Kodiak door handles on…

[any4xx]

Installed my Kodiak door handles this morning. If I’d have had better lighting and a second person it probably would have been about a two-hour job. But having to juggle a flashlight and dance with trying to hold parts in place made it a three-hour exercise in frustration. But in the end they work well and holy shamoley are they heavy duty! Now though, my puny stock side mirrors look way out of place. I need to speed up my tow-mirror swap so the door handles fit the “decor” a bit better.

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[John Young]

How hard was it to find the parts? Considering this for my truck.

 

[any4xx]

How hard was it to find the parts? Considering this for my truck.

I bought the handles themselves off of the auction site. Lots for sale there. Sadly, it took me three tries though. First vendor sent me some random oil sender instead. Second vendor never delivered anything and is still fighting me on the refund. Third try got my new handles in just a few days for about $68.00. Rods are available from customobshandles.com. Actually they sell the whole kit there, but pretty expensive At $300.00. Even the rod kit is $150.00. The jungle site also sells the handles, but I think they’re closer to $80.00 for the pair.

Stupid expensive really, but the handles are REALLY strong. They cover about 1/4” more of the door skin all the way around so the possibility of the screwdriver under the handle break-in trick is all but completely thwarted. I haven tried it but I’m pretty sure I could hang my full body weight off of them.

 

[someotherguy]

Stupid expensive really, but the handles are REALLY strong. They cover about 1/4” more of the door skin all the way around so the possibility of the screwdriver under the handle break-in trick is all but completely thwarted. I haven tried it but I’m pretty sure I could hang my full body weight off of them.

They are beefy, but just beware they are not infallible. A hardhead thief will try, but yes, it will take more than a screwdriver. I'll guess the **** that did this damage used a small pry bar, broke the handle, and mangled the door sheetmetal. This was my '94 HD passenger door when I first got the truck:

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Silly question, but since converting, are you able to lock your doors with the key? I recall having problems years ago on trucks that came with these handles, and now that I've put them on my '93, same. I can unlock them just fine, but to lock, I have to use the inside controls.

Richard

 

[any4xx]

Silly question, but since converting, are you able to lock your doors with the key? I recall having problems years ago on trucks that came with these handles, and now that I've put them on my '93, same. I can unlock them just fine, but to lock, I have to use the inside controls.

Richard

Funny you ask…. Unlocking/locking with the key CAN be done, but with difficulty. It’s like the rod geometry isn’t quite right. That “issue” extended my installation time as I was thinking I was doing something wrong. Bottom line is that it’s difficult. Luckily one of my very first mods was to install a Viper alarm solely for the RKE feature.

 

[someotherguy]

Funny you ask…. Unlocking/locking with the key CAN be done, but with difficulty. It’s like the rod geometry isn’t quite right. That “issue” extended my installation time as I was thinking I was doing something wrong. Bottom line is that it’s difficult. Luckily one of my very first mods was to install a Viper alarm solely for the RKE feature.

In the days before we put alarms on everything, it was muscle-memory to hit the (factory) lock button before shutting the door. I've probably fallen out of habit since it's been around 20 years since I've had to do that.

Mine might lock with the key but I wasn't willing to risk breaking the key off trying; I remembered that even on my HD's it didn't seem to work so I just said F it.

Richard

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

In the days before we put alarms on everything, it was muscle-memory to hit the (factory) lock button before shutting the door. I've probably fallen out of habit since it's been around 20 years since I've had to do that.

Mine might lock with the key but I wasn't willing to risk breaking the key off trying; I remembered that even on my HD's it didn't seem to work so I just said F it.

Richard

Yup, before we had cars with remotes, that became the rule: whoever opens the car/truck first, unlocks the doors, and the last one out, locks them. Of all the Walmarts and other sketchy places we've parked, I think nothing has happened to our trucks besides the spare tire getting swiped on Rawhide (and all they got was a rusty wheel and a very old tire!).

 

[bluex]

When I did the handles on my 98 with all gm parts I had an issue getting the doors locked with the key. It's one thing holding me off from putting them on the dually since it doesn't have electric locks. I never did figure out why it was like that.

 

[John Young]

I bought the handles themselves off of the auction site. Lots for sale there. Sadly, it took me three tries though. First vendor sent me some random oil sender instead. Second vendor never delivered anything and is still fighting me on the refund. Third try got my new handles in just a few days for about $68.00. Rods are available from customobshandles.com. Actually they sell the whole kit there, but pretty expensive At $300.00. Even the rod kit is $150.00. The jungle site also sells the handles, but I think they’re closer to $80.00 for the pair.

Stupid expensive really, but the handles are REALLY strong. They cover about 1/4” more of the door skin all the way around so the possibility of the screwdriver under the handle break-in trick is all but completely thwarted. I haven tried it but I’m pretty sure I could hang my full body weight off of them.

Thanks for the reply and the detail! I’ve added it to my build list for my 93 modernized daily driver project! I get you about the $300, however, it takes a lot of work to produce these things for a limited group. So…maybe be not so bad for such a great upgrade.

 

[someotherguy]

The brand new handles I am 99% sure are all made by Dorman. I would go out on a limb and say the ones from customobshandles are probably Dormans that he has painted. I can't imagine him painting up a bunch of old originals. The rods he offers are pretty decent and they worked as expected in my truck. Like I mentioned, even on trucks I've owned that had these handles from factory (3500HD's) they were difficult to lock from outside with the key.

I guess I lucked out though and can't believe after all these years I still had a set of old HD handles on my shelf, leftover from replacing the ones on my '95 HD with brand new GM handles. How I wish I had those now! Such a difference.

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Richard