The dreaded broken door handle
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2009
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From: Nixa
The dreaded broken door handle
I like other here have the dreaded brken door handle. I've replaced it several times with both stock and aftermarket handles, and I even made one out of metal. i managed to break that one too.
I've read on here about the door flexing in that spot. I have watched that part of the door while useing the handle, and see no flex there. Nor do I see any cracks.
So this leads me to beleive the cable is stretched or stuck.
I have a donor truck that I can get the cable and a handle off of, What I need to know is how long the cable is supposed to be, so I don't get another stretched one.
Does anybody know how long it is or where I can get the info?
Thanks in advance.
I've read on here about the door flexing in that spot. I have watched that part of the door while useing the handle, and see no flex there. Nor do I see any cracks.
So this leads me to beleive the cable is stretched or stuck.
I have a donor truck that I can get the cable and a handle off of, What I need to know is how long the cable is supposed to be, so I don't get another stretched one.
Does anybody know how long it is or where I can get the info?
Thanks in advance.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 154
Likes: 1
From: Sesser Il
Door handle replacement, I imagine you are talking about the inside handle, just replace my handle and cable on the passenger side this past Saturday. Thought it was the cable, but it was actually the in the catch mechanism that was binding up. The lever that the cable goes to was frozen up from years of oil and dust. Degreased it and cleaned it up good and gave everything a good coating of Fluid Film and put it back together and it works like new. Biggest pain is getting the rods unclipped from the exterior door handle and lock. Not really as bad as I thought it would be, I had been putting it off for a few weeks.
TC
TC
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,672
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From: Nixa
Yes I was talking about the interior door handle. I guess I didn't make that clear. I guess I will take my door apart once I get my truck back from the shop and check to see if something is binding up like TC said. If it is something like that, it'll save me 22.00 bucks for a new cable, but I still need to replace the handle. I see that the 80 to 86 metal handles will work, so I will be getting me a set of those from NPD.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 154
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From: Sesser Il
2fords,
Hope it works for you, I know cleaning the catch made a world of difference. In matter of fact, I might take the driver side apart this weekend and clean it up as well. Maybe it will save it from having a broken door handle on it someday. It works, but is stiff compared to the passenger side now.
TC
Hope it works for you, I know cleaning the catch made a world of difference. In matter of fact, I might take the driver side apart this weekend and clean it up as well. Maybe it will save it from having a broken door handle on it someday. It works, but is stiff compared to the passenger side now.
TC
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,621
Likes: 1
From: Sweetwater Texas
Get a door handle out of a the 80-85 F series, they're thick metal and I've never seen a broken handle in one of those trucks. Heck I ripped the mount out of the door metal in my F100 once cuz the latch mechanism stuck.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Wendover, NV.
Sorry Dean but the metal ones while stronger will still break. I went through two of them. I do not have anything binding the rods. I went another route with mine. It required trimming of the door panel but has not broken yet.
I got the idea while at Cabela's. I took a .50 cal. dummy round, drilled out the primer, pulled the bullet off the caseing, bolted the caseing to the door, then put the bullet back on the caseing. Works great and hasen't broke yet for two years.
I got the idea while at Cabela's. I took a .50 cal. dummy round, drilled out the primer, pulled the bullet off the caseing, bolted the caseing to the door, then put the bullet back on the caseing. Works great and hasen't broke yet for two years.
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Joined: Jun 2016
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From: Oklahoma
How did you fix the mount?
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: DFW Texas
Funny I just went through this yesterday. Found a 96 CC 7.3 with only 92k on it. Got a fair deal because there were so many little things wrong the seller wouldn't fix. One of them being a broken drivers side door handle. Thats voodoo to a lot of people LOL. Anyway, I pulled the door panel off and removed the handle mechanism and sure enough, the metal where the nut clip inserts was cracked allowing the handle to flex too much. I didn't have time to make a backing plate but I did break out the welder and weld the cracks up. Works like a champ now.
New User
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 7
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From: Oklahoma
Sorry newby
Hey thanks for the response I was just going through the forum and found that and didn't even pay attention to the dates.
I'm not a welder so I took a big washer and drilled a hole in it and put the clip around it and it's good and tight.
I'm not a welder so I took a big washer and drilled a hole in it and put the clip around it and it's good and tight.
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