DIY - Door Lock Knob Adjustment

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Old Jun 20, 2007 | 10:34 PM
  #1  
jstahnke10's Avatar
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From: Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
DIY - Door Lock Knob Adjustment

Well, I have had my car for about 5 months now and it has always bothered me that I cannot put my elbow in the corner of the window and hold my hand on the top of the window. Also, if I hit the lock while I'm driving, the doors all lock. This doesn't bother me until I stop, the door handle doesn't auto unlock the door. The same thing happens with my girlfriend in the passenger seat and she locks herself in.

I decided to take off the door panels and modified the knobs as such:
Door panel removal can be found in the Door Handle LED’s DYI created by CaliChris517

First, just unscrew the knob from the threaded post.
Mine were easy enough to get off with my fingers.




Then I simply clamped it down and cut off 1.25 inches from the bottom, leaving only the top part.
This cut is solely up to you, it is certainly possible to rough cut it and make it work just as well.




Then it was as simple as putting it back on the post.
Unfortunately it wasn’t that easy… The knob has a hole through the whole thing; however, it wasn’t threaded through the whole thing.
What I did was screw it back on with my fingers and then took a pliers to screw it to the desired height.
The image is hard to see, but the bottom is scuffed up from the pliers; however, this is irreverent due to the fact that it will not be seen.




It was as simple as putting the door panel on to verify the height of the knob and do follow-up adjustments.

The final step was to put the door panel back on.

Here is a picture of what it looks like unlocked:




Here is a picture of what it looks like locked:




I chose to do it this way because I generally drive with the doors unlocked; thus keeping the knob flush with the rest of the door.
The only time it will be inverted in the door is when I am gone and the car is locked.
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Old Jun 20, 2007 | 11:05 PM
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LIPPSTUH's Avatar
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um, that's pretty scary for your passengers =\ im not getting in your car!
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Old Jun 20, 2007 | 11:09 PM
  #3  
adamlee05's Avatar
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LOL Lip, you're right!!! So whatcha gonna do if by some freak accident you turn off your car and none of your power locks work? Out the window!! lol
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Old Jun 21, 2007 | 02:15 AM
  #4  
Malayalee King's Avatar
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^ true story. I'd find it a little nerve-wracking. and for those of you who have after market alarms that auto lock (me) that would sorta suck
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Old Jun 21, 2007 | 06:34 AM
  #5  
DANMAN421's Avatar
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Yea I think you went too low, you should have done it like BMWs... When its locked, its flush and when its unlocked, there is some sticking out of the top.
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Old Jun 21, 2007 | 07:26 AM
  #6  
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^that's how I did mine and my brothers, they look great.
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Old Jun 21, 2007 | 01:39 PM
  #7  
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From: ATL Shawwwwtyyyy
I drive with my doors locked all the time, so I would love to make mine be flushed with the red line when LOCKED. That way, it's still flush and you can still grab on to it a little in case of emergency. Or, I can leave it the way it is..the door panels irritate me when I have to remove them and put them back on

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Old Jun 22, 2007 | 02:44 PM
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That looks cool! I might have to do that to my car. I hate that stupid little knob.
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Old Jun 23, 2007 | 06:45 PM
  #9  
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From: Irvine, CA
quick question

is it possible to just cut the threading on the metal screw instead of the plastic lock? or is this not possible
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Old Jun 23, 2007 | 07:34 PM
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i think its possible...
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Old Jun 23, 2007 | 11:28 PM
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i definitely agree with the idea of cutting them down i have the same dilemma with my arm but im with cjitty would be perfect on that red line.
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Old Jun 24, 2007 | 08:31 AM
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little too short but gj other than that
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Old Jun 24, 2007 | 12:36 PM
  #13  
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not sure if you have to take off the door panel to get to the knob, can't I just twist it off then cut it? I'd rather not to mess with the door panel...
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Old Jun 24, 2007 | 04:51 PM
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sistom's Avatar
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From: Saint Simons Island, Georgia
Taking the door panel off is really a lot easier then it sounds. I was iffy about it at first too but after installing the door handle LED's and having to take them off about 343847387 times I could almost do it with me eyes closed now.
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 05:40 PM
  #15  
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I thought this mod was a very good idea cuz i like to drive with my arm on the door but that damn knob hurt when i did so i did the same thing but kept it flush.
all i did was unscrew, cut about one inch off and then rescrewed it on.
i didnt have to remove the door.
literally took me 5 min. I did have to do some forcing with some pliers and a lil piece of rubber to protect the knob.


Thanks for the idea!!!
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Old Apr 15, 2008 | 03:16 AM
  #16  
azn_xxxd's Avatar
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From: Houston
oh man this is jus like those Mercedez options, once u locked the car from outside , none cant gettin out lolz , and man that is scary . But good idea
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Old May 25, 2008 | 07:30 PM
  #17  
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you dont have to take the door panels off, i can unscrew mine by hand, cut it and screw it back on, theres like 2 inches of screw thread so you have alot of room to play, if you want it higher unscrew, lower than just screw more, try it, much easier than taking off the door panels.
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Old May 25, 2008 | 09:39 PM
  #18  
vincethe1's Avatar
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From: Sin City
actually, you didn't even need to cut the knob...you just had to forcefully screw it in further like you did...and then if you ever want it back to normal you can unscrew it back...adjustible knobs lol

actually you could do it without even taking the door panel off, just screw it in more from the top...although you could scuff it and you could break it.

mabe just unscrew it, make the thread deeper, and screw it back on.
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Old Mar 1, 2011 | 07:36 PM
  #19  
don champion's Avatar
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Originally Posted by LIPPSTUH
um, that's pretty scary for your passengers =\ im not getting in your car!
man that was funny ass hell wow was laughing for like 5 mins when i read that crazy
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