Replaced my crunched taillight yesterday....

[lightglass]

I backed into my Unimog about a month back...knew I had gone to far when I heard the crunch of plastic...Bought a new one on eBay.
Yesterday I replaced the right rear taillight and have some insight if you have to do it. I have the FJammer radio, so had to deal with the subwoofer.
To remove the subwoofer:
-pop out the panel below the subwoofer-this gives access to 2 of the 4 screws that hold it on and to the electrical connection, which you might as well undo.
-Pull off the silver and clear plastic cover on the subwoofer- it has about 12 plastic snap-in holders so will take a pretty hard pull to get it off.
-You will need an extension and a 10mm socket to get out the last 2 screws holding the subwoofer on- then it will lift right out. I was surprised by the big box molded on the back of it, which goes into the rear wheelwell area.
To get to the tailight:
-Remove the small panel in the corner which gives access to the taillight bulbs and 2 of the 3 threaded studs which hold the taillight in.
-Now you will need a 10mm deep socket and a 10mm racheting wrench. There is VERY limited access in there and you have to do some gymnastics to reach the one stud through the opening where the subwoofer was.
-You do not need to unplug the light bulbs out of the old taillight
-Once the nuts are off the studs, you can pull the oldtailight off the FJ- it has a plastic hook which is still holding the taillight on, even when all the other hardware is removed. A good yank will get it to pop off.
-With the old taillight off, pull out the 3 bulb sockets by giving them a quarter turn and pull.
- put them into the new taillight and put it all back!
Took me about 45 minutes without instructions...with these instructions and having the right tools from the start, it should take 20 to 30 minutes.

[KiltedBishop]

Thanks for the write up. Here's hoping I never need it.

[simpest]

I tried to remove my taillight cover this morning and i cant even fit the 10mm deep socket in there. There are holes drilled into the metal to put a socket on but you have to take the entire rear panel off to get at them?

[Update] Use the Socket for the third nut that you cant see. I used a small ratcheting wrench to get the 2 nuts off that are visible behind the small plastic piece.

Has anyone else tried this?

Thanks
-Simpest

[dmf415]

did you have the rear backup sensors?