PSA: be careful when pulling out tail lights

[GroovyGeek]

Was replacing the incandescent light bulbs with Oracle LED ones this weekend. Boy, is Ford's design dumb, starting with the ridiculous "screw in" pushpins and ending with the need to remove the fenders and pull not one but two plastic body panels off.

Speaking of body panels - be VERY careful when pulling the corner pieces. The clips are extremely tight and require a good deal of force. Also be sure that your panel tool (or fingers) are fully behind all the plastic. Ford chose to attach the clip mounts to the panel in a relatively flimsy manner and if you pull at the wrong place you will tear them apart.

See pic below and ask me how I know. The sharpie marks were already there, not sure what this is all about. The panels are easy to glue back together but if there is one place where Ford should have used the pull-apart pins that is it.

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[RagnarKon]

The sharpie marks were already there, not sure what this is all about.

Those are the result of QA checks. (In case you wanted to know.)

 

[GroovyGeek]

Those are the result of QA checks. (In case you wanted to know.)

If that is the case it is strange that they chose to use an X for passing QC.

 

[CM81]

Good to know. I was looking at getting a pair of those oracle lights. Looks easy on the install vids, but they always make pulling panels off look easy

 

[Lcubed]

If that is the case it is strange that they chose to use an X for passing QC.

X is unambiguously an X when viewed from all directions.

 

[GroovyGeek]

Good to know. I was looking at getting a pair of those oracle lights. Looks easy on the install vids, but they always make pulling panels off look easy

Other panes in the Bronco I have pulled off are quite easy, but this one was tight. The retainers on the side of the car also are shown in the videos to come off quite easily, but mine too some work. There are multiple videos on YT that offer downright wrong or weird advice. The best one I have seen is this

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