I keep replacing this latch..

[spongebob]

Wtf ??

[DmaxMaverick]

What are you actually replacing, and why? Your pic shows a striker and a handle.

If referring to the striker, and it's failing, something else is wrong. The striker is solid steel, bolted to steel. They last decades, often longer than the vehicle itself.

If you mean the door latch handle, it's plastic. When I got my 2001 brand new in 2000, the handle broke in a week. The "stop" that prevents the handle from closing completely broke off, allowing the handle to close in, making it difficult to get a grip on it. Of course, the dealer replaced it. I broke another a few years later and replaced it, but not since. Seems that letting it slam back to its rest position is tough on the stop. I quit doing that, and it quit breaking. The handle operates a mechanism similar to the tailgate, in that, it pulls the actual latches at the top and bottom of the door (extended cab only).

[More Power]

I quit doing that, and it quit breaking.

Told the doctor it hurts when I do this... He said stop doing that... ;)