How do you remove the drivers side door panel on a 2001 Ford Ranger?

Answer 1

There are 3 screws you are going to remove. One on the arm rest, one on the left bottom of the panel,one on the window handle. pry back on the plastic cover where mounts to door turn cover up and out the way. There is a torx to unscrew an remove handle. Grab bottom of door panel lift up one inch and pull out. panel will be removed.

Obviously depending upon the model year there are differences. My 2000 is like the one ststed above. Some clarification will help. There is a thin plastic cover over the window crank itself. It pops out at the large end of the crank bottom and will rotate out of the way so that you can get at the torx screw. The screw holds the handle to the shaft. You can use a flat screwdriver to gently pry the cover away from the large end of the crank handle. No special tool is needed. Once you have the handle off and the two other screws mentioned above, grasp the panel at the bottom and slide up to remove. There are no snap pins holding the panel in place. It slides up and off of the door latch for removal.

I had a hard time with this until I discovered the answer myself. I did this to my 2002 Ford Ranger. Window crank cover pops off to expose Torx screw to remove.

First, you need to purchase a special door hand removal from your local auto parts store then follow these steps.

Remove screws from door panel (bottom left and inside door handle). Then slid door hand removal tool on the reverse side of window crank handle and parrel to door handle. Once in as far as possible, find your self a large flat head screwdriver and put the flat head between the tool and door handle on the top side of the window shaft. Lightly twist the screwdriver and the window crank cover will pop off. Gently pull and lift slightly to expose Torx screen in the center of the door shaft. Once this window crank is off, simply lift the panel off the door. I hope this helped. Good luck.

I was able to do this also on a 2001 Mazda B-Series pickup since they are almost identical, especially on the interior. Needed to replace a blown speaker. Worked like a charm. Also, didn't need to buy some special tool. Just used a torx-head screwdriver to remove the handle. Very easy process.