bluecheese
Junior Member
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2022
- Posts
- 17
- Reaction score
- 18
- Location
- New Orleans, LA
- Ram Year
- 2017
- Engine
- Hemi 5.7
2017 Ram 1500 Sport Edition
Let me preface this post by admitting that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m not the most mechanically inclined person - though I do know enough to impress my wife when she needs a headlight bulb changed. But, I hope this will help others who are having the same issue.
Also, I’m typing this up on my phone, so please excuse what I’m sure will be many typographical and spelling errors.
NOTE - this may not be the best way to fix this issue. In fact it may be the worst possible way to fix this issue. I honestly don’t know. But it worked for me, and hopefully it works for others.
Last week I heard a rattling from my drivers side front door. Sunday, while cleaning the truck, I noticed this:
The arm rest was pulling free from the door. After some googling, and coming to this forum, I discovered that the armrest is held onto the panel with what looks like melted plastic rivets.
So, the following is how I removed the door panel and how I (hopefully) fixed the issue.
First of all, pop off this top trim piece. You can just grab it and pull it straight off
Behind the door handle is a little trim plate. I took a small screwdriver and carefully wedged it behind the plate to pop it off. .
Beneath that trim plate is a phillips screw. Take that bad boy out. You may have to hold the door handle open to reach it
Next, I used a small flat head screwdriver to pop off the bezel around the door handle. NOTE - there is a small tab on the bezel on the portion that faces the rear of the truck (the left hand side of the bezel on the driver's side door), so CAREFULLY pry it from the front of the truck.
Next, there are torx screws around the door. I used a T20 torx bit to remove them. Some of them wouldn’t unscrew, but I was able to pull the out with my fingers
After the screws are out, you have to remove the retaining clips. I was able to pull them out with my fingers with little trouble.
Next I needed to pop out the door lock and window control thingy. I didn’t want to wedge it out and possibly scratch/tear something, so I removed the panel by lifting up on it. Once the panel was removed, I was able to pop the window control thingamajig from inside the panel.
To remove the wiring harness, you need to push up on these red safety clips
Once the red safeties are pushed up, you can push the clip inward and pull the harness out.
Once again, pulling up on the panel, I removed it and placed it on a piece of cardboard in the bed of the truck.
These are the melted plastic rivet things that hold the armrest to the panel. Notice that the one on top is missing.
Here’s the pieces that broke off
See that white plastic piece inside the hole in the picture above? That’s where the post of the plastic rivet broke off. My plan was to use a self tapping screw and washer to “pull” the armrest against the panel.
I quickly realized that I didn’t have any self tapping screws. And because of my natural laziness, I didn’t feel like going to the store to buy some.
I found these 3/4” button head screws and washers in the shop at work, and thought they may work.
I placed the screw through the hole where the melted plastic rivet was, and screwed it into the white plastic piece that was left in the armrest.
Worked like a charm. I then used a flat head screwdriver to pop the two remaining, yet broken, plastic rivets from the panel, then repeated the process of ******** into the leftover plastic piece in the armrest.
Edit: anyone else seeing those asterisks in the last sentence? Looks like this site automatically edited the sentence. Which is weird for a website to edit a sentence that talks about a verb that many people will have to perform in the process of fixing their truck. The word in question is "s c r e w i n g".
I tested it, and it seemed to be holding. To reattach the panel, I just did the reverse of the removal process above.
NOTE - when putting the panel back on the door, be aware of the door lock post. Make sure it is placed in its slot in the panel before sliding the panel back onto the door. Once you slide the panel on, make sure you got all the plastic hooks onto the door by checking that the panel is flush to the door on all sides.
And that’s it! Hopefully this helps people who run across the same issue with their armrest.
Let me preface this post by admitting that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m not the most mechanically inclined person - though I do know enough to impress my wife when she needs a headlight bulb changed. But, I hope this will help others who are having the same issue.
Also, I’m typing this up on my phone, so please excuse what I’m sure will be many typographical and spelling errors.
NOTE - this may not be the best way to fix this issue. In fact it may be the worst possible way to fix this issue. I honestly don’t know. But it worked for me, and hopefully it works for others.
Last week I heard a rattling from my drivers side front door. Sunday, while cleaning the truck, I noticed this:
The arm rest was pulling free from the door. After some googling, and coming to this forum, I discovered that the armrest is held onto the panel with what looks like melted plastic rivets.
So, the following is how I removed the door panel and how I (hopefully) fixed the issue.
First of all, pop off this top trim piece. You can just grab it and pull it straight off
Behind the door handle is a little trim plate. I took a small screwdriver and carefully wedged it behind the plate to pop it off. .
Beneath that trim plate is a phillips screw. Take that bad boy out. You may have to hold the door handle open to reach it
Next, I used a small flat head screwdriver to pop off the bezel around the door handle. NOTE - there is a small tab on the bezel on the portion that faces the rear of the truck (the left hand side of the bezel on the driver's side door), so CAREFULLY pry it from the front of the truck.
Next, there are torx screws around the door. I used a T20 torx bit to remove them. Some of them wouldn’t unscrew, but I was able to pull the out with my fingers
After the screws are out, you have to remove the retaining clips. I was able to pull them out with my fingers with little trouble.
Next I needed to pop out the door lock and window control thingy. I didn’t want to wedge it out and possibly scratch/tear something, so I removed the panel by lifting up on it. Once the panel was removed, I was able to pop the window control thingamajig from inside the panel.
To remove the wiring harness, you need to push up on these red safety clips
Once the red safeties are pushed up, you can push the clip inward and pull the harness out.
Once again, pulling up on the panel, I removed it and placed it on a piece of cardboard in the bed of the truck.
These are the melted plastic rivet things that hold the armrest to the panel. Notice that the one on top is missing.
Here’s the pieces that broke off
See that white plastic piece inside the hole in the picture above? That’s where the post of the plastic rivet broke off. My plan was to use a self tapping screw and washer to “pull” the armrest against the panel.
I quickly realized that I didn’t have any self tapping screws. And because of my natural laziness, I didn’t feel like going to the store to buy some.
I found these 3/4” button head screws and washers in the shop at work, and thought they may work.
I placed the screw through the hole where the melted plastic rivet was, and screwed it into the white plastic piece that was left in the armrest.
Worked like a charm. I then used a flat head screwdriver to pop the two remaining, yet broken, plastic rivets from the panel, then repeated the process of ******** into the leftover plastic piece in the armrest.
Edit: anyone else seeing those asterisks in the last sentence? Looks like this site automatically edited the sentence. Which is weird for a website to edit a sentence that talks about a verb that many people will have to perform in the process of fixing their truck. The word in question is "s c r e w i n g".
I tested it, and it seemed to be holding. To reattach the panel, I just did the reverse of the removal process above.
NOTE - when putting the panel back on the door, be aware of the door lock post. Make sure it is placed in its slot in the panel before sliding the panel back onto the door. Once you slide the panel on, make sure you got all the plastic hooks onto the door by checking that the panel is flush to the door on all sides.
And that’s it! Hopefully this helps people who run across the same issue with their armrest.
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