rear bumper/taillight housing/lighting

landon1 · Post by **landon1** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:03 am

well, i'm trying to cure my dim taillights...it's definitely a ground problem...so i took the bumper off, ground off some paint in the trunk and it made it a lil better, but not great. when i run a wire directly from the battery to the bulbs themselves, they're about 3 times brighter.

so, my question is, how are the bulb sockets in the taillight housings attached? are they pressed in, cast in, soldered? i can't tell they're so grungy lookin (this is definitely one area that i haven't paid too much attention) since i don't care if it's factory, i thought of getting rid of the stock sockets, then drilling through the taillight housings and pressing in new ones...lookin for some input

ffej · Post by **ffej** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:22 am

i had trouble with mine and looked at replacing the sockets at one time.if i remember right they are pressed in and looked like a real pain to change so cleaned them up good with sand paper and a small srewdriver and started using an electrical grease on the bulbs and it has worked. hope this helps,jeff

moparmodeler · Post by **moparmodeler** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:28 am

30yr. old wiring could be your problem too.

ajcpaperboy · Post by **ajcpaperboy** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 11:53 am

I had bad sockets in one of my tail lights so I went the new socket route. The factory sockets are pressed in but not hard to get out. The replacement sockets are the type that you fold the tabs over to hold them in. I found the thickness of the housing was deeper than the tabs, not allowing the tabs to hold. I had a machinest trim the housing so the tabs would hold.I cannot say this is the best solution or the easiest. they work on the bench , my car is not ready for lights to be installed so I can't say how well they will work on the car. I'll cross that bridge if I have to.

landon1 · Post by **landon1** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:07 pm

i have one socket replaced already that i did when i was 16. but, while we're sitting around loafing this morning, we decided we'll try running a ground to the body/frame, as my factory one was cut long before i got the car, which could be my ground problem, at the source.

landon1 · Post by **landon1** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:03 pm

k, so i got my negative to block ground and a ground to the body done and they're all nice and clean....HUGE difference, so problem solved