How to: How To: Drivers Exterior Door Handle Replacement

[429CJ-3X2]

The exterior handle on the driver's door of my '01 Sport Trac broke yesterday right where the rear lever goes through the door. That handle needed replaced anyway. I did the spring thing awhile back, but there's been no noticeable resistance from the handle when opening the door. New replacements from either Advance or O'Reilly's are $29.99. I ordered a set of 4 from AM Auto Parts on ebay for $17.60. Shipping is free, and they'll be here in 3 days. One handle was $7 and change, but with 2 Sport Tracs and a Mountaineer, it makes sense to have extras on hand at that price. I bought headlights and taillights from AM when I got this truck, and they were good parts. FYI- it's cheaper to buy from them through ebay than to buy directly from their website unless you have a 10% discount they often offer.

 

[koda2000]

I've bought a couple of cheap exterior door handles off eBay and one from RockAuto. They look like OE, they fit like OE and I'm sure they will eventually break like OE, but none of them have broken to-date and it's been several years. I see no point in paying more than around $7 on these plastic handles.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

I ordered the set of 4 from AM Autoparts on Monday, had them on Wed, & installed the one today. Quality looks to be very good. Many thanks to all who have contributed to this thread! My turn now.

If you're working on a Sport Trac or '01-'03 2dr Sport, there are 2 screws at the bottom of the door panel in addition to the 2 above the door handle.

When I tried knocking out the rivets, it didn't seem like anything was happening, and then all of a sudden the rivet and pin shot out together easy as can be, leaving the outer ring of the rivet stuck on my punch.

When you reassemble, make sure you get the lower window track (that you took the bolt out of) properly clipped onto the upper track. It has a clip on the back side that slides behind the upper track.

To get the new handle inserted into the holes in the door, I had to pull the bottom of the window glass just a little to the inside to have enough room to get the handle in. Once it's in place, there's no interference.

I used bolts and exterior star washers like koda suggested. I used 1/4 x 1/2" combo round head machine screws, but had 3/4" long bolts in case 1/2" was too short. 1/2" is long enough, but there's plenty of room for longer ones, so don't panic if you just have longer ones.

I tested the new handle before I put the inner door panel back on, and it worked fine. Reinstalled the door panel, thought I was done, but it wouldn't open. Took it apart again thinking I forgot to close the yellow clip, but the problem was the door lock got pushed part way down when I put the inner panel back on. Took a couple of times to figure that one out.

Not only was my old handle completely broken on one side, both return springs were broken and not doing anything. New one works like it's supposed to!

 

[koda2000]

@429CJ-3X2 - Boy, you must have the perfect diameter sized punch to be able to break the rivets. I always have to drill the heads off after knocking the pins out.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

I did try to drill them out first, but I don't think that affected how they broke & came out, especially since the entire outer portion came off as a whole. I was using a small, very lightweight, ball peen hammer, and had the door open, so it wasn't like I really beat on the rivets.

 

[koda2000]

I did try to drill them out first, but I don't think that affected how they broke & came out, especially since the entire outer portion came off as a whole. I was using a small, very lightweight, ball peen hammer, and had the door open, so it wasn't like I really beat on the rivets.

I've found, with the punch I use, the pins drive out quite easily, and I have a very sharp 5/8" drill that takes the head right off, but the "banana rivets" usually spin and you have to hold the backs from spinning to finish them off.

So the handles you bought are the metal ones?

 

[429CJ-3X2]

No, they're plastic and look to be at least as good as the originals.

 

[koda2000]

No, they're plastic and look to be at least as good as the originals.

Okay, I've seem the 4-pak of plastic handles on eBay. Did you paint them? I've had really good results with Dupli-color rattle cans in the matching colors, but find a silver undercoat works best with metallic colors. Finish with a couple of coats of clear-coat and (if necessary) some white polishing compound once dry to achieve OE results.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

Didn't need to paint. This was for my '01 ST which is black. Worst case - the new handle is shinier than the door.

 

[sehaare]

Just to add to this very old thread now. When you remove the rivets, be careful how much they heat up from drilling, the piece that they are attaching to the door is plastic and will melt. Don't ask me how I know.

All I'm going to say is that the counter sunk portion of one of the two rivet opening is now gone. Now where did I put my washers.............

 

[sehaare]

I didn't read all 11 pages so forgive me if this is already here somewhere, but here is a couple of tips.

The first tip is don't shut the door until you are sure everything is working, close the latch by hand and verify that both the exterior and interior door handles will open it before you close it. First time I put mine back together the outer handle would not work and then when I tried to adjust it neither handle would work and had the door been shut it would have been a real pain to get it open again.

