Collapsible window lift module with diagonal structural link

A window lift module includes front and rear lift rails, each having a guide block slidably mounted thereon for attachment to a window panel. A drive cable is routed through and between the lift rails and attached to the guide blocks so that motion of the drive cable in one direction will lower the guide blocks along the lift rails and motion of the drive cable in the other direction will raise the guide blocks to raise the window panel. A drive mechanism such as a hand crank or electric motor is mounted on one of the lift rails to move the cable. A structural link has a first end pivotally connected to the front rail and a second end pivotally connected to the rear rail so that the lift rails are interconnected together as a module, but the lift rails may be moved relatively closer together as permitted by pivoting of the structural link and flexure of the drive cable to thereby establish the drive module in a folded and more compact position to enable insertion of the module through a relatively small opening in the door inner panel. The lift rails are then moved relatively further away from one another to their normal operating positions for attachment to the inner panel of the door.