Well I've tried a few things but I think the latches for my drivers side rear door are finally done for, and I'm kind of curious if anyone else has had/is having this issue?

For the longest time it would take either a good firm shutting of the door, or a couple good ones, before it would actually latch. The other day I think it finally had enough and now it won't stay latched . If I push it just right with just enough force it will latch but then pop back open. At first I thought it might just be out of adjustment so I played with the latch it self and if I lock it in place it takes minimal pressure to get it to pop back open , very discouraging. So I'm on the hunt at the junkyards to get myself another latch mechanism, both the top and bottom are this way. for awhile I think it was just the bottom latch that wasn't working properly but now both are bad.

Anyway, like I said above I'm mostly curious if other people have had this issue and it's just something that comes with miles (even though my truck is on the low side at ~160K). But if it's a common thing I'll look into buying some NEW parts as opposed to used out of a JY.

Thanks,

James .

 

Yep, My bottom latches quit working and got so bad that the tops wouldn't click in. There was nothing wrong with the top ones just the bottom latches were keeping it out too far.

What happened to mine was over the years road spray and dirt worked there way into the bottom latches and caused them to rust and seize up.

So I took them off the truck cleaned them up real good and coated them in move-it and worked the latch back and forth untill they moved freely on there own. I put em back in and the doors have worked great ever since.

 

Usually they seize in the latched position. You got a "good" failure. Less work anyway. I just bought new ones. Now I don't have to worry about them for another couple 100K.

 

Just remove the latch from the door & spray it with Panther ****. They tend to bind up from corrosion.

 

That's the problem, they aren't bound up at all, they move freely! The problem is they won't lock into place. I can articulate the latches back and forth, and even get them to "lock" in place, but I can pull them back open with minimal force using only my finger. Like it has worn out and the piece that locks it in place won't hold it anymore ...

 

you can take them apart. after i got mine moving freely one still wouldnt latch so we took it apart and fixed it. I can't remember i think there was a broken spring or something.

 

Oh ok, I hadn't actually gotten around to taking anything apart yet, no time , so I've just been driving one of my other vehicles. Kinda frustrating because I JUST got the money saved up to go get the bed liner put in and the 5th wheel mount installed, now I don't want to drive it for fear the door is gonna fly open :P.

Probably sometime this week I'll go pop the interior panel off and take a look at it, thanks for the tip!