The drivers side rear door on my '01 Quad cab won't open anymore. It has progressively become worse to the point where I have to yank on the handle a couple times to get it to release....if I'm lucky. I have tried WD40, spray silicone, and spray lithium grease on the moving parts of the releases on the top and bottom of the door but that doesn't seem to help. Is there an adjustment I can make to fix this? Thanks for any help.

 

Yes there is a adjustment inside the door....

Rick

 

Had the same problem with my 99' I had. I had to take take off the door panel and play around with the threaded rod on the inside, think I may of even had something stripped on it.

 

I pulled the door panel off today and figured it out. The bolt that holds the pivot (which the upper and lower threaded rod connect to) was so loose it was just about to fall out. I tightened it up and readjusted the lower rod and everything works great now!

 

If any of you can get a pic of this up it would be great. I have been battling mine since I bought it.

I have to push the door in while pulling the handle to get it to open.

 

my parent's suburban had the same push-pull needed when opening their rear door.

If you take the panel off, you will see exactly what we are describing. There are only a few things behind the panel. A speaker if so equipped, and the cable for the door handle. Where it attaches to the door handle is probably where the problem is. Check the cable and make sure it is taunt, not super tight, just snug. There should be threads on the cable to make is more or less snug. But make sure the mechanism is screwed in tight first. That might be all you need to do

 

Tywebb,

FYI you will probably have to take it back apart and loctite that bolt or you will be back in there again anyways. I had mine apart several times to fix this very problem before I tried loctite. Its been holding ever since. Just my experience though,

 

You know when I tightened it up snug it was actually too tight so I had to back it off slightly to get it to work properly. I briefly thought at the time what is going to keep it from backing out again....but of course I didn't think to use loctite. I'll let it go for now and see how long it lasts but if I have to pull it all apart again I will definately remember to use the loctite the second time around.

Sorry I didn't take any pics while it was apart but if you pull the panel off you will see some clear plastic covering the inside of the door. There was a large access hole in the door right at about the level of the outside door handle. Cut a flap in the plastic so you can get inside the door at the round access hole. Then you will see the part I am talking about. There is a threaded rod coming in from the top and one from he bottom. When you pull the door handle the part will turn and push both rods. The bolt holding this pivot is what came loose. Hope this helps?

 

You don't have to cut the plastic. Just peel it down from the top. Then you can reseal it. I had the same problem and fixed it yesterday in about a 1/2 hour. Thanks to all who spelled it out for me here.

 

I had the same problem, when I tightened the screw all the way, the pivot was binding, because after being loose for so long, it built up a burr on the aluminum "pedestal" that mounts it. Apply some grease to the tip of the pedestal and the pivot hole, and then try it. There should be no more binding, and you can then tighten the screw with blue Loktite. The plastic film can be held in place with packing tape. By far the worst part is prying the door panel off, and then going to the Dodge dealer to get 8 new yellow retainers, and finding out that they want $7.50 apiece for them!!! Good luck...
Bob

 

I see this is an old post, but, my husbands truck, a 2001 Dodge Ram, deisel, had the same problem for about maybe 8 years.We did the push in and pull real hard for a while until it just stopped opening. What a pain to always use the passenger back door. Until I found this post..
I read it and then let my husband read it. Since it was 100 degrees outside, he think it help not make all the yellow clips break. Not one broke and we even re-installed them. The instructions above worked great. It was the screw was loose. He tightened it to much and then had to back it off some. YAY!!! Now we have a back door again. Actually the hardest part was getting the pull handle back in the slot to screw it back in. Left a little mark there from prying it in, but we don't even care! Thanks alot for ya'll help.