Bizarre aftermarket tail light removal

DgtTJ

New Member
Original poster
Joined
Oct 13, 2019
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5
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Boise
In the process of converting to LED tail lights. I go to remove the tail lights and I do not find the normal three bolts that should be holding them in. Instead I find one nut on a stud, and nothing else. I destroyed the driver side one to get access to the other two studs that do not have nuts. The studs seem to be held in from the back by a nut, as they are not threaded into the body. Question is, how do I remove the studs from the body?

IMG_20191129_210920.webp


IMG_20191129_210943.webp
 
It depends on how those studs are in there. If they are tack welded in there, you’ll need to remove the rear wheel well liners and use a Dremel to very, very carefully grind down the welds. However, it’s possible that maybe they are pressed in place as well, in which case you could give them a good tap and see if they fall out.
 
The placement of the bulb sockets are different than the ones on my '06. I cant remember for sure about the bottom socket, but I know my top (reverse bulb) sits at an angle.

In the first picture, what is that on the outside of the housing? It looks like the side marker lens that would normally be on the outboard side of the housing.

The bolts are ran in from inside the fender well. You can see in the second pic that the lower left bolt isn't visible. It's inside the plastic housing. The lower right has the housing broken off so you can see the bolt threads.
 
Weird.
Do you have a pic of what the lense looked like?