But if i pull the inside weatherstrip off, i can see the cable makes part of the latch on the door move, but doesn't open the door. Outside the cab, the handle opens everything just fine. Is this common? And maybe indicative of the latch cable being old and just stretched out?

 

Very common. Either the cable is stretched or the door is cracked where the inside handle attaches.

Btw you heading is misleading

 

I figured that was the case, well the cable at least. And title fixed.

 

I have had my cable get water inside and I need to lubricate with WD40. If you had water at some point and it wasn't removed, the cable can rust and not move.

 

I can see it move if I look down inside of the door. I pull the handle, and the cable moves at the latch, but the door doesn't open. So I get the feeling the cable is stressed enough that it doesn't move the latch far enough to release the striker bolt.

 

Definitely check the sheet metal where the handle attaches to the door. It's a common problem that the metal tears, and the handle cannot pull the cable far enough to trip the latch...

 

I've recently developed this same problem with my truck. It still opens from the inside, but only if I really pull it all the way. I can only assume it will quickly get worse.

I presume I need to pull the door card and the problem should be pretty obvious, yes?

FWIW, outer handle totally works fine, so it's definitely something specific to the inside mechanism.

 

that's exactly how mine was before the inside stopped working. I had to pull it all the way, and then later I had to pull it a couple times, and then it stopped working completely and I had to roll down the window and press the handle button on the outside to open the door.

 

I had this problem on my 96 and it just needed some grease on the mechanism at the pull handle. After that is has work great for a couple years now.

 

The steel where the inside latch attaches tore on mine after being difficult to open from the inside. I cut a small piece of 1/8" steel plate I had and bolted it in, problem solved. To make certain, I folded a small amount of aluminum foil around the cable ferrule to ensure the cable pulled enough to open the latch. It works like a charm, and took me less than 2 hours. (In an RV park!)

 

Just going through this with my F250. Cable is fine, inside handle mech has worn to the point where the levers tend to cam over and you cannot pull the inside handle. Spare mech from a parts truck will fix it!

 

Here's what I did about five years ago. Take your door panel off. Study how your cable mates to your door.

I think the first thing I did was take a small pair of pliers and pulled the cable so I could release the barrel end off what ever it was holding it on. Then I pulled the cable itself off the little 1/2" by 1/2" clamp holding devise thing. It really fits in there snug! When you look at it you will understand what I mean.
Next I took some fat linemans pliers and bent back the 1/2x1/2 clamp that holds the cable about a 1/4 inch.
Then I drilled two small holes, one on each side near the top of said clamp.

Shoot I forgot, you need to get two semi strong springs about 2 1/2 or 3" long.
Ok place your cable back in the slot (cable holder devise) might have to push it hard. Next look at your cable itself see how it has a twist in it? Take two small pliers and nice and easy twist in the same direction two full turns. Place the barrel end of cable back on wherever it came off of. Don't cut your wire.
Take the two small springs put one in each hole that you drilled and hook them on your door. The springs stop the clamp holder devise from bending back to its original place. If for some reason you cannot find a place to hook your springs on you door just drill two holes in it.

Really??? The OILERS won the #@$&*@! NHL draft lottery again. I wish we could watch for live instead of behind closed doors.

 

During the winter I had the same issue. We had a wet sloppy snow along with high winds so the drivers side was plastered with wet snow. It reminded me of shot crete! Later that night it froze. For two days I couldn't open my door from inside the cab.

I haven't taken the door apart yet to lube everything but this thread gives me a much better idea of what to look for.

Thank you to everyone who posted

 

Finally getting a chance to look at this over the warm weekend, I've currently got the door card removed. Fortunately, the door sheet metal seems to be in good shape. I have a horizontal rod, not a cable, that actuates the latch. I seem to recall reading that the '92+ trucks got a cable - yes, no, maybe???

Any way, the one thing I can see is that the pivot hole that the handle mechanism actuates has gotten oval-ized. As a result, it doesn't really start to act on the rod until it's through at least half it's movement. It would seem this is my biggest issue.

The easiest way to replace this part is to simply replace the whole spring-loaded handle mechanism. I'm pretty sure these parts are "handed" and thus sourcing a seldom-used passenger side assembly at the junkyard won't work, right?

Of course, I could get lucky and find one that has already been replaced. Is the mechanism the same throughout the 7th, 8th, and 9th ('80 - '96) gen trucks?

 

Front door? what year? 80-91 where linkage. 92-97 were cable
rear door? What year? 83-86 are different 87-97 is what you want