how do I remove door panels

[hossfly]

I have a 95 serria. love it, but my daughter borrowed it the other day and came back with the drivers side door handle broken off inside. I've been having trouble with the lock sticking on the inside anyway so that probably contributed to it. ..question.. there are no visible screws anywhere, so how do I remove the door panels to gain acess to the guts of the door frame? thanks..larry

[84fiero123]

inside pannels are held on with what gm calls, belive it or not, carrots. to do the job right you really need a special tool available at any auto parts store. pick the tool up and slide it under the door pad slide it back and forth until u find a carrot then slip the slot of the tool so that it is stuck around the carrot once there just pry the tool twards the outside of the door the carrot should pop out of the hole in the door. once u do one look more closely under at the next one so you can place the tool in the right place for the next carrot. should be 4 or so on bottom and two or more on each side,
if u have crank windows not electric u will need anouther tool for that. take this one and slide it behind crank so that it is under crank but between plastic gasket paralel to handel, wiggil it around a little until you feel it slip into a slot, once it does give it a little tap in to the center u should feel a snap and the clip that holds crank on, this may take a little more finess the the carrots.
if i remember right there should be at least 2 screws in the arm rest and one in the plastic plate under the door handle, look around and make sure there are no other screws if there aren't and you have all the carrots out u will need to pull the lower pad out and then push up to get the top lip of the pad off, be very careful and make sure all screws and carrots are out and take your time you should be able to get the pad off in under 5 min.
good luck and be careful

pss

screws may be under plastic caps under door handle you will need to slip a small screwdriver under endge of cap and pry cap off to see the screw

[blabhern]

instead of buying the special tool, go to Autozone and buy some extra "carrots". You'll need them when you pry the panel off and they break off (sometimes not all the time).

Fierro-I wasn't messing with you, you gave some great directions. It's just that I use a screwdriver and replace those carrots as needed. Seems cheaper to me and 1 less specialty tool to lay around the garage.

[hossfly]

thanks but one thing still not clear on. around the door handle is the plastic cover that covers the hole . does that just pop out or is there a trick to removing that also? my truck is all electric. no manual stuff in it.

[blabhern]

If I remember correctly, just pry it up and it'll lift right off. It is just a rubber boot.

[skippema]

Originally Posted by hossfly

around the door handle is the plastic cover that covers the hole.

The door panel snaps to the handle. Take a screw driver and pry in between the panel and handle and it will come off. The whole plastic piece is part of the handle.

[lizzard]

my 2000 GMC sierra driver read door will not open. how do i remove the rear door panel to investigate.

[84fiero123]

sorry guys i have these tools laying around, as far as the rear door goes, your fucked!
Sorry had to say that, but you are going to have a bitch of a time. take rear seat out, sorry only way to get pad off. then you are going to have to make yourself a tool to get under the pad. a butter knife, good solid one should be a good start. now put knife in a vise and put a 90 degree bend in it about 2" from the tip. now you have your tool follow derections above to get pad off. if you have to much trouble try us again or email me or one of the others here they all sound noledgable