Do the taillight guards actually work?

Here's the dent I have from those guards, my housing is angled downwards now

20200228_171323.jpg
 
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the local car wash broke my taillights a few months back which I wrote about here. So after they bought me new LED replacements I did purchase the tail light guards.

They were very heavy duty, reasonable price and I think they would work for the car wash fine. However you must be able to get the red lens completely off to mount the guard on it and then drop the lens in and put it back on with the four screws.

And with LED lenses that the bulbs are attached right to the lens you cannot completely take them out and do that so I had to send them back.

but they actually seemed pretty heavy-duty and I think they would have worked great for the car wash and probably not protect from anything else.

as for grounding issues the new LED tail lights had a separate ground wire that I had to attach. the tail light guards to come with a rubber piece that goes between the guard and the body so that would interfere with grounding.
 
Leinhit said:
the local car wash broke my taillights a few months back which I wrote about here. So after they bought me new LED replacements I did purchase the tail light guards.

They were very heavy duty, reasonable price and I think they would work for the car wash fine. However you must be able to get the red lens completely off to mount the guard on it and then drop the lens in and put it back on with the four screws.

And with LED lenses that the bulbs are attached right to the lens you cannot completely take them out and do that so I had to send them back.

but they actually seemed pretty heavy-duty and I think they would have worked great for the car wash and probably not protect from anything else.

as for grounding issues the new LED tail lights had a separate ground wire that I had to attach. the tail light guards to come with a rubber piece that goes between the guard and the body so that would interfere with grounding.
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FYI, in California, that red side marker is necessary to remain within compliance of the vehicle code.

https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/vehicle-code/veh-sect-24607.html
Not trying to be a prick. Just trying to keep people out of trouble by not giving any PC to pull over.
 
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Mine came with the guards. I removed the front ones, but not the back. They did help keep the spare tire from breaking the passenger side light. That's not an issue anymore, just never had a reason to take them off yet.
Might depend on where (or how) you use your Jeep as to how useful they are?
 
ejay said:
FYI, in California, that red side marker is necessary to remain within compliance of the vehicle code.

https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/vehicle-code/veh-sect-24607.html
Not trying to be a prick. Just trying to keep people out of trouble by not giving any PC to pull over.
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I considered that, and if I could relocate them...

But it would probably be the least of my moving offenses so I wasn't going to be too worried..
 
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I have KC led taillights and simply wanted some extra protection on those, they haven’t had much of any wear on them so I’m guessing they don’t see much real daily use but a small insurance policy for a nice upgrade is always good in my book.
 
Leinhit said:
It's there a write up on flush mounting? Car wash broke mine...
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I'm sure there's a bazillion videos on youtube. Just search jeep flush mount tail lights and you'll find all you need. You will no longer have a rear side light, as noted above, but i've been driving my jeeps like this for the past 25 years and never had an issue. Maybe if your state does full vehicle inspections it might be an issue? You basically just remove the oem tails and drill a hole using a 4" hole saw. Clean up the edges, dab some paint on the raw metal, and intstall the flush tails. You can use grommet or flange mount. Most seem to go with grommet mount.
 
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Bababooey said:
I'm sure there's a bazillion videos on youtube. Just search jeep flush mount tail lights and you'll find all you need. You will no longer have a rear side light, as noted above, but i've been driving my jeeps like this for the past 25 years and never had an issue. Maybe if your state does full vehicle inspections it might be an issue? You basically just remove the oem tails and drill a hole using a 4" hole saw. Clean up the edges, dab some paint on the raw metal, and intstall the flush tails. You can use grommet or flange mount. Most seem to go with grommet mount.
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IIRC, 03 and up require relocating your evap canister, depending upon the depth of your new lights.
 
dbbd1 said:
IIRC, 03 and up require relocating your evap canister, depending upon the depth of your new lights.
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Good point. I sorta remember hearing that as well. Mine were all YJs until my current Jeep which is an LJ, so ithe evap isn’t a concern with the extra room.
 
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