I just got my painted tailgate handle and bezel. After searching, I see that the bezel is a delicate flower and that I need to be really careful with it, but I have found no hints/instructions on installing the handle. Do I pop off the bezel to get access to the mechanism, or pull off the plate on the inside of the tailgate? Is it so obvious nobody ever had to ask before? Should I do a write-up, or would it be a waste of bandwidth? Any advice/abuse will be carefully considered...

TIA!

And you fly airplanes for our country!!!
J/k Those red handles should look good! I am going to half to come see the finished truck! What did you decided to do with the fender flares?

Heat it up with something or leave it in the sun. The tabs on the top will break if
not carefull. I used a torch (it was cold out)

Okay, this really was a dumb question. Three bolts and the handle pops right out. The bezel gave me no trouble, either; I didn't even break the tabs by pulling the two top tabs straight out nice and slow then lifting straight up to free the two bottom tabs. There were two adhesive strips that were doing most of the holding in my opinion.

Got all four door handles and the tailgate handle/bezel finished in just over an hour. Now I'm on the hunt for a set of paintable flares; I'll bide my time to get a good price on Ebay...

where did you get the painted tailgagte handle/bezel?

where did you get the painted tailgagte handle/bezel?

right here
http://www.gmdieseltech.com/store2/cart.php

I got my door handles/tailgate handle and bezel from http://www.gmpartsdirect.com. I emailed the supporting vendor at gmdieseltch.com, but he replied that he no longer handled the parts I wanted.

yeah i tried through gmdieseltech but he had difficulty getting them at the time then didnt return my email. so do you have the part # from gmpartdirect.com? i tried there also and the a rep there said i need a VIN from another vehicle which it comes painted on

I have the part numbers for paint code 74U, listed as "Victory Red" or "Fire Red" depending on the source.

15188002 end gate pickup box handle, red 74U.
15228542 end gate pickup box bezel, red 74U.

These parts are from a Silverado SS. Silverado SS trucks came with painted door handles and painted talgate handle/bezel, and were available in Victory Red. If your truck isn't red, you may have to do some research to find something that came with a tailgate in your paint code (Sierra Denali or Sierra C3 maybe?).

.......didnt return my email.

My appologies on that,:o: some get missed as I answer them as best as I can..Lately its 75-100 per day and thats not including spam or automatic reply's.

I dont carry the painted handles anymore as the margin was too small to deal with the frustrations they had with them. I had no control over the quality of them and they are by no means perfect out of the box. That and figuring out which handles needed for certain year trucks that do or dont have key holes in doors etc... just too much work for so little margin.

no worries bud! i understand - my email wasnt meant to knock you. thx