Inside the cargo area directly behind the lights should 2 nuts that are atteched to studs from the tail light housing. Unscrew those & the assembly will come out.

 

Actually there are three studs in the cargo area ( two on top and one on the bottom on each light). Soak them with some good penetrating oil and carefully remove the nuts. If you are not careful the stud will snap

 

And even if you are careful the stud will snap

 

And once they *DO* snap...a single small lag screw thru the lower housing into the inner sheet metal will hold them nicely and reduce grounding issues...go ahead and ask me how I know

 

I had 5 out of 6 of the stud’s brake. Luckily there was enough stud left to use ¼ inch threaded rod couplers. Just take a little time and get the couplers adjusted so they can be drawn up tight to the inside of the inside compartment, lock’em into place with a shot of lock tight and use ¼ inch bolts from the inside. Works great and looks clean. Just takes a little patience and a lot of trial and error.

Tim C.
73 Commando

 

While you've got them out, you might as well clean up the inside & the lenses. If the chrome inside the fixture is shot, a $3 can of "chrome" spray paint will do wonders to brighten up your brake lights.

 

What everyone else said... Most of mine were busted too. What I did was take my dremel and cut them down flush to the housing. Then I took a drill and drilled down about 1/4 of an inch into the center of the stud areas of the housings. I then took some bolts, cut the hex heads off and inserted them into the holes with some J.B. Weld. I let them set up and now they're as good as new. I cleaned them up and sprayed them with chrome paint.

Hopefully your rubber grommets are intact. If, not, you can source some or try and make some work out of the Help section. I bought new bulb contacts - also from the Help section.

Originally, there was a gasket between the lenses and the housings. Water gets inside during rain storms and ruins your hard work. If, you have patience you can cut your own out of cork or some other gasket material. I was lucky enough to have a complete original gasket so I used that as a template.

You can protect the bolts inside the bed area from future rot by cutting a small piece of fuel line or other rubber hose and sliding it over the nut and bolt or coat them with something like liquid electric tape, some paint, etc.

 

Well I suppose this is something I'm going to, have to do, but first, let me pose my problem, and maybe someone can save me from having to go this route.

My driver's side brake light doesn't work, but everything else does.

I've got both rear parking lights, both rear hazard lights, and the driver's side turn signal works, the passenger's side turn signal works, but when I apply the brakes, only the passenger's side brake light works.

From what I can tell, the wiring comes down the driver's side, and goes through the tailgate to the passenger's side, which leads me to believe, my problem must be at the backside of the driver's tailight housing.

Does anyone think taking the tailight housing out is the most logical place to start, or should I try something else first? Thanks Tim R.Vess

 

NO, I would not start there at all given what you describe. The turn signal and brake light are the same wire and same bulb. So if the turn signal works, it cannot be the wiring, socket or bulb in the rear at all. Most likely is the turn signal switch/wiring in the column.

The brake lights go through the turn signal switch. There are two contacts (right & left) that are supposed to be closed all the time if you don't have either turn signal on. The brake light circuit goes thru these so that when you do turn on one of the signals, the brake light on that side blinks and the other is on solid. If no turn signal is on, both brake lights are on solid.

Sounds like the contact is not closing on one side when the turn signal lever is in the center position. Maybe try wiggling the lever up and down while stepping on the brake and have a helper (or back up to a wall at night so you can see from the inside) see if the offending brake light comes on. If so, indicates dirty or worn contact in turn signal switch.

Last resort, pull the steering wheel and clean contacts, look for broken stuff, etc.

Sounding somewhat like a broken record, I have a color coded schematic of the turn signal/brake lights/hazard flasher circuit including the switch positions if you want me to e-mail them to you as a word document. They are too big to post as an attachment here.

Brad.

 

Well, as everyone else has mentioned, you'll probably break some (all???)of the studs on the light buckets. So you right to exhaust every other possiblity first.
Your first post says your wires need to be repaired. Is this just a general statement or do you know you have a bad wire?
I assume you've removed the lens covers and checked the bulbs and the bulb contacts? with a meter or test light?
Do you have a wire diagram? It's been posted here numerous times. Until you localize the problem, don't disassemble the bucket. No voltage at the bulb contact would indicate.
1.)wire broken on the rear of the contact
2.)corrison on contact (to high resistance)
3.)bad contact back at the switch
4.)??????
After you'll done these basic checks, remove the buckets. Be carefull and apply Blaster, WD-40 or ??? for a few days prior to attempting disassembly. Take special care not to damage the gaskets under the lens.
But it sure sounds like a bad bulb (easy fix) or bad bulb socket or contact (not so easy fix).
Good luck

In reply to:

Originally, there was a gasket between the lenses and the housings. Water gets inside during rain storms and ruins your hard work. If, you have patience you can cut your own out of cork or some other gasket material. I was lucky enough to have a complete original gasket so I used that as a template.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is an item I would be glad to purchace if someone whats to start making them.! I gave up tring to a make a water tight one and used a bead of silicone. Not looking forward to the next disassembly.

 

Yep - I weiged that decision; Silicone or cork it? I figured I'd need to get in there several times a year so I took the longer path. The only real economical way to make them would be something made to stamp them out which means fabbing up a tool. Maybe there are companies that will make a run for a set-up fee - dunno! An exacto knife and an hour of your life works though. It's another one of those; "The wife gave me a free day to work on the Jeep but it's friggin

raining outside and I don't have a garage so I'll sit here at the dining room table and tackle it," kind of deal. Cuz a free Jeep day around my house is a, "Use immediately" kind of deal with no hope of a future redemption date.

 

I used body putty strips. They are made by 3m and some cars use them soley to hold on the lenses. It comes in a box of 20 or so 9'' long strips of black goey stuff, just put it where the gasket should be, very easy. And easy to remove when necessary. I can't remember the real name for them, but some Napa and auto paint stores have them.
I left a small gap at the bottom, incase any moisture did get in there, it had a way out.