Interior rear door release (3 Viewers)

[psilocyBen]

not being satisfied, I took everything apart again and pretensioned the cable with zip ties. two on the hasp side and one on the handle side.


not being satisfied, I took everything apart again and tried to figure out what was causing the issues.

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this is the throw of the factory latch being pulled.

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this was the throw of the truck latch being pulled. I decided there was a little more pretension that could be set and decided to use zip ties to take up the slack in the line. two medium sized zip ties on the hasp side and one on the handle side.

I also lashed the two cable's sheaths together so there was less slop in the throw of the cables.


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now everything works cleanly.

Wow, that’s amazing! I’m very glad you got it to work. Honestly I should have waited to see how yours turned out, but I was impatient and wanted to add the release at the same time as I did my fold down table. Now I’m stuck with just a simple paracord pull, though I’m working on getting my t handle to work better. I had a similar issue to you where it worked fine with the door dissembled, but then when back together it only sometimes worked and things were getting caught up. If I didn’t already drill a 1/2” hole on my door card id probably do your method. Really great work! Probably the best interior release I’ve seen yet.

On a side note, where’d you get the paracord interior handle? I broke one of the tabs on my OEM plastic handle and I’m thinking about maybe just doing one of those.

 

[yeos]

I completed this last year, but I don't remember posting it. I used threaded rod and attached it in a way where I could push down on it to open the door. That is a rubber cap over the threaded rod and a grommet surrounding the hole I drilled. Sadly I don't have any more photos other than the finished product.

 

[chiz45]

On a side note, where’d you get the paracord interior handle? I broke one of the tabs on my OEM plastic handle and I’m thinking about maybe just doing one of those.

Amazon product ASIN B00PO0TK4I

 

[trinydex]

Amazon product ASIN B00PO0TK4I

the handle is a BARTACT. I have an extra if you want to pay shipping

 

[psilocyBen]

the handle is a BARTACT. I have an extra if you want to pay shipping

Awesome good to know. I really appreciate the offer but I think I may get a gray one to match my interior. Thank you though

 

[trinydex]

last update. this took a while to get around to.

the latch was not working every time and also was particularly not working after the car had been locked and unlocked. sometimes the cargo door would not unlock and this was totally unacceptable.

I had to do a few things and I don't really know which one fixed the issue entirely. I am happy to report however, that my fix for the broken clip holder (jb weld and plastic welding) held up for over 10 mounting and dismounting of the cargo door card.

after a lot of troubleshooting, I realized that there were several potential issues. first was the handle throw was too short. I found this by comparing the throw of the factory handle and then checking the throw of the dorman handle. the dorman had about 75% of the throw of the oem handle.

second, the zip tie spacers on the cable, to create pretension because the handle throw wasn't long enough, were possibly causing issues with the cable not returning to resting position.

the insufficient throw caused a need for pretension on the cable (zip ties). the pretension on the cable caused the latch to get stuck in the locked condition.

the way I had the cable set on the dorman handle was also suboptimal. because the end of the cable was not captured, it only pulled and would not "push" the cable back toward the resting position.

another problem was the aftermarket cable was migrating after several pulls. the two zip ties I used to secure it to the factory cable were not producing enough tension to prevent it from moving in relation to the oem cable which was clipped into the latch housing.

first step was to adjust the throttle cable bracket. this would allow me remove all the little zip ties that I used to pretension the cable.

I drilled out the middle position hole and moved the bracket one adjustment point away from the cable yoke, this took up a lot of the excess cable existed (when I was shopping for cables, I thought more cable outside the sheath might be a good thing and it turned out not to be so).

at the same time I realized I had stripped out the 1/4 x 28 stud. it was too short with the bracket sandwiched and there was not solid thread engagement, a little over tightening stripped the threads near the end of the stud where the threads were still conical. I drove it out and replaced it with a bolt. turns out this SAE size is interchangeable with 10mm bolts from jdm oem bolts?

next, I extended the throw of the dorman handle.

I drilled a hole to indicate approximately where I wanted to add extra clearance and then used a dremel with carbide burr bits to grind out the channel. I highly recommend keeping burr bits around, they're awesome for hogging out bolt holes in aftermarket parts that don't fit perfectly. they can be chucked in dremel or a drill and cut much faster than a drill bit with lateral pressure.

next I lashed the aftermarket cable to the factory cable with a more rigorous zip tie lashing.

this prevents the tip of the sheath from migrating away from the other sheath.

last touch was to make a cavity for the ball end of the cable to sit in so that the yoke would pull and push the cable for a full throw and reset. I used the carbide burr in the shape of a ball for this.

after all these modifications, the latch works every time. it works after locking, outside, inside and every variation. locking the doors still prevents the inside handle from working the latch just as it prevents the outside handle from working the latch.

