the third door on my 1997 f150 supercab 3 door is stuck closed and will not open with either the inside or the door jamb handles. i closed the door with a 5 gallon pail of sheetrock compound in the way and it held the door out a little at the bottom and now its stuck.

anyone have a cure?

thanks,

john

 

you can check on the door panel's lock mechanisms. something might be broken that's why it's stuck.

 

I think that the third door has a bottom latch mechanism that runs in a different direction than the top latch (i.e. the top latch runs from side to side while the bottom latch runs from front to back). My top latch was stuck when I did something very similar to you. I eased a large flathead screwdriver into the space between the door and cab and gradually applied pressure to the latch until I was able to pop it open, which opened the door. This is really a two person operation because you should also have someone pulling the latch on the side of the door at the same time you're trying to pop the latch. If the problem is with the BOTTOM latch where there is more fascia, etc, it's impossible almost because you would have to run the screwdriver along the length of your footstep since the latch has a different orientation. If it's your bottom latch, they're probably going to have to remove the door and repair or replace that latch.

If the bottom door sticks out a little bit then either the bottom latch is hosed or not latching correctly, or there is too much pressure on the top latch.

Go easy on the latch though because if you apply too much pressure, you can screw it up which can leave you in a worse situation than when you began!!!!

 

great idea. i need to give it a try.

john h