When I got the truck, the rear passenger door handle was broken off. I got a replacement part, and followed the instructions in The Ultimate Door Thread to tear apart the door and install the new handle. I tested it before putting the door back together, and it worked. I put the door back together, and the handle didn't work anymore.
Come to find out, the rod from the handle to the latch was just on the edge of too long. It worked when the door trim was off, but it stopped working when I added the trim ring around the handle, or installed the arm rest. It turns out the trim ring restricts the handle movement a little, and torquing the arm rest screws moves an interior support bracket enough to make the rod too long.
I disassembled the door several times, trying to figure out what was causing the handle to stop working. Once I realized that either the trim ring or the arm rest would do it, I figured it had to be a marginally-too-long rod. That explains why someone broke the door handle trying to open the door.
The rod is a bit thicker than a coat hanger, but it bends easily enough with big pliers. It normally has a number of bends in it. To shorten the rod, I chose a spot with 2 adjacent 45-degree angles, one bend to the left, and followed by a bend to the right. I bent them each more sharply, to about 60-degree angles. This effectively shortened the rod, and now the handle works no matter what trim is installed or missing.
I spent considerable time trying to get pictures of this, but the rods live inside the door, and I couldn't get good pictures. The pictures in The Ultimate Door Thread will get you to where you can look down past the window, into the door, and see these rods.
Come to find out, the rod from the handle to the latch was just on the edge of too long. It worked when the door trim was off, but it stopped working when I added the trim ring around the handle, or installed the arm rest. It turns out the trim ring restricts the handle movement a little, and torquing the arm rest screws moves an interior support bracket enough to make the rod too long.
I disassembled the door several times, trying to figure out what was causing the handle to stop working. Once I realized that either the trim ring or the arm rest would do it, I figured it had to be a marginally-too-long rod. That explains why someone broke the door handle trying to open the door.
The rod is a bit thicker than a coat hanger, but it bends easily enough with big pliers. It normally has a number of bends in it. To shorten the rod, I chose a spot with 2 adjacent 45-degree angles, one bend to the left, and followed by a bend to the right. I bent them each more sharply, to about 60-degree angles. This effectively shortened the rod, and now the handle works no matter what trim is installed or missing.
I spent considerable time trying to get pictures of this, but the rods live inside the door, and I couldn't get good pictures. The pictures in The Ultimate Door Thread will get you to where you can look down past the window, into the door, and see these rods.
