I have a 1995 GMC S1500 where it takes channel locks to open the tailgate. This truck has had the tailgate completely smashed before by a falling tree (not my fault) and then replaced. The body shop all those years ago reused the hardware. The tailgate was never the same and always took some fiddling around to get open.
The handle is looking sketchy so I am replacing it which is an easy part to find, but the real problem is the connecting bar thingy that goes from the handle to the latch on the passenger side is partly broken, from what I can tell it was welded back together. What is the "connecting bar thingy" really called so I can look for a replacement part?