Got my driver side a-pillar grab handle done. I put it in so my wife will be able to get in and out of the driver side easier since I am going to be lifting it a little. I bought a grab handle (was a passenger side handle) from a '97 on eBay for $12.00. It was a darker grey, so I bought a can of Mopar interior paint from the dealership for $9.00. It is a perfect match to my interior color code. The handle is at an angle coming off the a-pillar, so it also doesn't stick out into the field of view at all.

To install, I took the stock pillar cover off. Drilled two holes and two slots in the a-pillar (used a dremil to cut the slots). Inserted two automotive speed nuts into the slots so the threads lined up with the holes I drilled (see the first pic). Bought these nuts at Lowes for a few dollars. I also bought the white plastic spacer at Lowes so the a-pillar cover could squeeze up against them and wouldn't crack when tightening down the handle (see pic 2). Then, just tightened everything down nice and snug. The handle is as solid as the passenger side handle.

 

You let your wife drive your truck?!? [sm=jawdrop.gif]

 

Thats pretty nice man. I have been thinking of doing this for a while just kept putting it off. Now I can't wait, thanks for the motivation! Oh, by the way mxmancr250, My wife drives my truck when I have had a little too much to drink and personally I think its kind of HOT!!! All though I do have to back it into the garage when we get home![sm=icon_guiness.gif]

 

Hey silver dodge , do you remember how thick those spacers were?

 

Here is what I used.

The original screws that come with the grab handle were metric, and I could not find a metric speed nut, so I replaced the metric screws with: 1/4-20 x 1-1/2 Socket Head Cap Screws -2 (these have an allen head so that they can be tightened once everything is in place)

Other parts were:
1/4" -20 U-Type Speed Nuts Threaded - 2
1/2 x .257 x 1/2 Nylon Spacers - 2

On the spacers, both needed to be trimmed because they were too tall. The top on, I cut off about 1/16". The bottom on, I cut off about 1/8" to 3/16".

Hope this helps.

 

that looks pretty good!

 

Thanks.

One other thing I forgot to mention for those wanting to do this. Make double/triple/quadruple sure the holes you drill in the a-pillar cover perfectly match the ones in the a-pillar underneath. If you are off by even a little bit, the slight misalignment will cause the a-pillar cover to not snap into place like it should.

The whole job took less then an hour too, in case you interested.

 

Nice install, I was actually thinking of doing the same thing since I end up grabing the steering wheel to get in... nice writeup!

 

How do you remove the passenger side grab handle on a 97 dodge ram 1500?

 

anyway i can get pics back?