Greetings - the main passenger grab handle on the dash has become loose on the right side, there's some play in it instead of being secured. Is this something I can fix myself? Any help or guidance is greatly appreciated.

 

It stays in place by notches in the metal rods. If you try pushing it in and it's still loose, you're likely left with no choice but it take it out and see if anything is broken. I believe you remove it by pressing white pressure buttons accessed from behind the glove box and the other by taking the side trim off the dash on the passenger side. It's hard to explain but basically you push the white plastic pressure button with a screw driver while pulling on the handle for the right side. For the left side you push the white button that you can see from behind the glove box and pull. When reinstalling the handle, you push it straight in and the notches catch and hold it in place, so it may be the part that the notches grab is broken, or it just isn't pushed in all the way. If you watch this video he shows where the buttons are located in order to remove it

 

Important tip..... NEVER let people use that grab bar for getting in or pulling very hard on them. They are the exact same mounting as in the GM trucks and full size SUV's and the metal clip that goes into the notch on the bar is simply not strong enough to take much weight pulling against it. I've seen dozens of them loose because of this.

 

Thanks, guys - I'll have it looked at during the next oil change as it seems a bit involved and I bet a part needs to be replaced. I never had this handle come loose before on my previous H2's and don't know what happened to this one.

 

Well a mechanic friend paid me a visit and determined that the latching mechanism on the end of the rod was broken so it wouldn't hold its fixed position. After removing the side panel and vent we sacrificed a $3 pair of vice grips and used them to hold the rod in place behind the locking bar. Problem solved! Many thanks for the great insight and advice that allowed this repair.

 

Extra points for a creative solution!