I've broken so many of these things it's insane!! I pull up on the handle, and it needs just that little bit more to open and POP there goes another one. I lubed all the moving parts inside with still no luck. Didn't ever find where some sort of adjustment would be. I'm leaning toward having my buddy fab some up our of a steel so this won't happen anymore.

I know many many of u guys have the same issue. How did u guys fix it??

 

If I ever have that issue I plan to switch to the 80-86 handles. They are made of metal and have the same bolting pattern. I believe it stems from the cable inside the door stretching over time.

 

It gets old having to roll down your window everytime u want to get out. Ha ha. Even my 4 year old boy broke one off. Makes me more of a gentleman though, it reminds me to get out and open the door for the wife. Lol

 

Your cable is streaching. You can buy a little time by removing the part where the inner door handle bolts on, and twisting that part so the cable "tightens". Look at which way the cable is wrapped when made and turn the handle attachement part that way. It helped on my 97 untill the cable snapped, and I had to replace it from my donor truck. The 97 also had part of the door where the handle assembly attaches cracked and had to be welded.
For the handle itself, after breaking 2 or 3 my son made one out of a short piece of angle iron and 1/2 inch rod welded to it. No more breaking door handles on that side.

 

Ya. It's the fact that the cable is stretching. I've heard of over extending the handle too and bending the sheet metal frame that is attached to the door.

I figure a new cable would fix it?

 

If you gotten that far into the door to twist the cable then just go ahead and change it

 

Just pull the cable off of the handle and tie it into a knot. Will work forever once this is done.

Just my $.02

 

I guess since the cables are only $10 a piece I can afford to replace them thanks fellas. I will also look to see if any of the sheet metal got bent.

 

With the door panel off you can see that the hinge that the door handle attaches to no longer has a rubber bump stop. Still has a hole, likely still has a clean area where the rubber thingy was attached. The lack of this rubber stop lets the hinge overtravel. I put a small (head about 1/8" thick) upwards so that the head of the bolt acted as the bump stop. Ran a lock washer and nut to keep it tight. If you see the rubber bump stop you will likely throw it away (or your dog will eat it as in my case) as you won't recognize what it is for.