How to open stuck tailgate - lift gate on 99 Jeep Cherokee XJ

I found lots of questions but no good answers on how to open the lift gate when the only handle doesn't work. You'd think there would be a handle or release on the inside. It's actually easy - no tools required. Just crawl in the back and grab the back door trim in the middle below the window and give it a sharp pull. The trim clips will pull out and you can reach in and open the latch. Then you need a phillips and T-30 bit to remove the panel. I had to tighten the torx bolts around the latch and tighten up the connection between the handle and the latch. Hope this helps someone else.

Thanks for the good advice... I am sure it will help

Good post...someone asked about this last year.

Thanks! That helped. My latch assembly is loose on the right/keyhole side, making the lift gate unopenable from the outside, so I was able to get at it from the inside following your directions. Next week, if it's cooler out, I'll see if I can tighten it up to fix this intermittent problem.