Door handle lesson learned
 

I thought I’d share my learning experience with my 77. I had the front on ramps and the rear on jack stands under the frame. I foolishly tried to open the drivers door and broke the exterior door handle. Most of the replacement process wasn’t bad and there’s a surprising amount of room inside the door. The problem came when I tried to remove the old handle. The metal rod that serves as the hinge had worked loose and moved partially out of the handle and was hooked under the door. Fortunately I noticed before breaking the door but if you’re trying to replace door handles and the old one won’t come out you could have the same trouble I did.

Sorry to hear that. Thank you for sharing.

Why was opening the door foolish and how did that break the door handle?

Foolish to open while on jack stands and the door handle must have been in a bind.

I don't think the car on ramps, jack stands had anything to do with it breaking. I have had my car on ramps, stands many times and have had to open the doors with no issues.

But thanks for the tip.

I open my car doors ,,,on jackstands lots of times.i would be looking at the frame and body mounts .

I had the same problem removing the door handle on my 77.

The frame will flex with the stands in front of rear wheels. It is best to put stands on suspension points so car's weight is distributed like it is on the wheels.