Door handle suggestion

[iamdub]

Hey folks,

We have a 2011 suburban, and the wonderful plastic on the chrome exterior door handles has broken. It is probably due to how my kids open it in combination with the poor design. Anywho, I replaced one of them with an aftermarket handle, but the handle is very tight, and my smaller kids can’t even get it open. So…my question is…is there an adjustment in the door to make it less difficult to open or is there a specific manufacturer of door handle that anyone with experience can recommend? Btw, I don’t need to worry about a keyhole because these are the rear handles on both sides.

TIA!

Lower the Suburban and they won't be pulling downward on the handles any more.

 

[IEATZ28]

Lower the Suburban and they won't be pulling downward on the handles any more.

Ha! My wife would kill me. Plus, they aren’t actually pulling down on it. They stand up on the running board, and use their body weight to get it open. Come to think of it, the best solution here might be putting them on an upper body routine.

 

[iamdub]

Ha! My wife would kill me. Plus, they aren’t actually pulling down on it. They stand up on the running board, and use their body weight to get it open. Come to think of it, the best solution here might be putting them on an upper body routine.

Sounds like a recipe for pain. Standing on a rather small ledge and holding a handle that's about to fly towards you...

Mine would reach up to grab it at around chest high then throw her body back to pull it. So it went out and down. I quickly corrected that and I've never broken a handle. I had one that was a little loose before I bought it and found it was already broken but still worked well enough. I fixed and reinforced it with plastic epoxy and metal tabs.

 

[petethepug]

The door handles are an acquired skill. After you’ve been in the door card once it becomes a heck of a lot easier. I threw in the towel when I had a theft of anything not nailed down inside the truck. The door handles were being abused for months before the crackheads timed it right to steal my TEC2 and some other goods.

I turned in the malfunctioning door locks, actuators and door handles as an insurance claim. Two estimates later only the Cadillac dealer would work on it. Pretty much everything fell apart when they inspected each door. A month later after it was all fixed, another handle pulled off.

When it was all said and done there was a $5k bill to the insurance with a $250 deductible. $2.5k of that was just for 30 days of car rental. The fact that these door mech’s are serviceable and parts are available is amazing. If you do the work, know your time and labor is being well spent.

 

[IEATZ28]

The door handles are an acquired skill. After you’ve been in the door card once it becomes a heck of a lot easier. I threw in the towel when I had a theft of anything not nailed down inside the truck. The door handles were being abused for months before the crackheads timed it right to steal my TEC2 and some other goods.

I turned in the malfunctioning door locks, actuators and door handles as an insurance claim. Two estimates later only the Cadillac dealer would work on it. Pretty much everything fell apart when they inspected each door. A month later after it was all fixed, another handle pulled off.

When it was all said and done there was a $5k bill to the insurance with a $250 deductible. $2.5k of that was just for 30 days of car rental. The fact that these door mech’s are serviceable and parts are available is amazing. If you do the work, know your time and labor is being well spent.

Yeah, it’s not a difficult job. I just want a quality part since the one I previously installed isn’t performing well.

 

[S33k3r]

I'd suggest checking FB Marketplace, Craigslist, and/or eBay for recycled door handles. Also, the ones on my daughter's Sierra turned out to be steel. I love my mechanic! This last round, they couldn't break the door handles. Unfortunately, they bent the door trying to get in. But she lost nothing inside.

 

[mikez71]

Will the Sierra handles fit?!

 

[iamdub]

Will the Sierra handles fit?!

Yup. I put my front two handles on my buddy's '08 Sierra cuz he wanted chrome.

 

[S33k3r]

Will the Sierra handles fit?!

So will Escalade handles... That's what I have on my Silverado.