Hello All
So I had a classic 'Picard' Facepalm moment the other day. On my way to work I guess I didn't shut my door well enough. While I was going down the road I could hear the air whistling past the seal and everything.
Well when I reached the stop sign I tried to open my door so I could shut it better, but my door wouldn't open. I tried locking/unlocking it but still when I pulled on the handle it would not open. Well I'm a fairly lazy guy and I really didn't feel like climbing over everything and getting out through the passenger door so I figured I could just grab the interior handle and pull the door the rest of the way shut.... This is where my problem occurred. Once I grabbed onto the door handle not the actual unlock lever but the molded handle on the door panel and gave it a good yank the whole damn thing ripped off. The control panel for my power windows/locks broke loose, I ripped some vinyl on the panel, and I think I snapped a plastic snap between the handle and power control panel. You can see all this in the image attached I also noticed that there appeared to be some glue/epoxy residue where the control panel fit into the door, is this factory or do you think someone made a temp fix by gluing it together before?
I've tried different GM door panel plugs but all of the cardboard that they go into has ripped out. I'm referring to the screw/plug that is right below/behind the door handle molded into the panel The next thing I plan on doing to resolve this is remove the door panel and using some thin sheet metal and tac'd on nut so that I have some backing to thread into and tighten everything back up.
My Main Questions Are...
1. Has anyone else had this happen before? Or had to deal with the cardboard backing ripping out around the door screws/plugs?
2. How hard is this panel going to be to remove? I've taken off panels in a VW Bug and a Durango without any trouble. I'm not to worried about the process, but any tips would be appreciated.
3. What about this plastic snap that seems to have broken that linked between the handle and the power controls panel? I'll be able to provide a better pic if necessary once I get the door panel off. Is this important, and if not, do I need to replace it?
In Conclusion
I did end up crawling over my bench seat and getting out of the passenger side. The exterior handle on the driver side wouldn't open the door either when I tried. So I ended up throwing my shoulder into the door really hard and that seems to have re-engaged the mechanism enough that I was able to open the door. I'm lucky I didn't flip the whole damn truck over when I shouldered the driver side after ripping off the door panel... haha Since the accident I haven't had any trouble shutting/opening/locking the door, all of the snaps popped right back in to hold the panel on except the center one behind the handle, and now I just have to be careful when using the handle to close it.
So I had a classic 'Picard' Facepalm moment the other day. On my way to work I guess I didn't shut my door well enough. While I was going down the road I could hear the air whistling past the seal and everything.
Well when I reached the stop sign I tried to open my door so I could shut it better, but my door wouldn't open. I tried locking/unlocking it but still when I pulled on the handle it would not open. Well I'm a fairly lazy guy and I really didn't feel like climbing over everything and getting out through the passenger door so I figured I could just grab the interior handle and pull the door the rest of the way shut.... This is where my problem occurred. Once I grabbed onto the door handle not the actual unlock lever but the molded handle on the door panel and gave it a good yank the whole damn thing ripped off. The control panel for my power windows/locks broke loose, I ripped some vinyl on the panel, and I think I snapped a plastic snap between the handle and power control panel. You can see all this in the image attached I also noticed that there appeared to be some glue/epoxy residue where the control panel fit into the door, is this factory or do you think someone made a temp fix by gluing it together before?
I've tried different GM door panel plugs but all of the cardboard that they go into has ripped out. I'm referring to the screw/plug that is right below/behind the door handle molded into the panel The next thing I plan on doing to resolve this is remove the door panel and using some thin sheet metal and tac'd on nut so that I have some backing to thread into and tighten everything back up.
My Main Questions Are...
1. Has anyone else had this happen before? Or had to deal with the cardboard backing ripping out around the door screws/plugs?
2. How hard is this panel going to be to remove? I've taken off panels in a VW Bug and a Durango without any trouble. I'm not to worried about the process, but any tips would be appreciated.
3. What about this plastic snap that seems to have broken that linked between the handle and the power controls panel? I'll be able to provide a better pic if necessary once I get the door panel off. Is this important, and if not, do I need to replace it?
In Conclusion
I did end up crawling over my bench seat and getting out of the passenger side. The exterior handle on the driver side wouldn't open the door either when I tried. So I ended up throwing my shoulder into the door really hard and that seems to have re-engaged the mechanism enough that I was able to open the door. I'm lucky I didn't flip the whole damn truck over when I shouldered the driver side after ripping off the door panel... haha Since the accident I haven't had any trouble shutting/opening/locking the door, all of the snaps popped right back in to hold the panel on except the center one behind the handle, and now I just have to be careful when using the handle to close it.