Interior door handle fix

[beaverstate72]

Hi everyone. Found what seems to be a decent fix for our interior door handles when they become worn and no longer throw the latch far enough. Seems to be a fairly common malady from looking around the site, and it sounds like replacement parts are available. Sometimes its just fun to repair the old one, though...

Did not take a before pic, but the lever on the back of the doorhandle was almost worn through. Left a cup or groove in the metal about 1/8" deep. I cut off about half an inch of 3/8" copper tubing, slid it over the lever, and crimped and massaged it into place with pliers. Then I set it with the opening facing upward, heated with a torch, and filled the cavity with solder. After cooling the shape was refined with dremel/files/sandpaper. Seemed to be plenty of clearance when I checked the fit, the fine shaping may not have been needed. Works fine so far, no more reaching out the window to disembark.

best pic of handle fix.jpg

copper tubing.jpg

good angle.jpg

There are a couple more pics in my albums, if needed.

[beaverstate72]

Sweet! My armrests are a little rough, I'll have to keep an eye out for a Fairlane.

[fordman]

you can get those handles off almost anything. 80's vans ford even has them for the large 2005 and up F550 super dutys. and even the aerostar mini van uses them in black plastic. that is a pretty cool mod. i have several sets of good metal and plastic ones myself.

[beaverstate72]

Very good to know. Now ya have me dreamin about power window switches in the armrests. Yeah yeah and a cupholder!!

[ivansgreat]

I was looking for a fix to this problem. Thanks for the post.

[harveyracing06]

i got new handles and they fit snug but with my new armrests they get stuck in the armrest due to having to pull them so far to open the door. can you adjust the rod in the door to take up some of the slack?

[fordman]

the rods is non adjustable. are your arm rests original or reproductions? is the door handle mechanism worn off? or maybe the rod has bent.

[fordman]

here are soem pictures of the inside door assenbly rods and latch mechinism. i didnt get a good picture of the latch sorry. this is of a passenger side. i just grabbed one out of the box and took pictures of it.

[Montana71-F100]

That's a good fix. I just repaired mine but a little differently. I drilled a hole over the worn part into the shaft and inserted a piece of welding rod coated with JB Weld. Then packed JB Weld around the rod and in the warn area to make sure it stayed in place. I used stainless steel rod but since the original is soft, I should have used bronze, brass or copper rod.

Your way is great. I just thought that since I did something similar, I'd share it. My repair has stood the test of time. It's been about 2 days and I've opened the door at least 6 times!

[harveyracing06]

they are repro of the orginal but i beleive the prob is inside the door. ill check it out maybe this weekend. it seems like the handle grabs something as soon as you pull it but the door wont open till you pull it alot futher. ill check though thanks for the pics! always helps to know what your looking for!

[fordman]

i have seen the repops arm rests not let the latch open far enough. maybe your handle is sticking because fo the arm rests. when you check into it use the handle with the arm rest off and see if it helps.

[F100builder]

they are repro of the orginal but i beleive the prob is inside the door. ill check it out maybe this weekend. it seems like the handle grabs something as soon as you pull it but the door wont open till you pull it alot futher. ill check though thanks for the pics! always helps to know what your looking for!

I'm thinking that the 'grab' you're feeling is the linkage being moved with the initial pull of the handle. If you have to pull real far, I wonder if the lever on the actuator (the arm that the handle 'knob' pushes has been bent over the years. Look to see if it's bent. If it is, straighten it. If not, try taping a few quarters to it and test it. If this solves the problem, you could probably 'tweak' the lever arm slightly to your liking and keep the handles out of the new armrests! Good luck and keep us updated as this info could be useful to many.

[F100builder]

the rods is non adjustable. are your arm rests original or reproductions? is the door handle mechanism worn off? or maybe the rod has bent.

Checking the rod for bends is good too!

[cesarp35]

Hi there, thanks for the info however i can't open the pics it says they don't exit, great idea if possible repost the pics i appreciate it. Thanks

[DisneysPatB]

Hi there, thanks for the info however i can't open the pics it says they don't exit, great idea if possible repost the pics i appreciate it. Thanks

Old post from 2011.