I did the rear passenger door which does not have the open area to work in that the front doors did. As I said in the tip above after putting the new handle on I was having issues with getting both the inner and outer handles to work. It all came down to attaching the connecting rod to the yellow clip.

initially the outer handle did not push the connecting rod down enough to open the door. What I ended up doing was pushing up on the linkage as far as it would go and then snapping it into the yellow clip. That did the trick. Now I can open it with just one finger.

Good Luck with yours.

 

[J. Jones]

Thank you for the step by step instructions. As this is the next thing I have to do to my drivers door. The fun task of installing a new exterior handle once I get it painted.

Oh and for anyone interested near perfect color match for the dk green metallic on the 96 EB explorers I use Testors Model Paint in the small rattle cans from hobby shops called Metallic Jade Green or Jade Metallic Green.

Lay it on in nice layers get about 3 or 4 coats and it is a near perfect match. Just a little fyi for you fellow 96 EB owners. And cheaper too.

 

[toypaseo]

My driver handle, that I slightly modified so I could use a single OEM spring I harvested in the junkyard, failed from that spring breaking. It lasted a couple years. My Willow Green exterior was pretty rare to find in the junkyard, but I did pull some rear handles when I finally ran across a couple, and stashed them in my parts.

Pry took around an hour due to me breaking the door ajar switch while moving the window track, and having to replace that with a junkyard unit. Also had to charge my battery due to having the door open, and the headlights on for some reason.

 

[GLOCKer]

My Explorer's door handle was the first thing I've ever riveted. I found it to be a pain in the butt; I didn't have big enough rivets. So I eventually bought a pack of various sized washers and backed the rivets I had (with my just then purchased Harbor Freight Rivet gun that included rivets) with the washers. Ughhhh. I also had to replace the door latch, the interior door handle, and the lock actuator. It was all a PITA.

 

[koda2000]

I've replaced a couple of exterior door handles. Bought cheap replacements on eBay or RA ($7-$8), painted them myself with spray touch up paint over silver undercoat and clear top coat (prefect match). I find the cheap replacements last just as long as the OE plastic handles.

As far as attachment, I don't bother with those stupid rivets. I bought some stainless steel dish-head screws from the hardware store and used nyloc nuts and washers to hold them from the inside. If you go with rivets you'll likely only be drilling them out again in the future. I don't use rivets on the lock actuator brackets either (1/4x20 grade 8 bolts, nyloc nuts and washers).

 

[toypaseo]

This is what I used to reattach the door handle. Hex key was easier to use on the bolts then a screwdriver.

 

[donalds]

I just converted all 4 of my door handles to metal ..paint and all ..
I fixed 3out of 4 lock mechanisms same broken springs as usual
I then reinstalled my helper springs just in case
Was a job but worth it

 

[J_C]

I noticed the original full sized pictures on the topic first post have been lost and cherrybomb hasn't been on the forum in a dozen years, so here they are, hopefully the owner (qwikrex?) doesn't mind:

Edit: Either I was mistaken and had tried only clicking the pics instead of the link below them, or what Rick did about the duplicate images fixed it. Now I can click through to the originals on Flickr too, and they are larger than what I posted below, though I'll leave them in case the Flickr pics stop working in the future.

 

[allmyEXes]

I see a thread with some longevity. A month ago, I found a red handle in a JY for my blue truck I may or may not paint it semi-gloss black the way the handles were finished on the Gen-1s. I asked a question and didn't have an answer until I removed the JY handle with a hammer and Philips screwdriver for a punch, to punch the center of the rivet before I drilled it out. The hammerhead bruise on my hand below my thumb where the hammer slipped off of the round plastic head of the screwdriver is now gone. I normally wouldn't use a screwdriver for a punch but was improvising in the JY without a complete tool set. Anyway, what I discovered is left and right handles are the same. The handle is made where the rod can go on either end. I suspect that I have a clip on the rod issue though. I hope the handle is internally broken, but if not, it is a special clip that is listed in post #10. Google shows that they are still available.

 

[TsherryUSA]

Performed this repair today. Thank you for the instructions. Second door went much faster than the first one

I hammered the rivet out and then drilled the bolt. Was easier than trying to get the rivet flanges with pliers.
The handles I bought were these from 1AAuto: 1999 Ford Explorer Rear Driver & Passenger Side Metal Reinforced Upgrade 2 Piece Exterior Door Handle Set TRQ DHA36585

Probably a little more expensive, but seem solid.