I stole this idea from the "Yukon Jack" thread posted by @diesellibrarian. I saw the pic and said "Aha! That's so crazy that it just might work!"
So I tried it; smallest brass I have is .38, I just cut one down, filled it with JB weld and stuck it on. Installed the handle and it works. Works just fine.
Seems that the PO had the same problem I was having. Problem is the metal tab that the thumb-button pushes against is thin and flimsy and bends away so that the thumb-button no longer works. You can see that Toyota added a threaded bit to end of the thumb-button rod on the later handles to address the problem. In the past, I've pulled the locking mechanism out of the door and re-bent that tab. That's a PIA and doesn't work for long.
So I tried it; smallest brass I have is .38, I just cut one down, filled it with JB weld and stuck it on. Installed the handle and it works. Works just fine.
