Driver's side door handle broke

On a cold morning this week, I opened the door to my truck and the plastic handle gave a nice crisp snap as the back support on the handle broke in two. I've ordered a new one from Rock Auto, but hate working inside doors of cars/trucks. From the owner's manual, it looks like there are two bolts that can only be accessed when you take off the interior door panel.

Anyone done this? Anything tricky about removing the door panel? I suspect this is a simple job in theory, that takes twice as long as it should simply because I'm unfamiliar with the workings of the lock/door mechanism. Plus no room for large hands inside the door.

It'll have to wait for warmer weather no matter what.

These are the sort of nagging problems you get with older plastics exposed to weather and repeated cycles of heat/cold.

 

My passenger side broke. Im replacing it this weekend, my buddies dad is a mechanic and I watched him take it off of a donor truck he had. Didn't look to hard, but id wait till it got some what warmer. Pretty sure the door has plastic tabs on it and plastic doesn't fair so well in the cold

 

Pretty straightforward. Make sure you're careful with the lock rod clip, they get brittle.

 

Mine broke. Literally 90 seconds after I dropped the cash on the dealer's desk. Damn, I was pissed.

I replaced mine. You do have to take then inner door off. The reach is a little tricky. Just be careful not to drop the nut. Slow and easy. It'll be done.

10mm as I recall.

 

Finished this today. Not a complicated job, but getting the hidden clip off the manual window crank handle is a pain in the butt.

 

Usually you can take an old shirt sleeve and put it under the crank and it will pull it off

 

Just did mine went thru the same thing last month, and that was the most difficult part. When I re-assembled it, I didn't re-use that thin, round plastic washer-like thingee that got in the way. Should be easier next time.