Buyer Beware: KTJO 4X4 Driver's Side Grab Handles w/ A Pillars, HUD, and Bowl Lights

I pulled it off, but most of the adhesive remained on the plastic. Maybe someday if I get really encouraged, I might stick it back on.

McMaster has zero thickness adhesive tape that is used for the VHB tape.

 

Well, color me stunned. My handle showed up today - it was originally due yesterday and nothing in the system showed between when it departed Oregon on the 28th and was delivered today. It went from In Transit to Delivered. Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket.

Ordered: Dec 22
Shipped: Dec 28
Arrived: Jan 5

I pulled it out of the box - A pillar looks pristine, handle itself has a few minor nicks/rubs. Miraculously, the bolts are correct and so is the M6 clip. So much for the bag of 20 I have coming on tomorrow. If anyone needs one, let me know.

So, now I'm debating if I want to install it with the included M6 clip or head out to the auto parts store and grab a self-centering one. I put the parts downstairs in our mechanical room for now - we have radiant in-floor heat and the boiler for our system and hot water keeps them temp at a pretty constant 85F. Nice place to warm up parts before putting them on.

 

One of the clips is bent over that's why it's not sitting flush.

 

i had to go look. and now it cannot be unseen.

it's a light specifical scuff mark that was probably from me handling it, but it could be like that out of the box i suppose. it's nbd over here. don't think i would notice it if the sun wasn't right on it.

 

Glue on a Roll!

https://www.mcmaster.com/7628A52/

 

Awesome! It takes a couple steps to get it to fit right. Here's how I did it:

1st try: Test the handle and the bolts, and bend top mount slightly towards the door,
2nd try: suck it up by tightening the bolts down,
3rd try: loosen and align the handle properly before retightening the bolts to their final position.

For the caps, You can heat them up and bend them to shape, so they fit the handle better. I pressed the tabs out, so they were more secure. I also dropped a dab of superglue on the small alignment pin, and pressed it for 10+ seconds while it set-up. That's how I got the lip of the caps to sit flush/tight. GL!

 

Dammit!! Sorry!

I'd bet on it being there already. You can see that they were all tossed together in boxes in the FB pics before final wrapping and shipping.

I easily scratched my OE trim when trying to install the speaker grille after the trim was in.

 

Nope, I'm not listed on that page

 

it was originally bent flat against the flap. i unbent it so it would fit in the hole but the base of that little pin is a bit wonky likely from the molding process.

 

The threaded part of the nutplate was better than expected, so I just used it.

You can pinch it together by hand so that it will grip the lower clip. If you drop it on from the top, it should be no issue to get the bolt started. Though, a few have noted alignment issues on the bottom. More common up top though.

 

i got these and the little retainer clip inside the U held it right where it needed to be and didn't budge, although i started the threads from the inside with the cover mostly off the pillar.

 

That was how I had to start mine before I bent the clip. The handle had to be out of the perches also. It was a fucked up hour of unhappiness.

After the bend, just as fast as OE, but with the new yielded weakness. Yea!!!

 

So looks like the local post is deciding to just hold onto it rather than deliver today.

 

The box does say grab handle.

 

For Science

Ordered 12/19/20

Sent a email a few days ago, requesting a tracking #. She replied within a day, but the number provided did not come up as good tracking info. I tried on USPS/FedEx/UPS. Haven't got a response to the next email I sent yesterday, about the tracking.

01/05/21 Received via USPS. Label was created on 12/21

Upon opening the dented up box, looks like it's all there. The clip nut is correct M6. Measured the bolt lengths as 60 & 65mm. Also noticed the KTJO tape around the handle, so figured the caps are correct. They were already mounted.

Will try to get it mounted tomorrow & update on fit & finish.

Appreciate all the info & updates for the last month or 2.

All the pre-order folks should have gotten theirs long before myself & other later orderers.

 

Alas...success. Took me three auto parts store to find the clips and then about a 20 minute install and voila! Solid too!

 

ok, so I admit that I don't have a ton of patience...so I decided just to go for it with the existing M6 clip. Of course, it started off badly when I struggled to get the cover off the original A Pillar...trying not to scratch anything and I just couldn't get an edge. Finally got it, though.

The original came off easily after that. It took me a bit to get the new A Pillar in - finally pulled out the tweeter cover and that did make it easier. Next came the bolts. I bent the M6 clip to hold on a bit better and popped it on from the top. Popped the handle in and then went through the inevitable struggle to get the bolts to line up. I got the lower bolt seated after maybe 5 minutes of trying - the upper bolt took maybe 10 to finally find the sweet spot - no bending necessary. Phew!!

I'm actually pretty pleased with how it looks. The edge on the lower cover has a high spot that I'll probably end up taking down a bit but all in all it looks great and feels very sturdy.

 

You might be the first Magically Perfect kit and install?

Mulligan on the clip.

 

And it’s such a shame one must buy a package of six clips, three of which are the same size as the wrong one sent, and have two spares. Anyone needing a clip?

I wouldn’t go so far as saying magically perfect because it took some finagling to get shit lined up. Lucky is more appropriate...

 

Looks good!