Should a door handle be lubricated?

[walkerlakeprinter]

I am replacing the door latch and locking handle on my 1929 Coupe. Would it be a good idea to lubricate the handle where it turns, or is that just asking for trouble down the road. It I saw a post where the latch components and springs were greased, but wondered about the handle shaft.


Note: now that I have the repop handle, I can see why many of them need to be filed down at the square end to fit an old latch. Fortunately, this handle fits perfectly in the new latch without any filing.



Next job is to install it.

[SSsssteamer]

Lubrication yes. An general purpose grease should be smeared on all moving surfaces before installation.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I agree, and you may have seen my pictures of all the red grease on the parts.
On the exposed latch part you want to use Door Ease, which is bee's wax, same as a toilet ring.

[rotorwrench]

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Grease is the best way to hold lubricant on a bearing surface such as the latch moving parts. The modern synthetics will likely stay more pliable than many of the older lubes like 130 Lubriplate. All greases get hard over time due to the loss of the oil from the soap which just leaves the soap behind. Oiling with an oil can is generally not all that convenient and it would have to be done on a regular basis where a quality grease will last around 4-years before it hardens. Most folks never take their cars apart to do service like this. They just wait till its either broken or stuck.

Another alternative is a dry lube with molybdenum disulfide like Moly Coat spray. There is no oil or soap to worry about and dirt doesn't stick to it.