Door Grab handle repair

[Bill D]

Frustration with the grab handle forced my hand. Someone told me pop stick and adhesive was the driveway repair. I decided to dig in.

Pulled back the loose door outer cover, saw the broken substrate that holds the cover in place at the grab handle.

Broken pieces

Used JB weld and a small piece of shim stock and tied everything back together to recreate the snap in flange that the cover is supposed to snap in place on and over; then filled the area with a good sized bead of High temperature resistant Permatex Black Silicone



View attachment 213550

Then push the cover into place until you feel it clip over the attachment flange you rigged back together. Once its in place use wire ties every 3/4" or so to secure it tightly in place for a 24 hour full cure.

Clean up with Alcohol works well and although I know there will always be some residual you wont get out, a spray of armor all should make it look good as new. Cut off wire ties next day. I expect this is going to be a permanent repair.

 

[JDC81]

This just happened to ours, thank you!

 

[sanco]

I was wondering when i bought mine if this was a common issue since the 07 i owned before didn't have that problem, nor did any of our squad cars. I didnt even think about using epoxy, great idea JB is great stuff!

 

[totalpackage]

Frustration with the grab handle forced my hand. Someone told me pop stick and adhesive was the driveway repair. I decided to dig in.

Pulled back the loose door outer cover, saw the broken substrate that holds the cover in place at the grab handle.

Broken pieces

View attachment 213546
View attachment 213547

Used JB weld and a small piece of shim stock and tied everything back together to recreate the snap in flange that the cover is supposed to snap in place on and over; then filled the area with a good sized bead of High temperature resistant Permatex Black Silicone

View attachment 213548 View attachment 213551

View attachment 213550

Then push the cover into place until you feel it clip over the attachment flange you rigged back together. Once its in place use wire ties every 3/4" or so to secure it tightly in place for a 24 hour full cure.

Clean up with Alcohol works well and although I know there will always be some residual you wont get out, a spray of armor all should make it look good as new. Cut off wire ties next day. I expect this is going to be a permanent repair.

Mine is doing the same. So i looked online and it appears that armrest can not be separated from the door panel? So indeed that is the most optimal repair then. Looks difficult if you cant pull it off and work from the side that rolls up.

 

[mikeyss]

The 07-09 front door panels are a little different than the 10-14 years. 07-09 had a smaller grab handle (that doesn't break) than the 10-14, and the lower portion of the panel is different as well.

 

[swathdiver]

The 07-09 front door panels are a little different than the 10-14 years. 07-09 had a smaller grab handle (that doesn't break) than the 10-14, and the lower portion of the panel is different as well.

Learn something new everyday, never noticed that there was a difference.

 

[Doubeleive]

I haven't had one apart but from the looks of the pictures it would appear there is enough room to stick a piece of steel stock in there fill it with epoxy and call it good forever.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Frustration with the grab handle forced my hand. Someone told me pop stick and adhesive was the driveway repair. I decided to dig in.

Pulled back the loose door outer cover, saw the broken substrate that holds the cover in place at the grab handle.

Broken pieces

View attachment 213546
View attachment 213547

Used JB weld and a small piece of shim stock and tied everything back together to recreate the snap in flange that the cover is supposed to snap in place on and over; then filled the area with a good sized bead of High temperature resistant Permatex Black Silicone

View attachment 213548 View attachment 213551

View attachment 213550

Then push the cover into place until you feel it clip over the attachment flange you rigged back together. Once its in place use wire ties every 3/4" or so to secure it tightly in place for a 24 hour full cure.

Clean up with Alcohol works well and although I know there will always be some residual you wont get out, a spray of armor all should make it look good as new. Cut off wire ties next day. I expect this is going to be a permanent repair.

How's it holding up, and how does it look now?

 

[mikeyss]

It's almost not a noticable difference.

 

[jsoltren]

I saw a really thorough repair on YouTube. Someone removed the door panel and fabricated aluminum and steel components that drill into the small amount of sheet metal parts in the door. It's like the most robust version of the popsickle stick mod.

My 2500 has both the driver and passenger doors needing this mod. Aaargh! The actual replacement part could be like $5 but instead you need an entire $400 door panel?! No thank you.

 

[BourbonNcigars]

So what are the symptoms of this break in the handle? I mean, is it obvious and you can feel that it’s busted? It just seems like the cover is thick enough to mask it but I guess not.

 

[jsoltren]

It's really obvious: the door handle will feel like jelly.

 

[Bill D]

How's it holding up, and how does it look now?

It’s still holding up, but I feel the seam of the door handle is out of position. I’m going to use some Black rubberized superglue to finish off the seam. I used so much Silicone on the repair, it’s never coming off.

 

[Tonyrodz]

It’s still holding up, but I feel the seam of the door handle is out of position. I’m going to use some Black rubberized superglue to finish off the seam. I used so much Silicone on the repair, it’s never coming off.

They have black rubberized superglue?

 

[Bill D]

Yes they do, Amazon.

 

[mattjones]

The 07-09 front door panels are a little different than the 10-14 years. 07-09 had a smaller grab handle (that doesn't break) than the 10-14, and the lower portion of the panel is different as well.

This explains why I never had this issue with my 08 Tahoe. The 2011 I’ve got now has a really loose door pull

 

[Kee Fuller]

I wrapped my handle in Saran wrap, then in duct tape. Shot expanding foam the handle and let it dry overnight. Handle is rock solid now

 

[Bill D]

How's it holding up, and how does it look now?

Still holding up great. JB Weld and High temp Silicone will outlive the truck. The only thing I don't like is that you can feel the lip of the grab handle rubber when you wrap your hand around the handle to pull the door closed. The tab or edge should be seated tight against the plastic and it isn't. The handle cover is not loose in anyway, its just that you can feel its slightly out of place from "perfect"

 

[ftwflh]

I repaired mine with a small strip of metal.Predrilled 3 holes st it under the handle,drilled holes in the plastic screwed it on.Drilled it with an angle drill.Worked good so far.

 

[PPV12HOE]

I'm gonna pull mine this weekend and see what I can do with it... previous driver decided just to wrap it with black gorilla tape... gonna be a mess to take off...