2009 Mk3 rear Door ‘strap’

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

Hi Folks,

Not sure if this is possible but I have a 59 plate Mk3 and I wonder if it’s possible to fit a longer rear passenger retaining ‘strap’ so the door will open a bit wider ? Not sure if the metal retainer is called a strap but hopefully you’ll now what I mean.

The reason I want to do this is so I can get a soft pet carrier on the rear seat more easily. At the moment it’s a bit of a struggle and if the door opened more at right angles I could put the carrier in without risking any scratches to the car.

I need to do this as one of my dogs goes in the back load area ok but the younger dog needs to be in a carrier and there’s not enough room in the main load area for both.

If there isn’t a longer strap I did wonder if it would be feasible to get a standard s/h one and cut it in the middle and weld a section in ?

( I can mig weld ok )

 

Regards,

Norm

[robo1]

Norm it’s called a check strap. If the door opened to 90 degrees it would obscure the rear lights in the dark so Toyota fitted a strap that would open to 60 degrees. I fitted the 90 degree strap when I had a RAV 4.3. There is an indent so you can open it only to 60 degrees and made a mental note only to open it to 60 degrees if I was on an unlit country road! 
 

link to details and how to fit here 

https://forum.rav4driversclub.com/thread/51/rav4-rear-check-strap-install

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

Hi robo1,

yes I fitted one of those on my 4.2 to get a fully open rear door and my 4.3 ( no spare wheel version ) already opens to 90°

This is for the rear passenger ( side ) door 😉, looking at it today it could probably only open about another 1” or 2 or the leading edge would catch on the door frame etc.

i might have to undo the door frame end of the safety strap ( one bolt ) and carefully see how far it could go. Another 10° of opening would probably be enough if it’ll safely  go that far ?

cheers,

Norm

 

[robo1]

Norm. Sorry I misread your original post. Your post does say rear passenger retaining strap which I thought was the rear boot door. 

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

That’s ok, easy misunderstanding as the usual thing is to change the one on the back door.

I’ve had a look at it again today and I think my best bet would be to get a spare standard one from somewhere and modify it myself.

cheers,

Norm