88-94 smooth door handle swap on 95+ trucks??

[95obschevy]

Ive heard of this swap being done.. however I noticed that the lock cylinders between them are different.. any one on here done this swap or can shed some light on how they made the handles work?

 

[someotherguy]

You can tweak the pawls that connect at the rear of the lock cylinder to make it work; I've had to do this when installing aftermarket new style handles onto the older trucks.

HOWEVER...and I know sooner or later I'll get someone arguing this one with me. Try to install old style handles on a newer door, and at some point you'll run into trouble. About mid-production 1995 or so, may vary depending on what plant the truck was made in, the hole in the door for the handle got bigger. The handles changed too, with a thicker plastic bezel around them to make up for the gap. This is why you see more later models with cracked handles, because they have less support where they bolt to the door. I've had a lot of them in front of me to compare and there are no less than 4 designs of handles and the newer ones are larger by a few millimeters.

So in other words, 1995 you -might- be OK, might not; much later and the older handles will physically bolt up but have a noticeable gap.

Richard

 

[great white]

My 98 has the handles from my 89 in the doors.

I just used the plastic surround from the 98.

Been that way for the last 4 years....

 

[95obschevy]

My 98 has the handles from my 89 in the doors.

I just used the plastic surround from the 98.

Been that way for the last 4 years....

What did you do about the lock cylinders being upside down?

 

[98_k1500]

Could someone please explain?? I never realized they were any different

 

[great white]

What did you do about the lock cylinders being upside down?

IIRC, I swapped the 98 tumbler and lever into the 89 housing.

I'm ditching the whole lock tumbler assembly soon for a set of suburban rear door handles (courtesy of Mr Michael Hurd, thank again).

Lock tumblers and rods are just another invitation for some low life to try popping the door open with a screwdriver. I'm RKE, so that's how I will unlock them anyways. Dead battery worries are handled by exterior jump posts in the form of a warm QD coupler. Loosing the RKE is handled by a "knock to open" option on my alarm/remote start:

You must be registered for see images

 

[great white]

Could someone please explain?? I never realized they were any different

Differences are subtle.

Like late ones are textured, early ones are smooth finish, etc......

 

[95obschevy]

IIRC, I swapped the 98 tumbler and lever into the 89 housing.

I'm ditching the whole lock tumbler assembly soon for a set of suburban rear door handles (courtesy of Mr Michael Hurd, thank again).

Lock tumblers and rods are just another invitation for some low life to try popping the door open with a screwdriver. I'm RKE, so that's how I will unlock them anyways. Dead battery worries are handled by exterior jump posts in the form of a warm QD coupler. Loosing the RKE is handled by a "knock to open" option on my alarm/remote start:

You must be registered for see images

my 95 tumbler is too large and gets stuck in the old style handle

 

[great white]

my 95 tumbler is too large and gets stuck in the old style handle

Dunno what to tell ya, worked for me.

 

[someotherguy]

Yeah I've never seen the tumbler be an issue, just the pawl, which is a separate part. I've flipped them over and beat the little bend in them flat, in order to use them.

Surprised to hear you were able to re-use the larger bezel plastic from the new handles, onto the old. Did you glue it onto the back of the handle so it wouldn't get squirmy, or hasn't been an issue?

Lock tumblers and rods are just another invitation for some low life to try popping the door open with a screwdriver.

That's what shaved doors are for.

Richard