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'Interior Driver Assist Handle'

tenx82

By tenx82
in Modifications & Accessories

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Donstar Senior Enthusiast

Donstar

Posted
Posted

I installed mine today and have a couple of questions and comments. The instructions that come with this part make no sense. Thank goodness for the post on this thread outlining a 10 step installation. My first concern was with the tether. I worked on it for about twenty minutes and could not get it off the old trim piece. With great reluctance, I cut it as I cannot ever see re-installing the old trim. My assumption is that this tether is just to secure this piece from being a projectile in an accident. The grab handle bolts now do this job. Speaking about bolts, I could not find a torque specification for these bolts. I prefer using a torque wrench over "goodandtight". Any suggestions? Finally I was wondering if it was ever decided if this addition will interfere with air bag function. I would assume there would have been some warning on the packaging if this was interfering with safety equipment! The final fit looks flawless and makes getting into the truck much, much easier!

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RobZ71LM7 Enthusiast

RobZ71LM7

Posted
Posted

I installed mine today and have a couple of questions and comments. The instructions that come with this part make no sense. Thank goodness for the post on this thread outlining a 10 step installation. My first concern was with the tether. I worked on it for about twenty minutes and could not get it off the old trim piece. With great reluctance, I cut it as I cannot ever see re-installing the old trim. My assumption is that this tether is just to secure this piece from being a projectile in an accident. The grab handle bolts now do this job. Speaking about bolts, I could not find a torque specification for these bolts. I prefer using a torque wrench over "goodandtight". Any suggestions? Finally I was wondering if it was ever decided if this addition will interfere with air bag function. I would assume there would have been some warning on the packaging if this was interfering with safety equipment! The final fit looks flawless and makes getting into the truck much, much easier!

 

You can depress part of it and the clip slides right out, but you are correct it is not needed on the grab handle a-pillar trim. Just nice and and snug (short 1/4 drive ratchet, choke up on it if you have a habit of overtightening)... you can surprisingly get them very tight without hurting anything. I added a drop of blue Loctite.

RobZ71LM7 Enthusiast

RobZ71LM7

Posted
Posted

 

Yeah - I put mine on a 2015 LT and the little "post" on the new trim lined up with a hole ABOVE the tether, not in the same spot as the tether. Strange ...

 

On my 2014 the post on my grab handle trim lined directly up with the hole that the tether was mounted to... I had to remove the tether to install. I checked twice before removing it and that was the case on mine.

Donstar Senior Enthusiast

Donstar

Posted
Posted

 

You can depress part of it and the clip slides right out, but you are correct it is not needed on the grab handle a-pillar trim. Just nice and and snug (short 1/4 drive ratchet, choke up on it if you have a habit of overtightening)... you can surprisingly get them very tight without hurting anything. I added a drop of blue Loctite.

Thanks for the information. I looked online to try to determine torque. I tightened the bolts to 130 in lbs (10.5 ft lbs) with my 1/4 inch torque wrench. Afterwards I found contradictory information that makes me think this would be too tight. I hope this didn't deform the brackets holding the nut in place. I would take it apart to ease my concerns but I have no idea how to pop out the caps covering the bolts! I imagine there must be some trick to get these off without damage

Tattooo Senior Enthusiast

Tattooo

Posted
Posted

There is a handle above the drivers door ?

I'm guessing that it is too high to reach for some.

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 Senior Enthusiast

SouthernSilveradoGuy85

Posted
Posted

There is a handle above the drivers door ?

I'm guessing that it is too high to reach for some.

 

I wouldn't say high, but it's in an awkward position to try to get in. The handle on the A-pillar is just in a better place to pull yourself in. I actually don't use it to get in, but I use it to have something to hold on to if I'm cleaning my windshield or something. Plus I plan on having this truck long enough to where I'll probably need it in the future someday. Could also use the steering wheel, but makes you wonder if it puts extra wear on the column even if it's locked. I did it for the 10 years I had my '98 ('04-'14) and didn't seem to do anything to it.

Donstar Senior Enthusiast

Donstar

Posted
Posted

There is a handle above the drivers door ?

I'm guessing that it is too high to reach for some.

There are handles above all the doors which are most useful with getting out of the truck. The lower handles on the pillars are very helpful for getting into the vehicle for those of us needing a little assistance. I see my passengers reaching for the grab handles and always wondered why gm neglected putting a lower handle for the driver entry. I installed mine today and notice a tremendous improvement is ease of entry. I think it looks great too!

PMattras Enthusiast

PMattras

Posted
Posted

I removed my driver's handle because I was trading it in on another truck. While using this vehicle w/o the driver's handle, I was always reaching for it to get in and out. You just don't realize how useful this handle is when it is not there anymore. Maybe it was just a habit of using it all the time.

Tattooo Senior Enthusiast

Tattooo

Posted
Posted

There are handles above all the doors which are most useful with getting out of the truck. The lower handles on the pillars are very helpful for getting into the vehicle for those of us needing a little assistance. I see my passengers reaching for the grab handles and always wondered why gm neglected putting a lower handle for the driver entry. I installed mine today and notice a tremendous improvement is ease of entry. I think it looks great too!

Good point ...... what does the set up cost ?
Donstar Senior Enthusiast

Donstar

Posted
Posted

Good point ...... what does the set up cost ?

The price varies depending on where you live. On amazon.com it is less than $50 USD and from my dealer it was just under $60 CDN. It is reasonably easy to install yourself the first time and super easy the second time! I imagine it would be a minimal labour charge to have it done by your dealer. I read somewhere on here that a dealer was charging $65 USD installed for this part. I would have them do it for a price like that! The advantage of having the dealer do it is you can blame them if it isn't perfect!

cato Enthusiast

cato

Posted
Posted

Just ordered one.

 

Had a Pathfinder with leather seats prior to owning my truck. Over the years I started to wear the door side of the seat leather from sliding my ass over it to get out every time. I got into the habit of grabbing the handle to pull my butt up off the seat to step out onto the running board and exit the vehicle.

 

Ever since I got the truck last June I keep reaching for the handle to get out but it's not there. lol I'm like WTF?

Will be nice to finally have one again. Worth the $50 to me to save the leather from wearing, even if it does take years to wear it down.

PMattras Enthusiast

PMattras

Posted
Posted

I removed my driver's handle from my 2014 Chevy Silverado and installed it in my new 2016 GMC Sierra a few days ago. Same set up etc. and fit great even though GM assigned it a different part number. Color matched perfect. I missed this handle a lot when it was not there.

cbrsilv15 Senior Enthusiast

cbrsilv15

Posted
Posted

I find myself using the running board to step into and "drop" on my seat. My dad doesn't have steps on his, so I showed him this handle.

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