The arm rest on the driver's door of my 1994 Explorer XL is a mess. The plastic under the padding is broken (cracked into little pieces) from age. This is the part you pull to close the door. The Ford dealer wants to sell me a whole new door panel, but even that wouldn't work because the truck has NON power windows, and the only panels available are for power window models.
Has anyone else encountered this problem? Any ideas for a fix or can I maybe find the armrest only for sale somewhere? I check ebay occasionally without success. It seems non power windows are rare in Explorers.
I have the same truck. Mine has the driver's door hinge problem that is apparently fairly common. This led to a lot of door slamming (because the door doesn't line up properly) which in turn led to a latch that keeps coming unscrewed and a door handle that's busted completely. Of course if I'd known the hinge was a common failure I could have bought the kit 5 years ago when it started acting up and saved myself a lot of trouble.
The driver's door hasn't closed properly in ages; if I'm ever in a wreck I hope I roll onto the left side so that door will stay closed :-)
I also have manual windows (and no roof rack - how many Explorers have no roof rack???) and have checked eBay for months without seeing a single one of these handles listed. Although if I replaced mine with an OE handle I'd just break the new one in a couple months.
My plan is to remove the right handle, use it to make a template which I can mirror and then make a handle out of 3/4" plywood. Plywood can take stress on any axis so I won't be as likely to bust the new handle. If I could get my hands on a scrap of no-void birch ply that would be sweet.
My '94 has so many problems it would cost more to fix them all than the truck would be worth after the repairs. Unfortunately, I don't have the budget for a replacement. I know all the idiosyncrasies so it's no big deal for me, but I don't think anybody else could love this Explorer!
Yup. My door hinge is sloppy, you gotta slam the door to get it shut. Now there's no place to pull to do it. I roll the window down and pull it shut. The outside door handle is so loose it flops in the breeze but still works. The drivers seat is sprung so bad it lists to port. But it always starts and gets me where I'm going. Has never let me down, on road or off, trailering my boat etc. And it even gets really decent gas mileage. It's my second car now. My son borrows it when his GMC Yukon is in the shop which is very often.
And ... I no have roof rack either. Makes it easy to find in a parking lot full of Explorers!
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