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I'm rebuilding the tailgate on my '78 Cherokee Chief, and after reading several threads about it, I ordered the parts from BJs and dug in!

It's going pretty well so far, except that my window regulator doesn't have springs: These aren't very easy to find by themselves. There are several sources for regulator springs for 68-82 Corvettes, though... does anyone happen to know if Corvette springs will work?

If not, does anyone have a part number for an equivalent spring for the Jeep tailgate window?

Thank you, and have a great day!

Seems unlikely since the Wag window is so big. Maybe an XJ? Maybe some other wagon.

At some point they only had one spring so if you find a later regulator with one it will probably work.

The springs were available as a service part in the day; Group 23.306-1a in the F-74080 parts book. There were two regulators for 1978. The break is at SN 088090.

The earlier one has two springs; PN 8126189. The later one has one spring; PN 8129551.

IME those numbers are Jeep-specific (ie not a part borrowed from GM or such). Remote chance you'll search and find some NOS. Also unlikely there is any aftermarket support crossing to another more popular brand - this is an obscure part, not enough Jeeps were built, these Jeeps are not sufficiently valuable, and too many wrecks to pull from.

Suggest you look for a wreck you can scavenge from. Try car-part.com and look for a donor near you. There's J&W in Antelope, not far from you. There's also WTB and parts cars forums here and at IFSJA.

You can buy the F-74080 parts book and confirm this for yourself.

The style regulator you have pictured is a late 78/79-91 style. It only has one spring for the regulator. The two style regulators are pretty easy to see which is which if you know what you are looking for. For instance, the one you have pictured. You can tell it is the later version because the plate that motor mounts to covers a portion of one of the regulator spring recesses.

Both versions will mount in a 78. The main difference between the two is the earlier 78 version is grounded through the body instead of being grounded through the switch. So, if you are using that style regulator, you need to make sure you have the proper style dash mounted tailgate window switch. The versions that ground through the switch have a ground tab inside the switch and the switch has a ground wire going to the connector. The versions that ground through the body do not have a grounding tab inside the switch and do not have a ground wire going to the switch connector. You will want to verify that you have the proper dash mounted switch if you are using the style that is grounded through the switch.

The earlier style 78 motors used AC Delco parts. The style you have pictured isn't that style though. I can go through some of my inventory a little later today and compare some of the spring sizes to see if any are similar. I have all of the different tailgate window regulators, plus some of the window regulators that had a similar style spring. I will try to take some pictures for you and post them later today if I can make the time. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out or ask here.

CJ7Pilot wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 2:05 pm I'm rebuilding the tailgate on my '78 Cherokee Chief, and after reading several threads about it, I ordered the parts from BJs and dug in!

It's going pretty well so far, except that my window regulator doesn't have springs:
Window.jpg

These aren't very easy to find by themselves. There are several sources for regulator springs for 68-82 Corvettes, though... does anyone happen to know if Corvette springs will work?

If not, does anyone have a part number for an equivalent spring for the Jeep tailgate window?

Thank you, and have a great day!

I have a spring from an '89 you can have for the price of shipping. PM me your address. I'll try to get the tailgate apart latter today.

Thanks guys, this is good info. I had a feeling it was the newer setup, because the motor is a little different.

I didn't know if it was factory, or had been swapped in later... but knowing now that '78 is a crossover year, it's probably factory (edit: per tgreese's SN info, mine came with the later style from the factory).

It was working (barely) before I took it apart, so my switches must be the right ones. I'll look more closely at the wiring though, and make sure all is as it should be.

This probably means I ordered the wrong window lifter channel seal, too. I guess I'd better go measure that glass.

ProTouring442, thank you so much! I'm new here, and I don't have PM privileges, so I reached out to you via your website.

Thanks again, and have a great day!

So, tailgate glass thickness is kind of a slippery subject.

A lot of people seem to know that older glass (pre '78/'79-ish) is thicker than newer glass, but it's tough to narrow down actual measurements.

However, I did find one thread in which someone said their '74 tailgate glass was 1/4" thick, and I found another thread in which someone said their '82 tailgate glass was 5/32" thick.

Mine measures 1/4" thick, so it looks like I may have old-style glass with a new-style regulator, which works for me.

I'll let you know how it goes when I fit the glass to the new lift channel.

Take it easy!

Use a glass shop , they use the correct adhesive!

CJ7Pilot wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2023 8:27 am Thanks guys, this is good info. I had a feeling it was the newer setup, because the motor is a little different.

I didn't know if it was factory, or had been swapped in later... but knowing now that '78 is a crossover year, it's probably factory (edit: per tgreese's SN info, mine came with the later style from the factory).

It was working (barely) before I took it apart, so my switches must be the right ones. I'll look more closely at the wiring though, and make sure all is as it should be.

This probably means I ordered the wrong window lifter channel seal, too. I guess I'd better go measure that glass.

ProTouring442, thank you so much! I'm new here, and I don't have PM privileges, so I reached out to you via your website.

Thanks again, and have a great day!

For whatever reason, your message didn't come through.

You'll have to put this together...

William
K
Elliott
AT
icloud
DOT
com

I am attaching some pictures of the different variations of power tailgate window regulators over the years just for your reference or whoever else reads this and are wondering how they differed. The top one is from a Kaiser era. The middle one is the early AMC version that was installed up to 78. The bottom one is the last version they used from late 78/79 to 91. I just went out and measured the thickness of my glass and it definitely isn't 1/4" and I have an 86. Mine measured out to 0.171" thick.

TG regulator 1 by Joshua Oman, on Flickr

TG regulator 2 by Joshua Oman, on Flickr

I have a spare manual regulator... I'll try to get some picts... you can have it if it works/fits... I drove by your area once in a while... like yesterday!

Now an expert on rear window regulators! The information available on this forum continues to impress me. Great thread!

Spring arrive, yet?

Yes! The spring arrived yesterday afternoon.

Thank you so much @ProTouring422!

This project shall resume shortly.

I finally got back to this project! Thanks again to ProTouring 422, I now have a spring for my regulator.
Not realizing that 1978 was a crossover year for the electric window system, I had ordered a '72-'78 relay kit. After figuring out what I actually had, I could see this relay setup needed a couple of extra ground wires. After looking at it more closely, I decided to buy a couple of "universal" weatherproof relay kits, and wire them up myself. Here's the trial run:
And here they are, all tucked in:
Attaching the glass to the lifter bar was the worst part of this whole job! I'm still not perfectly satisfied with the result, but it seems to be holding pretty tightly.
My regulator pins were pretty worn, and they didn't have springs and washers on them when I removed it. I installed replacement pins, and added short coil springs and nylon washers. I hope they hold up.

Here it is all put back together. I also installed new side channels in the tailgate, and a new upper channel on the body. The window isn't closing all the way on the left side, but I ran out of time to play with all the alignment adjustments. I'll revisit those later. The window is going up and down nicely though, and it works with both front and rear switches.
I'll post some finals pics, once I get the alignment issue squared away.

Have a great day!