Can't get drivers side door handle off. HELP
 

I pulled the door panel off, removed the two 10mm nuts and then the one 10mm bolt that comes in from the side, and the door handle is still locked in solid.

I did the passenger side last night with no issues. Can anyone tell me what may be holding it in. I weigh like 230 Lbs., and I can't get it to budge. I really want to finish off this mod this weekend, and this is the last handle I have to do.

my 04 had 2 bolts on the side, not sure if they changed to just one on the 05s or 06s, but its worth checking if you have the other hole. other than that i cant remember what else would be holding it stuck to the door still

The '05 only has one bolt from the side. I pulled the other rubber plug out to check it just in case and there was no bolt in it. This really has me baffled. The handle was just as solid and secure after I removed the nuts and one bolt as it was before I took them off. It's almost like someone crazy glued the damn handle in there.

If you have not done it already, grab handle and pull, mine were realy stuck on as well. It apears the rubber seal sticks to the door.

Beware the drivers door has more connections, the key, keyless entry pad, and pull latch. Take your time, I broke part of my handel bucket removing the handel. the pice that holds the spring in one side has no gussets and is very brittle.

Hope this helps.

Yes, it is on there like a bitch! I pulled so hard it bent the 2 little places where the studs go through the door, that's where mine was locked in place. It will come, and as SoundPer4mance told me when I did mine, PUT DUCT TAPE around the hole when you get the bucket off the door a little. Trust me, you WILL scratch the crap out of your door if you don't put tape on it. I thought I could be careful enough and I quickly saw it wasn't gonna be that easy and taped it up before I did any damage.

haha yeah.... i scratched mine....

If you havent gotten it off already, take a long screwdriver and punch it from the inside (with a hammer if necessary). Once it is loose, i pulled the clip holding the lock out and then removed the handle like the other ones. Good luck!

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to have one of the techs here at work helping me with it tonight after work. Hopefully I'll have 3 matching handles on the drive home tonight.

Anyone have pics of this install? I've been searching through old threads and can't seem to find any that still have pics of the install. Any help here? I'm doing to mod this weekend even though the rear passenger side one is on national back order.

nw04 - I also broke that little piece that holds the locking rod to the inside bucket. Did you break that piece as well? If so, did you get a replacement and if so, how much...it's just a plastic clip. Mine still held the rod for awhile but now, it stopped and my door doesn't lock/unlock with the FOB anymore... i need to open it and use either a tie or something else to put it back in place. For anyone else, be careful and take your time...i kinda got all excited putting them in and didn't take as much time as i should of. Other then that, it looks great though.

I broke a pice off the actual bucket that holds the handel in. :mad:
New handel from dealership $65.00 :eek:
they only sell it as a complete piece for what i broke, bucket, handel and even the keyless entry pad.
I put the flame handels on from moss motors however got them on ebay for about $50 less than moss. so much for my ebay savings. :mad:

Well, yesterdays switch was successfull. I now have a couple helpful suggestions.

Completely remove the door panel. In the other post I found they just let the door panel swing from the cable to the inner door handle. The cable comes off really easy, just pull straight up on the whitish plastic retainer and the cable lifts straight out and has the little ball on the end where is seats in the handle assy.

Another thing that really helped was placing on of the small florecent light style drop lights inside the door. This really made it alot easier to see what was going on.

The suggestion about the tape on the outside of the door around the handle is a very good one. We got the handle to finally pop loose by placing a blunt objext on the studs that the 10mm nuts came off of, and taping them with a hammer. We then eased the handle out. Next we pulled the front edge of the handle (closest to door edge) forward and pulled the retaining clip for the lock assy out. Next was to pull the two retainers attached to the plastic housing for the keyless entry wiring harness. Unpluged the wiring harness and then just twisted of the handle from the door lock rod just like on the passengers side. We used the reverse order to install the new handle and it went real smooth.

Like others have said, take your time and you shouldn't break anything. I'd like to thanks the other that responded here, it really did help.

i broke the clip that held my rock lod as well, thats when i discovered its best to just take out the retainer on the lock cylinder. the clip was just a few bucks and in stock at ford

could you guys reuse the plugs that cover the side bolts?my right side handle wasn't set right at the factory so i put it on right but i tore the plug getting it out,went to the dealer and they come in a pack of ten for like 2.00 a piece.i can't find one the exact size at the parts store but found one at lowes that is a little small but kinda works.what did you guys use/do and any parts numbers?

I reused the stock plugs. If you push inward on one side of the plug, it gives you something to grab onto and pull out. This doesn't damage the plug so you can re-use them.