Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Exterior Door Handles

• Despite the Chevrolet Silverado 1500’s excellent build quality, some parts will still require replacement every now and then. One of the often overlooked parts that might need replacement are the exterior door handles.
• There are two common reasons to replace the exterior door handles on your Chevy truck: replacing a broken handle or updating the look of your truck.
• If you want a more premium look for your Chevy, replacing your exterior door handles with chrome ones is an affordable way to achieve it.
• Exterior door handles can be made from durable plastic or stainless steel. Common finishes are chrome and black. However, primed exterior door handles are also available for those who want to paint-match it to their vehicle.

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is a small but powerful light-duty pickup truck manufactured by the General Motors Company. With more than 100 years of truck-building expertise, General Motors definitely knows how to build top-quality trucks, and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is a great example of that. But despite the Silverado’s excellent build quality, some Chevrolet Silverado 1500 parts will still require replacement every now and then. One of the often overlooked parts that might need replacement are the exterior door handles.

There are two common reasons to replace the exterior door handles on your Chevy truck: replacing a broken handle or updating the look of your truck.

A broken handle can mean physical damage to the handles themselves or difficulty in opening any of the doors of your truck. Small scratches and chips on your door handles can be unsightly, so replacing them is advisable if you want to keep your truck in pristine condition. If the door handle is cracked, warped, or distorted in any way, it’s definitely time for a replacement. Difficulty in opening the door from the outside can be caused by a damaged door handle or bad door linkages. This means that you might need to replace both the exterior door handle and the mechanism.

Replacing the exterior door handles is also a popular cosmetic upgrade. Depending on the model year and trim of your Chevy Silverado, you might have chrome door handles or the regular plastic door handles. For the 2020 models, only the premium trims, LTZ and High Country, come with stock chrome door handles. If you want a more premium look for your truck, getting Chevy truck accessories like chrome exterior door handles is an affordable way to achieve it.

If you’re replacing a broken exterior door handle, it’s important to check the other components of your car door’s mechanism as well. A handle that’s not opening properly can point to a problematic door handle assembly. This could mean that you have to replace everything from the exterior and interior door handles to the linkages inside.

Extensive physical damage to your exterior door handle can also result in any of the small components inside being damaged as well. If you’re just replacing your door handle because it has sustained light scratches or small chips, then it’s alright not to check the entire mechanism.

There are two main factors to consider when shopping for replacement exterior door handles: material and finish.

Material

Door handles are usually made with either high-quality ABS plastic or stainless steel. Stainless steel door handles are pricier, but they won’t break like plastic door handles. Although both are durable, stainless steel door handles are generally tougher and longer lasting.

Finish

Exterior door handles with a chrome finish gives your vehicle a premium look, but if you want to keep the stock appearance of your Chevy Silverado, you can go with the regular matte black finish. You can also choose primed, unpainted exterior door handles and paint match it to your truck for a unibody look.

Both these factors will have an impact on the cost of your replacement exterior door handles, so choose wisely.