I always wondered why my kids slam the doors all the time.Now I know, but I think I'll keep yellin' at 'em for it anyways.

 

I pulled my driver side door apart and found a broken cable. Find it hard to believe Ford charges $180 for a new cable!

 

For the past several months mine wouldnt open so I took the door panel off and unhooked the cable housing from slot, leaving the end attached to the door handle. If I grabbed the cable housing and pulled up on it it would open the door, but it is ugly with no door panel. The cable finally broke a couple weeks ago so I've been putting the window down to open the door from the outside. Yesterday I took a steel rod I had (part of an Aanderson window I worked on), welded a 90deg piece on the end and atached that to the door latch. I ran it through the hole where the door lock rod goes (removed that)... put the door panel back on and stuck a screwdriver handle on my new door latch. Now I just reach back and push down on the handle to open the door, I can even do it with my elbow. I know it's a total jerry-rig... flame me if you want, but it works for those of us without $180 to throw at something like that.

 

You'll get no flames from me. After one day of driving around and having to get out on the passenger side, I am ready to call Jerry in to rig me something up!

 

I also hve a really good recipe for making chicken salad out of chicken $hi+, if you're interested. Gotta make due with what's available lately!

 

Dorman 924-300 Inside Door Latch Cable Rod | eBay

$19.95 and free shipping sure beats the $180 Ford wants

 

The $180 from Ford is not just the cable. It's only sold as a latch, cable, and door handle control assembly.

 

My dads 96 f350 pass door was goofing up so I got a cable assy (latch and all), but when I took it apart the sheet metal on the door was torn, like others have had happen, so a washer and some welding fixed it for free. Moral of the story... check it out before you buy parts, now I have to return the part and they had to order it, so I'll probably get hit with a restocking fee.

 

Agree that lubricating the heck out of it is the first thing to try if you have an inside door handle that won't open the door.

My 96 was just gummed up with dirt and old lubricant and the inside handle wouldn't budge. Spraying a lot of penetrant/lubricant through the gap in the door panel where the door handle comes through, and spraying the door latch area, freed it up completely. Took door panel off and cleaned it all up properly later. If you're lucky, that could be all that's wrong.

 

Does anybody know if I can buy just the door handle assembly? If so, where from? The hole for the pin on the cable bracket is wallered out, causing my handle assembly to not open the latch.

 

look at cp addict website they have a door handle reinforcement plate, works great did it to mine