Driver and Passenger side doors hard to open

Hello everyone just changed the outside driver side door handle and the door still hard to open my old handle was cracking thought putting a new one would fix the problem but no. my wife is 5' and the truck is tall hard for her to open the door need help

 

Hard to open as in the handle is not releasing the catch, or the door is jammed and fights you opening it?

There is a rod running from the exterior handle to the lock assembly, and it is secured in place with a clip. If that clip is busted you may not be getting the tension on the rod you need to release the door. When you replaced the outer handle how did the rest of the parts look?

 

14 yrs old, how long has it been since it was lubed? I use Kroil or MotorKote spray. The daughter's was this way when we bought it, a little spray and it opens easily now.

 

97 Taco NM Thanks for getting back to me I just realized that I got replies and now just replying back I changed out both of the handles and everything looked fine new clips on the handles. Is there other clips down by the latch I cant see? ,and Darryle I use some WD-40 still the same both sides very hard to open. A buddy of mine thinks the rod stretched my brother thinks the rod is bent. What do you guys think

 

Did you spray the door latches as well? Something is binding, not bent. When the handles were out, did you try it with just the interior handle? It is going to be a process of elimination now.

 

if the latches are still hard to operate after wd40 then they need replacing. they are most likely internally jammed from rust or corrosion.

the door handles themselves don't really do anything so its rare they ever are the problem.

the rods cant get bent a little when the latches are too tight but not enough to be an issue in most cases.

open the door and work the latch manually (not with the door handles) to test its the latch itself the inner door handle and outer door handles are completely separate so if both are tight its the latch not wanting to move.

you may want to source some replacement latches from the salvage yard since I have heard the latches are pricey

 

Same issue here too. I replaced both handles and still hard to open. At first they popped open nicely with the new handles. Now same issue again. It may be the latches, haven't looked. But I was leaning towards worn out rods. Idk. I am replacing the window regulator on one side so I'll attempt to fix this as well while I'm at it and let you know how it goes.

 

the latches are pretty simple mechanically so if nothing is worn out it might just need cleaning and regreasing the innerds and pivot points but that depends on if you can take it apart to get in there to do it or if its riveted as one unit. I never tried doing one so its worth a try at least

 

Hey guys thanks, I did lube latches handles everything. When I lift the outside handle it needs to be lifted very high at the last bit is when it opens the door I found that if I lift the side of the handle close to the key hole it works better.I did try opening the door with the outside handle out and the inside works no problem

 

the rod connects to just one side of the door handle on the outside so its common to work better on one end but since it goes all the way up maybe someone was using gorilla strength on it and bent the rod or the clips are worn or broken. you would be surprised a tiny plastic clip can make an 1/8" difference in when the latch opens.

since it works ok with the inside latch the problem is isolated to the door handle or rod or the clips holding it, maybe a combination of a little of all of it.

the rod can be removed and carefully bent a little but go slow and don't need to bend it much and be sure it still has some slack in it when fully down.

 

I will try that thanks Keaker