so went out for a bit of weekend wheelin' with the misses and had a run in with a tree. We were going through a tight tree section in the middle of the woods, and i had to back up off a rock, i backed right into a tree that was at a wierd angle behind my truck...i just didnt see it! So thankfully i didnt break the rear window as i live in a place where it rains often...unfortunetly, where the tree hit and dented, it smashed off the rear windown squirter and now it has left a 1/2" hole open in the back of my tailgate.

Is their any body men here who would know roughly how extensive this repair is, and is it more worth it to just try to find a replacement hatch from a wrecker. Also what should i do as a temporary repair, i dont want to fill it with silicon incase i do go the bodyman route, and i have tried to find a plug with no success...it looks like there are 2 drain holes in the bottem of the hatch, so im sure the water wont pool, but it will rust...what should i do???

here is a pic...

 

Duck tape.

I got a quote for a similar size repair in the back of my runner and it came in at around $400. You might get it done cheaper, but you'll get what you pay for.

 

No need to imply profanity in your thread title. I edited it.

 

Not sure where you stand in skill level. But what I would do is remove the interior pieces that sit in front of it, till you can see the damage from the inside, take a ballpen hammer and get the metal to look as close as it originally did. Then bondo the area, sand smooth, go to the dealer or have someone mix up that paint color #. and then put everything back. Other then that, call around to different paint and body shops and start getting estimates. And for parts if the wrecking yards have those parts I would go that route, other then that sounds like you are paying top dollar at the dealership. Hope this helps.

 

You may be able to cover it up with one of these. http://www.burtmanindustries.com/zo...run_jsplr_96-02
Or you may even be able to use the factory spoiler.

 

A working link...

http://www.burtmanindustries.com/zoo...un_jsplr_96-02

 

Fixed.

And this is the only cheap and logical solution for the time being.