Boatnik

Friday after work I had a hard time getting my drivers door open. When I pulled on the handle it dislodged from the door. There were two perfectly round washers that used to be door panel. So, this afternoon I proceeded to make a reinforcing strap to go between the two nuts and the door panel. Works great so far. Of course the plastic rod retainer crumbled under my fingers. NAPA had some and new hinge pins and bushings which I replaced because they were the reason I had been pulling so hard on the door in the first place. I also bought all new panel retaining clips because I got tired of fighting the old bent ones in the cold. I haven't been able to close the drivers door without slamming it for years. Now it acts like a new one.

thrashingcows

Probably the linkage was hanging up a little not allowing the locking mechanism to catch easily unless the "slam" jiggled things to where they were supposed to be. Glad you got it all sorted out.