weedahoe... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I would say that it took about a half hour to forty-five minutes to do. The biggest help was unbolting the window track as you mentioned. It then swings out of the way for better access to the latch.

As you said, it was definitely not a job for the dealer. For difficulty on a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate it a 3 at best.

Thanks for your help.

 

Glad you got it all worked out.

 

grrrrr I have big hands!
Same issue here! I almost got it out but had to secure the vehicle for the night. I'm gonna have to get the part first.
I have not looked anywhere yet, but has
anybody found a good price on the actuator, or is this a "dealer only" rip-off part?

 

It is not a dealer only part. You can find the part numbers in the links below in my signature and buy it online at a dozen or more places. I bought and repaced mine for my drivers door for about 35 or so i think

 

My door wont open inside outside keyless or with the key. Does anyone have an Idea on how to get the door open. Nothing is working. I have a new actuator but I cant get the door open to replace it.

 

You could always cut the door skin off to get to the inside of the door.

Maybe try a coat hanger or slim jim down the window and see if you can grab the rod? Take the opposite side door skin off to get an idea of where its at and where you need to hook it at

 

I cant get to the screwws on the bottom of the door panel to get it off. I have discovered that the inside door handle rod has come off. I have the tp of the panel loose but it is still tight. I cant get the rod back in with the space available. I am playing with the idea of cutting the ring out of the way.

 

Followed the instructions and fixed my Driver side door!! Thanks for the details. The trick is to remove the the window tract screws.

 

I have a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab. My issue is that sometimes, not always, my drivers side door lock gets stuck in the lock position. Neither the power unlock, manually pulling the **** up or using the key will unlock it. I can un-jam it only by pulling the handle up. I say un-jam because that's what I believe it to be and NOT an acuator problem. I say this because I took the door panel off to replace the speaker and while off I tested the power lock and was NOT able to reproduce the problem at all, even after multiple attempts. As soon as I replaced the door panel it began happening every 2 out of 3 times. It's like something is rubbing wrong behind the scenes. I can twist the **** so that it twists the whole arm and the problem will go away for a few tries then it starts back up. I can bypass the issue by locking all the doors manually, but I don't always remember to do so. It's gotten to the point where I leave the sliding back window unlatched incase I get locked out, very embarrassing! I even have an ear for when it's going to happen because it makes a strange screeching sound upon locking that's noticeably different from the "healthy" locking sound. It's like a labored lock as if something is fighting against it. I've read multiple forums that point to the acuator, but why would it work sometime and ALWAYS when the panel is off? If for ha ha's we take the approach that the acuator is fine, what part of the door panel may be causing this issue? Could the assambaly be put together wrong? Could the arm attached to the **** be touching something and causing an issue? Thoughts?