I did google search to see what people have come up with. Nada. This seems like it was designed by idiots. The door panel attaches to the truck with plastic hooks that are not replaceable when (not if) they break. And no I'm not talking about the white ones that are glued on -- I'm talking about the black ones along the upper section that are part of a larger molded plastic piece.
I've had it happen twice now. Different sides of the car. The second fix I think was better than the first. I used some construction adhesive to fasten the broken section back on, and some (very short) screws through holes I pre-drilled through the piece I was re-attaching. None of this fix is visible with door panel installed, which is what I was going for.
The fundamental issue is that GM did NOT design it with a nice big bolt that physically fastens the handle portion to the door through the door panel. If they had, this failure would not occur since that bolt would carry the load, and the plastic hooks would not.
And before anybody says it's only happening because we're rough with it. This is a 13 year old vehicle with 188k miles on it. It is most definitely a fatigue issue.
I've had it happen twice now. Different sides of the car. The second fix I think was better than the first. I used some construction adhesive to fasten the broken section back on, and some (very short) screws through holes I pre-drilled through the piece I was re-attaching. None of this fix is visible with door panel installed, which is what I was going for.
The fundamental issue is that GM did NOT design it with a nice big bolt that physically fastens the handle portion to the door through the door panel. If they had, this failure would not occur since that bolt would carry the load, and the plastic hooks would not.
And before anybody says it's only happening because we're rough with it. This is a 13 year old vehicle with 188k miles on it. It is most definitely a fatigue issue.
