Once again, my chrome addiction has reared it's ugly head. The old plastic black Ranger tailgate handle has been replaced by a chrome one from Underdog Performance. Great mod for $20



and my quick How-to

http://silvertank.batcave.net/tailgate.html

 

Very nice, I like it.

 

Looks good. Are the door handles similar to the tailgate handle in the way they are attached? If so, I may have to take them off and start painting (poor college student takes the cheap way out). Looks good!
-- B

 

I've never messed with door handles but I heard they are rivetted on.

 

mmm looks purty.

 

correct

that chrome handle looks good on your truck

 

Sorry, the door handles are a whole different animal. Ford decided to rivot them to the door (from the inside), so you would have to drill them out. Looking at my Factory repair CD, the mechanisms look the same; but I would need to see the handles together side by side. Chrome door handles would look so much better than those wax catching plastic monsters I have now.

Thanks for all the compliments. i appreciate it

 

I was seriously considering doing this to my tail gate as well. are those plastic or are they metal? I almost think mine are metal, but then its like, Ford is too cheapt to use metal door handles... heh. how long it take you?

my other concern with it, is that alot people claim this stuff will pit easily in the salt.... whats your take on the quality of the handle? cause depending on the quality of the chrome job, depends alrgely on how long it will last.

 

The Ford one is solid plastic, the new one is chromed metal. It's pretty thick, and the chrome looks fairly sturdy. You can use chrome polish to keep the salt from eating it in winter. Just like I protect my metal and plastic against the harsh sun here in Florida, it's a matter of maintainance. It takes about 15 minutes to change the tailgate handle. The handle itself isn't attached to the lock levers, so it just drops right out.

I looked at the door mechanisms closer, and they appear to be different than the tailgate ones. They look and function similar, but the door ones have a place where the door rod attaches. I found no chrome ones to replace the doors, just cheap plastc chrome stick-ons.