May I suggest that for NOW you take the striker bolt off the inner door frame, and leave it off until you determine exactly where it's binding?

Unless you're actively driving it; then forget that suggestion.

Check the hinge pins. Check the hinges where they're welded to the door. Check the striker bolt. Check the latch.

ANY or ALL of these can fail causing some of what you went through.

RwP

 

it’s not actively being driven right now. I need to find the latch mechanism because its definitely broken. The old owner of the truck thinks he has one so I’m waiting for him to get back to me. While the door was open I moved the catch piece to I guess what you would call a latched position to hold the door shut and neither handle would release it. Comparing to the drivers side you can feel it click in place when you move it to the latched position. I just took the whole latch piece of food for now and have something propped against the door to hold it shut for the time being. Just in case the old owner doesnt have anyone got a spare one laying around? Lol. I’ll be heading to the FS part of the forums in a bit lol

 

Can you see anything in the latch that is broken? Can you make it work with it in your hands? It might just be gummed up with rust/dirt/other.... and a thorough cleaning may fix it.

 

No unfortunately . I tried hosing it down in some brake clean to get all the crud off it but the catch piece just moves freely. The lock portion is frozen, I haven’t tried any love taps yet though. Once I find a new one I’m thinking of grinding off the riveted sections to see what’s all inside. If only dorman would make the replacement piece lol

 

I thought you wanted one that lasted and worked ...

RwP
(who has no love for Dorman. Or Cardone for that matter!)

 

Use some flavor of penetrating lubricant on it. PB Blaster, or similar. (Not WD 40.....) DROWN that feller, let it soak, clean it out, and see if things free up.

 

You can soak it in Evaporust or similar rust remover. Personally, I'd just replace the latch. It felt GOOD when it popped loose though, didn't it?

 

lol. Well I’d prefer OEM But they are discontinued. At this point I’d take something that even worked for a little and not look like something off the titanic.

 

heck yea it felt good. Aside from me almost flinging myself out the window 🤣. If I can find a latch I’m just going to replace it. I don’t have much of a option because this one isn’t so salvageable I don’t think. Lol. Ive had some success with electrolysis rust removal before so might try that setup again.