Anybody have trouble with LMC ar mrests?

[derek7871]

I just put a set of black ar mrests from LMC on my '68 Ranger. I painted the door panels, so I had to remove the interior door handles. I drove it for a week or so while I was waiting for the ar mrests to come in and everything was fine. Here's the problem.....after putting the ar mrests on, I can't open the door from the inside. It's like the ar mrest is preventing the door handle from being pulled far enough to open the door. I think I have the door handles put in correctly because I put them in wrong first then corrected it. Also, I drove it for a week before putting the ar mrests on and it was ok. Do the door handles ever wear out or break? Maybe they worked with the old ar mrests, but not the new ones?

Any ideas??

[fordman]

if it was ok before the rests its probably the rests that are causing the problem. it could be that the handle has broken. does both sides open hard or not at all as you described? if so then maybe it is the rests causing the problem.

[derek7871]

The drivers side would not open at all, but I played with it a little and now it will sometimes open with great effort. The passenger side is slightly better, but still not right. I'm going to take the rest and handle back off tomorrow and have a good look at the door handle.

Cooter

[fordman]

i got a chinese battery the other day that had doll stuffing in it. jk

[1971ford]

is the inside door handle hitting against the
ar mrest?
i would just check and make sure that the little metal pole like thing that comes off of the inside lever is on the correct side of the door release mechanism(its pretty tricky, and i think you may of stated that you tried this allready).

[derek7871]

I finally got the door to open from the inside. First, I made sure the door handle was on properly. It was. Next, I trimmed a little of the ar mrest pad off to allow the door handle to open a little farther. No luck. I felt that the metal structure of the ar mrest was in the way. I pulled it back off and got out the BFH. After a few minutes I got it bent a little and tries again. Finally it worked. Aside from the fittament issue, I'm happy with the ar mrests. Maybe if I had a '67 or '72 they might have fit ok. If nothing else, they look a lot better than the old ones.

Cooter

[ezernut9mm]

the po of my truck "extended" the armrests. i'll get some pics tomorrow.

[1971ford]

please do that sounds interesting

[ezernut9mm]

actually, here is a faily good picture. i don't know what he used, but it adds a good half inch to the armrest. i haven't taken it apart yet to see what they are made of.

[1971ford]

i wonder why he did that? cant be that much of a difference.

[fordman]

maybe im wrong but those look the same size as mine.

[ezernut9mm]

craig, you can see the spacers behind the armrests.
they allow for more travel in the inside door handle. i suspect as the linkages start to wear out more travel is needed and they hit the inside of the armrest before "release" is acheived. the spacers allow for this excessive travel.

[fordman]

oh i see what your talking about. i thought you meant he made the arm rest longer front to back not away from the latch handle.

[AlleyCat]

I think those spacers are neat idea. While I do like to drive using the window opening for an armrest rain forces using the real armrest.I find this a bit awkward.I just might try a simple spacer to see how it works.

[69CSF250]

I just got arm rests from autokrafters and I have the same problem with the drivers side. I havent messed with it yet but it sure is tight to open...