Vehicle door assembly and mounting structure for a door handle

A vehicle door assembly, comprising:

• a door panel having an inboard surface and an outboard surface with a first handle opening that extends from the inboard surface to the outboard surface;
• a handle base bracket having an inboard surface and an outboard surface, the handle base bracket having a first handle receiving section and a second handle receiving section, the first handle receiving section having a first overall length and the second handle receiving section having a second overall length, with the first overall length being less than the second overall length, the first handle receiving section having a fastener opening defined therein, the outboard surface of the handle base bracket overlaying a portion of the inboard surface of the door panel;
• a first reinforcement beam having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end being rigidly attached to the door panel adjacent to an upper edge of the door panel, the lower end being attached to a rearward edge of the door panel below and spaced apart from the handle base bracket;
• a first fastener member extending through the first handle opening and into the fastener opening, with a head portion of the first fastener member overlaying a portion of the outboard surface of the door panel adjacent to the first handle opening;
• a metallic reinforcement bracket having a main section, a first side flange and a second side flange, the main section being fixedly attached to the inboard surface of the first handle receiving section of the handle base bracket, the first and second side flanges extending outboard from opposite edges of the main section to the inboard surface of the door panel along opposing sides of the first handle receiving section;
• a vibration absorbing member having an inboard surface, an outboard surface and a forward side that extends in an outboard direction from the inboard surface and the outboard surface, the vibration absorbing member being directly attached to the main section of the metallic reinforcement bracket inboard of the handle base bracket and the metallic reinforcement bracket, the forward side of the vibration absorbing member extending in an outboard direction covering the forward ends of each of the first and second side flanges, the vibration absorbing member having an attachment flange attached to the first reinforcing beam between the upper end and lower end proximate the handle base bracket;
• and
• an operation handle having a grip portion with a first end and a second end, the grip portion extending outboard of the outboard surface of the door panel, the first end of the grip portion having a protrusion that extends through the first handle opening of the door panel and into the first handle receiving section of the handle base bracket, and in response to a side impact event the vibration absorbing member reduces possible movement of the operation handle.