Hey guys, we got a lot of ice in Central Oklahoma yesterday, and when trying to open my front passenger side door, i ended up pulling too hard on the handle, and it started to seperate from the truck. Its only the area where you would put your thumb, but theres now a small gap there and i'm afraid water might get in. Is there some sort of special epoxy or sticky solution i need to get to reattach this and keep water out? Or would regular old super glue work?

 

PLEASE don't use super glue. Try to get an epoxy that will seal and try to put in the crack and hold the plastic to the body until it sets.

 

I went out and bought some epoxy at O'reillys this to be exact: http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0400&ppt=C0137 and am gonna apply it tomorrow afternoon.

 

Pics would help. Something to think about is the door handle is made of nylon I believe, and nylon can be a difficult material to glue together and hold. You might get it to stick with things like superglue and epoxy, but the bond will eventually come apart if it is an area that will see stress (pulling on the handle to open the door) and is exposed to the elements. Also, if you are trying to glue a nylon handle to a smooth painted surface, you are guaranteed to fail. You will want to clean the area with some alcohol, lightly sand, and wipe clean again before applying the glue. Once again, shoot us a pic so we can see where exactly it has cracked.

Since nylon is a thermoplastic, the best method to attach parts together are to "weld" them. I have a hot glue gun from sears, and one type of glue stick you can buy for the gun is labeled "Super Glue" I believe. This stuff works great gluing things together I never though would stay. If you don't want to try the hot glue path, you could try a two part epoxy.

 

I'll take some photos tomorrow morning and post them up. I feel like an idiot after all this happened and i want to get it fixed as fast as I can so water doesn't get into the door panel through that space.

 

And it didn't crack the handle, the handle is starting to come off the truck, so i'm basically just trying to glue the handle back onto the truck. The handle is still in perfect condition, just bent ever so slightly, the pics will show it better.

 

Ok here's the image. Let me know what you guys think will fix it. (Sorry i'm kind of a noob and don't know how to post photos yet)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64667941@N00/4316706107/

 

Take the door handle off and look at the two mounting holes. It's possible you pulled the metal slightly. Use something soft and with a rubber mallet flatten the bulged metal back.

My passenger handle was like that when I bought it. Didn't realize til after I got home, but found the cure. My guess ? Someone yanked on a locked door too hard.

 

You could also pull the inner door panel off and try to tighten the nuts on there. If not, I know money is tight, but I would look at changing the handle out. The door panel is only a phillips head screw and a torx bolt on the inner handle then it slides up.

 

Ok, i can take the door panel off tomorrow night and look at it, the pulling too hard on a locked door handle is a pretty good analogy since it was pretty much locked with 1/2" of ice covering the entire truck. I'll take a look at it, and i think new handles are only about $20 which isn't bad.