1999 RAM 1500 van door won't open

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posted
16 years ago

Thu, Sep 20, 2007 6:29 PM

Last week when I was about to get out of my '99 dodge ram van, I pulled the handle and I felt something give inside the door. "No big deal," i thought. I rolled down the window and pushed the door button outside and it doesn't work either. What kind of stupid crap is that??

I started to take the screws that I can access out of the door and removed the bezel for the inside handle. I pulled the handle after the bezel was off and it looks like the frigging "bike brake cable" is still intact. I really don't want to destroy the door panel or the door, so please make suggestions as to how the heck I can get the door open..

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posted
16 years ago

Thu, Sep 20, 2007 8:39 PM

Ok, well I answered my own question.. I went out and took the other door apart..

I was able to get all the screws out of the door panel after using the other as a model.. I then just yanked the door panel out from the inside. The panel is the one thing that's heavy duty about this van's body.

There is a little plastic tit on the end of a lever that apparently applies all the force to the latch to open it, regardless of which handle you use to open the door. This tit fell out of the latch when i probed it with a screwdriver. I had to use the shank of a drill bit to manually release the latch from inside the door. Upon opening the door, I found that the bottom two mounting screws were about to rip the metal completely off the door. Someone rear-ended this van at some point, so I'm assuming this could have been caused partially by the accident. What kills me is that the metal is the thickness of a Sapporo can.

Is there a newer part that superseded this piece of trash door latch? Seriously, my family has owned a dodge van in one form or another for my whole life and while the driver's doors may have sagged and been hard to open occasionally, the latch mounts have *NEVER* ripped off the door.. progress huh? LOL

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posted
16 years ago

Fri, Nov 9, 2007 1:43 PM

Well I finally got around to fixing the door on the van about 2 weeks ago. Bought a new latch to the tune of 93 bucks with shipping. The dealership here in town wanted $130 for the latch.

The latch mounts on the door were ripped, so I took a piece of sheet metal and conformed it to the door on the outside of the door. I cut the slot for the striker and scribed the location of the screws which hold the latch. I drilled the holes and countersunk the metal so the heads of the screws would be flush with the metal.

I installed the latch and hooked it up and moved the striker into the correct position. The final touch was to drill holes for rivets and rivet the metal to the door. It could be a bit prettier, but it works and does not catch your clothing on the way in and out...