I have a 2000 Silverado and the tail gate won't open. It appears that possibly one of the rods between the handle and the latch is broken. Any suggestions on how to get it open?

Usually there is a blue or green clip that is notorious for breaking. The clip is the one the holds the latch rod to the gate handle. Dealers have the parts in stock, you will need to un-bolt the handle from the backside of the gate to get to the clips.

sounds about right

All I did is remove the big outer trim piece from mine, and replaced the little plastic thing w/a part from Advance auto parts for $.95 . But be careful when doing this, the trim breaks easily, as I found out the hard way.

Had the same problem. Used 2 nylon cable ties to firmly reattach rod to broken plastic part in handle. Has held up for a year.

remove the handle and pull on the rods it will open. most auto part stores have the part to atach the rod back to the handle.

While we are on this subject, I am having a hell of a time trying to get the driver's exterior door handle back in with both rods (latch release and door lock ) installed at same time. I had to sacrifice the door lock to get handle mechanism back in door. I've tried to reach from inside with panel cover offf but can't reach, there's a post in the way.