Ambo door handles - rear door D-ring style

KlutchInd

Member
Well its been a busy spring and summer. Just had our first child in June after moving in March and starting a new job. So unfortunately since moving my truck has sat relatively idle. And in that idleness my rear door latch stopped working. It had begun to be a little difficult to work but besides a little wd I neglected it. And now I'm paying. My truck is a red cross disaster relief vehicle and has two large rear doors and the left will not open without the right opening first. The handle turns as far as it normally did but for some reason is not engaging. I believe they are only able to be removed from the inside. As I write this I think I'm just going to cut into the door on the inside.

Is there a better door handle replacement? I never liked the rotating handle. Anyone ever fight with these before? It's probably just a matter of keeping it greased properly.
 

KlutchInd

Member
You're right, greasing would probably work. But either it was too seized or I was too impatient. Once I got it apart I'm not sure grease alone would have done the trick. I could barely move the parts with a hammer.

So I took my Fein tool and cut about a 10" square hole into the inside of the door to reveal the mechanism. All seemed intact but I still couldn't budge the latch parts. After about three healthy doses of PB Blaster and a 30 min wait I still couldn't move the latch. But I could reach the three 10mm nuts holding it in place. I loosened those and after some more strategic prying I could it move just a bit. And after that it just took a good swift kick to open. Now with the door open I could access the top and bottom and could completely remove the latch. The screws and nuts were pretty rusty so I hit the hardware store and got some stainless replacements.

The latch itself needed a serious cleaning. I used the better part of a can of parts cleaner to get all the road grime and grease out. Once dry it began to move a little more freely. Still very stiff though. More parts cleaner and then hit it with the air hose. Getting better. Last step was some dry lube (or graphite lube). The latch I thought I was going to have to replace started working pretty slick. Not new but about 90% there. Bolted it back together and she's working great. Proceeded to lube all the box latches and key locks with dry lube. I knew better than to not be using dry lube in the past. Now to just keep the locks clean and lubed. I'll post some pics later.
 

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