[hoot]

Article by CADman_ks

Here's a how-to on changing the door handles.

This link will outline what needs to be done for the front doors:

Front door install....

The rear doors a slightly different, but basically the same.

First of all remove the screws that hold the door panel on. One is under the handle, basically like the front. The other is on the bottom lower corner of the door. Both require a 7mm socket to remove.

Remove the door lock cover per the instructions outlined in the link above, by simply prying on it with a small screwdriver.

Remove the trim on the handle.

You do NOT need to remove the window switch.

Lift the panel straight up, just like on the front.

I removed the courtesy light like they did in the above link. This made it much easier to deal with the door panel.

In order to remove the panel, you'll need to remove the connector from the power window switch. This is about the hardest part of the whole process. As indicated in the photo, the clip that you need to depress is hidden to the inside. Be careful and take your time to not damage the switch or the plug. Once the plug is removed, set the door panel aside.

After removing the panel, you'll notice that the interior behind the panel is different. It has that nasty black tar stuff that likes to get on everything, but won't stick to anything once it's been unstuck.

Remove about the upper foot or so of the corner.
Here's a view of the inside of the handle. The nuts that need to be removed are circled. Just like on the front, there's one that you can't see. However, the one that you can't see if much easier to get off than the one on the front.

The rear handles are slightly different than the front handles. They do NOT have the locking mechanism, so you only have to deal with the link for the handle mechanism. This mechansim also sticks out to the side differently than it does on the front. Just like on the front, there's a little clip that holds the linkage onto the handle (it's already pushed out of the way in this photo.)

Article Provided by CADman_ks

Be VERY careful when you're taking the handle out because the latch mechanism sticks out beyond the cutout.

All the hard work is NOW done. Simply reverse the process, and you have new handles installed on the rear of crew cab!

ENJOY!!!

 

[Son of a gun]

Thanks Hoot.
Bob

 

[hddm3]

nice illastration! great pics! thank you hddm3

 

[Voodoo]

Great post!!! Cool cool cool..


I hate my black handles on white so now I'm going to change them.

 

[Lightning]

Any photos of the front doors with the locks????

 

[flhrciblueice]

FYI!!


This is information for anyone that has an '04 and wants to remove their front door panels for any reason. The directions from the link will need to be amended for our doors. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PULL THE WINDOW AND DOOR LOCK CONTROL PANEL OUT!!!! The rear of the panel is held down by a retaining clip just like in the directions from the link. The front of the panel is held down by a 9/32" bolt from the underside of the panel. The bolt you need to remove is the one behind the manual door lock control. I didn't have time to take pictures this morning. I will do so in the next couple of days and post them. I almost broke my door panel following the directions. I did damage it a little, but it is nothing a little glue won't cure. My truck is a GMC, but I would assume that the Chevrolet is the same.

 

[Leatherman]

What about the tail gate? Do they have a handle for that. I am putting all rear door handles on my truck (no keys) I ordered the handles for the doors but forgot about the tail gate. Edited by: Leatherman

 

[RUMAXED]

NOTE: My 03 Does Not Have The Screw On The Lower Right Corner On The Front Doors Only The Back Doors On The Crew Cab


MY .02

 

[Mav3]

Nice!!!

 

[scotd1]

The link to the article about the front door is for the older model trucks. The door panels on my 2004 are different and come off different. Does anyone have instructions for removing the front panels on the new model trucks?

 

[Max Power]

Pretty much the same for the 04. You have to remove the button on the back of the door. Behind that there will be a torx screw that you have to remove. On the front there is a push in clip that you have to pry out. Other then that it is the same.

 

[CalDirt]

I did all 4 door handles on my 2004.5 a while back and took some pictures. There's no instructions on this page but there's a lot of detailed pics that may help you 2004 guys on this.


http://www.vns.net/~dduffy/_Truck/07-04-04%20-%20Door%20Handles,%20DynaMat,%20Jimmy%20Jammers/


One word of warning - I went with the Escalate color/chrome handles and found that because the 2004 Chevy passenger door does not have a door lock, you have to get a 2nd right rear handle and make some modifications to it to make it fit:


1) swap the lever mechanism with the stock one - the one that comes with the rear handles is too long


2) when you go to fit the handle into the door, 2 of the 3 studs will fit, but you'll need to grind/drill in a small groove for the 3rd stud to fit flush.


I didn't take pics of this process - sorry guys. I hope the instructions and other pictures help a bit though.

 

[glilja]

I just recently took delivery on my '05 GMC crew cab and would really like to have the color-matched handles without the chrome. Mine's #74U Fire Red. Steve Cornell on this forum did his using the part numbers from a Silverado Super Sport including the tailgate handle. Trouble is, his is an extended cab and mine is a crew cab, so I need the rear doors too. From reading this thread it looks like the right side handle would work for the right rear door, but what about the driver's side rear door? Do you (anyone) think that a left rear handle for say an '03 Yukon or something that was still available in #74U Red would work? I haven't looked, but I'm assuming that GMC dropped #74U Red in the Yukon/Yukon XL recently like Chevy did the Tahoe/Suburbans.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.