Repairing interior door handles

[riverrat62]

Drivers door handle broke off in my hand a couple days ago when I pulled the door closed. Jeep dealer told me I need to replace entire inner panel and they want $600 for new panel, Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions on how to fix?

 

[jeeptorino68]

that has occured to my jeep by the previous owner.
a couple of things.
make sure the screw that goes through the bottom of the door handle it tight. they have a plastic support below them built into the door panel, mine had crumbled away. i glued in some plastic bushing that i had, it had a hole for the screw, now i can tighten it down proper.

next problem on the back of the door panel, the handle is held in by melting over the plastic, this also breaks, probably if the lower screw is not tight.
i used screws through the back of the door panel into the handle. works fine, only if you can tighten the screw through the bottom of the handle...
make sense?
if you have the means to take the panel apart you will see...

 

[riverrat62]

that has occured to my jeep by the previous owner.
a couple of things.
make sure the screw that goes through the bottom of the door handle it tight. they have a plastic support below them built into the door panel, mine had crumbled away. i glued in some plastic bushing that i had, it had a hole for the screw, now i can tighten it down proper.

next problem on the back of the door panel, the handle is held in by melting over the plastic, this also breaks, probably if the lower screw is not tight.
i used screws through the back of the door panel into the handle. works fine, only if you can tighten the screw through the bottom of the handle...
make sense?
if you have the means to take the panel apart you will see...

Thank You. This is what I had in mind to do. Wanted to hear from someone who had fixed it this way and how well it had worked. I know what to do now. Thanks again for your help.