Disassembling IBM ThinkPad T42 Lower Bracket

Written By: Gerald Watanabe

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

10 - 15 minutes

Introduction

The lower bracket needs to be removed to get to some components of the laptop.

Use a Phillips #0 screwdriver to remove the twenty screws on the underside of the T42.

Remove the four Phillips screws located on either side of the rear of the T42 (there are two on each end.)

leave these four screws alone. No need to remove them.

There are tiny numbers showing the lengths of the screws. 1-2-3-4 where 1 is the shortest.

The dark red circles are not very easy to see. How about white ones?

Flip the laptop over and open the screen to access the keyboard and trackpad.
The keyboard and trackpad are connected to the motherboard. Before removing the keyboard and trackpad, disconnect both components from the motherboard, as shown in the following step.
The bezel and keyboard will be loose, be careful.

Carefully maneuver the palm rest away from the keyboard, as both the keyboard and palm rest/trackpad will come off together.
Remember, both the keyboard and trackpad have connectors to the motherboard. Disconnect these before completely removing either component.