 

[trinydex]

update.

did a little more shopping and research on door handles and went into the domestic car realm, looking for a flush mount door handle / latch. realized that I don't really want a pull to actuate handle as the finished handle will only be mounted to an interior plastic, and not much else. as such I narrowed the criteria down to handles that just pivot to unlock so no future passengers in the rear are tempted to pull the handle to shut the door.

found a great candidate and I am committing to this one for the project. found on amazon.

Dorman 77498 Exterior Door Handle for Select Cadillac / Chevrolet

don't know what this goes to, but it comes with 4 grade 5 bolts pre installed as studs. it's totally flat for flush mounting, only missing thing to make it perfect is it's not tan or beige. I could paint it, but maybe the black will stand out and draw people's attention to it to use.

found out what this door handle goes to. I have a chevy express van at work and it appears this is a direct replacement for the side french door, the one on the inboard side of the two doors. it's usually mounted vertically. perhaps using a chevy express van door cable would save a step of modification to get everything working perfectly.

but then again, perhaps getting a latch that just has enough throw would also. perhaps the oem instead of the dorman version would do better also, can't tell from it being on the car.

 

[trinydex]

anyone interested in restoring their moisture barrier and getting it to adhere in place after it's been disassembled once or twice, you can buy butyl sealant tape from Amazon. it's the same stuff.

Amazon product ASIN B07CTQ67X9

 

[runningdrew]

I completed this last year, but I don't remember posting it. I used threaded rod and attached it in a way where I could push down on it to open the door. That is a rubber cap over the threaded rod and a grommet surrounding the hole I drilled. Sadly I don't have any more photos other than the finished product.

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This is one of the coolest ideas I've seen yet, mine is a paracord loop that I have to pull and my kids barely have enough strength to pull it to open the rear door. This looks awesome because they could use their body weight to push down instead of pull up.

 

[hens]

Great write up!

This might be a ridiculous question but do we know what the other end of this latch cable connects to? From what I've been gathering on various diagrams and photos, the outside door handle seems to be a directly connected to the assembly by a lever or some kind of arm, which makes me wonder where this cable attaches.

In theferg's sales post, the indoor handle directly attaches to where the red cable is now.

 

[trinydex]

View attachment 2933341

Great write up!

This might be a ridiculous question but do we know what the other end of this latch cable connects to? From what I've been gathering on various diagrams and photos, the outside door handle seems to be a directly connected to the assembly by a lever or some kind of arm, which makes me wonder where this cable attaches.

In theferg's sales post, the indoor handle directly attaches to where the red cable is now.

there is no inside door handle on a GX 470, only the Prado 120.

the outside door handle is connected by cable to the location pictured.

 

[hens]

there is no inside door handle on a GX 470, only the Prado 120.

the outside door handle is connected by cable to the location pictured.

Thank you for that. I was looking at more diagrams and I've learned why the Prado inside-door handle can't be retrofitted like OEM on our GX470's.
The Prados with the spare tire attached to the door had a different outside-door mechanism (direct lever) compared to the ones with the spare tires underneath the frame of the cars (like our GX470s, which use the cable like you've shown).

I spent a few hours looking at diagrams trying to make the inside door handle fit but alas, its not logistically feasible.
Regardless, thanks for the photos and write up. I'll be looking to do something very similar!

 

[trinydex]

Thank you for that. I was looking at more diagrams and I've learned why the Prado inside-door handle can't be retrofitted like OEM on our GX470's.
The Prados with the spare tire attached to the door had a different outside-door mechanism (direct lever) compared to the ones with the spare tires underneath the frame of the cars (like our GX470s, which use the cable like you've shown).

View attachment 2933349

I spent a few hours looking at diagrams trying to make the inside door handle fit but alas, its not logistically feasible.
Regardless, thanks for the photos and write up. I'll be looking to do something very similar!

so, I am pretty sure it's not directly connected to the latch. you can see in the diagram there's 2 cables.

 

[hens]

so, I am pretty sure it's not directly connected to the latch. you can see in the diagram there's 2 cables.

Yeah its not. I was just under the influence that it may have been a possibility based on theferg's post with the prado handle and mechnism for sale

 

[DeathMetalTony]

Thank you for that. I was looking at more diagrams and I've learned why the Prado inside-door handle can't be retrofitted like OEM on our GX470's.
The Prados with the spare tire attached to the door had a different outside-door mechanism (direct lever) compared to the ones with the spare tires underneath the frame of the cars (like our GX470s, which use the cable like you've shown).

View attachment 2933349

I spent a few hours looking at diagrams trying to make the inside door handle fit but alas, its not logistically feasible.
Regardless, thanks for the photos and write up. I'll be looking to do something very similar!

For a while I was trying to source out that rear Prado 120 panel with the inside handle. Not all the vehicles in Japan had it must of been a Euro thing.