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.
My driver side door got unhappy about latching closed. Sometimes it was OK, sometimes it just slammed into the "latch loop", which surely only made whatever problem I had worse. So I hunted up a replacement mechanism from a junkyard seller on Ebay. From a 2004 Tacoma for about $75.
All of the above steps for taking the door apart apply. Also my notes on the window regulator replacement may be helpful.I made the mistake of yanking out all the rubber window weatherstripping in order to remove the window. This is absolutely not necessary. The trick is to "spin" the window so the narrow side is down more than I thought would be necessary and then pull it up and out of the grip of the weatherstripping.
There are four rods that need to be disconnected and reconnected. This have tricky brittle plastic things that retain them. Be careful. I broke the one that hold the fattest rod. I used some bailing wire to rig up a retainer, and I think it will do just fine. You can (much to my surprise) buy replacements. Search online for "door lock rod clip" or "toyota door handle rod clip". I must not be the first to snap one of these.
While you have the door apart, put some lithium grease on the critical place on the outside door handle. Examine it and you will see where that is. Maybe even on the latch assembly as well.
Hot tip! When you have the window (and guide) out is the time to reconnect those four tricky rods!!!
Another tip. Make sure both electrical connectors have been poked through the hole in the door panel before buttoning it up.
Tom's Tacoma pages / tom@mmto.org