it back on. This helped for a while but now the situation seems terminal. The other day I went to open my tailgate and the latch ripped free once again and the entire bottom of the tailgate disintegrated into a brown pile of iron oxide on my nice clean carpet. With nothing to hold the latch in place when I push the button, I am unable to open it. My question is twofold. Firstly, does anyone have any advice on opening it? I tried pulling the individual actuator rods but the trim piece prevents me from doing so. Secondly, is there a replacement tailgate that uses say, aluminum instead of steel? I cant keep climbing over the back seat to get something every time i need it. Also a side note, if it is extremely cold outside, dont tug on your door handles, they will snap with annoying expensive results. At least now I have a low tech security system. 
