Getting the door apart the first time I did this took almost 2 hours since I was very careful and had never done it before. Getting it all back together once the latch was in took about 10 minutes. The second time I did it took about the same, but a lot of that time was spent writing up these notes. The third time I did it took about 30 minutes, incuding time to find tools and fix errors in these notes.
My window is electric, so there is no inside knob. If you have a knob, there is a neat trick using a rag to pop off the omega clip that holds it. Search online.You will need to have the window down to be able to "jerk the panel up" in the final step to remove it.
The trick on the inside door latch is to slide it towards the door hinge. It should move easily about 1/4 inch. It has tabs that engage the door sheet metal, so prying on it will just break it. Once it slides, it is easy to maneuver it out and disconnect the linkage rod.
Once the panel is off, you peel back the plastic dust barrier. The window must be up to get to the door latch. Disconnect two vertical rods (study your replacement handle). One goes to the latch mechanism, the other to the key lock assembly. Take particular care not to break the plastic gizmos that secure the linkage rods.
Remove two 10mm bolts, then pull the handle up and then out. Transfer the lock mechanism to the new handle, and install the handle with lock via the two 10mm bolts. From here is is all about reassembly in reverse of what you already have done, which is straightforward and fast.
Tom's Tacoma pages / [email protected]