Outer door handle firm, clunk, now floppy

[NEWFISHER]

Hey guys and gals,

Had a great cruise weekend with the Burb and have been racking up the miles this summer.

Normally I would dive into a simple project like this , but was caught not having the correct size torque drive screwdriver.

Have any of you had this scenario and what did you find:
Passenger handle was firm to push down and then snapped and is now not engaging anything. The person using it said " it seemed to travel past where it normally does". I pulled the Phillips screws to remove it and see if I could weld the pawl or repair it, but as mentioned-didn't have the torque driver size I needed. Should I order a new handle or have any of you experienced this and have repaired it? Sorry no pic's, grabbing a torque drive today and pulling it tonight.
Thanks

[G&R's57GMC]

And ...... ?

[NEWFISHER]

2 hardware stores and no torque driver that's the correct size. I have the smaller one, but the handle has a larger torque drive screw. If I can't find one tonight, I'm drilling it out!

Nice Red Bone's..

[_Ogre]

the factory weld on the splined shaft probably broke
for those pesky clutch head screws i just grind a flat head screwdriver to fit snug in the hole
the only clutch head bit i have is for the fender bolts

[NEWFISHER]

Here is the latch. The 2 loose pawls were behind the cover, but sprung out when I removed the cover to straighten it. I didn't get a pic of it assembled thinking that I could gently remove the cover, but SPROING and it flew apart. Anyone have a detailed pic of the pawls mounted in the latch assembly?

[Highsider]

Doubt if my patience or brain power could handle this project.
Best of luck and I can't wait for the details.

[NEWFISHER]

You can see in this pic of one assembled that the 2 pawls are hidden by the cover grrrrr
after lots of deductive reasoning, several vise grips and screwdrivers, I got the pawls in and the cover mounted. A couple spot welds and reinstalled it. The problem was the over extension of the handle through the square hole in the pawl cover which bent the cover and both pawls. When you release the tabs on the back that hold the cover on, they break and then the thing explodes under spring tension. A pair of vise grips on the cover would have kept everything in place to investigate better. Just a little documentation in case someone searches for " latch "

[NEWFISHER]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

the factory weld on the splined shaft probably broke
for those pesky clutch head screws i just grind a flat head screwdriver to fit snug in the hole
the only clutch head bit i have is for the fender bolts

No splined shaft on the early ones and I learned that the clutch drives come in 2 sizes, small and large. 4 parts stores before I found the large

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by NEWFISHER

No splined shaft on the early ones and I learned that the clutch drives come in 2 sizes, small and large. 4 parts stores before I found the large

Actually I have 4 sizes. But like you say two are most common.
Idiceted one of those latches in an effort to combine the locks and handle pivot for use with bear claws. I think it is doable.

[mechanixman]

I have 3 clutch head sizes, it came from a Harbor Freight 40 piece screwdriver set.
it was about 20 bucks

Good luck with the door latch mechanism

[NEWFISHER]

Update:
It worked great until my neighbor grabbed the handle when the door was locked and forced it down. Now it's floppy and most likely re-bent the cover and broke my tack welds that held the cover over the pawls. I just pulled the trigger on Flea bay for an aftermarket junk one for $50 and will let you know how it works. I see Altman's in my future. I do not like the bear claws for a couple reasons, 1 no provision to lock and 2 if the striker is out of alignment due to door sag or mis-adjustment, the claws will disengage and create the same problem the factory ones are fighting.

[focusedontheprize]

Originally Posted by NEWFISHER

Update:
It worked great until my neighbor grabbed the handle when the door was locked and forced it down. Now it's floppy and most likely re-bent the cover and broke my tack welds that held the cover over the pawls. I just pulled the trigger on Flea bay for an aftermarket junk one for $50 and will let you know how it works. I see Altman's in my future. I do not like the bear claws for a couple reasons, 1 no provision to lock and 2 if the striker is out of alignment due to door sag or mis-adjustment, the claws will disengage and create the same problem the factory ones are fighting.

I put a set of the Altmans in my truck. Very good product. Also I added locks to both sides and had them keyed the same.

[NEWFISHER]

Well the aftermarket latch has been a rockstar. It gets used the most as I haven't done the drivers lock mod to the door skin yet, still bench sliding like Bo Duke to the right entering and exiting from the passenger side several times a day. Like a good Timex, takes a lickin and keeps on tickin

[55dude]

Nice to know the aftermarket market parts do actually function, next question how long will they last?