It was the door lock, $62. Took about an hour to get it out, and in....the real bad thing is that there are 4 rods going to it, and they can only be seen with a mirror, so you are working backwards. The best way to do it is to take out the three rods that you can get to, the orange, one of the green, and the white. Save the green that goes to the door handle for last. Take out the three torx screws that hold the lock in, and then remove the last rod. pull the unit up the door and shift it out, then unplug the electrics when you have it where you can see the damn plug.
Re-install backwards, electrics first, door rod 2nd, then the torx screws to hold it in, and then the last rods...do the orange first, as it is hard to get to.
I would send a pic, but I aint no computer geek, and getting one on this forum has not been possible for me, which is why I don't have one for "who I am", but if you want one of the lock assy, with rods attached, I can email one.
hope that this is as helpful as the rest of this forum has been to me.

 

I have the same problem with my 2004 ram 1500, drivers door
I took the panel off today and didn't see any problems
I was looking for the replacement part when i found this fourm,
but after hearing what a pain it is to replace it, i'll
just take it to the dealer, I have the extended warranty
so it'll cost me a hundred bucks, but sounds like its worth it
thanks.

 

I suspect there is a design problem as mine exhibited this behavior last night, crappy part I guess..

I will post pics if I can.. oh and first post so howdy as well from texas