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04-18-2024, 11:14 AM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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Replacing Taillights
One of my taillights filled with water on a recent trip. I discovered a hairline crack in the lens and sealed it. Alas, it was too late – some of the LEDs would no longer illuminate due to the water intrusion.
A call to ETI, and I received a replacement taillight. Unfortunately, it did not match the remaining good (Bargmann) taillight. I had to get another taillight from ETI, so now had a matched set.
The first thing you will discover, if you do this same task, is that these new lights are not the same size as the old ones. The two mounting holes are closer together. (More on this later.)
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04-18-2024, 11:16 AM
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#2
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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First step is to get the old lens off. I CAREFULLY ran a razor knife around the lens, taking care not to go into the fiberglass. Using multiple plastic putty knives, the lens was pried off.
The old caulk needed to be removed. I found that using a plastic razor blade in a ‘sawing’ action removed most of the old caulk.
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04-18-2024, 11:17 AM
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#3
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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I can’t recommend more highly 3M’s adhesive remover. (I had some leftover from a plastic rock guard replacement project on my prior Airstream.) This stuff really made the difference, and it did not harm the gel coat.
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04-18-2024, 11:17 AM
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#4
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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Remember earlier how I mentioned the holes are not spaced the same? You cannot use one of the existing holes and just drill one new hole – the old hole will be exposed beyond the end of the lens. So, you carefully place the lens centered between the existing holes. You will find that these new holes are VERY close to the existing ones. Don’t worry. If you carefully drill your new holes with graduating-sized drill bits, you will get new holes that don’t break over into the old holes. The last bit I used was 9/64.
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04-18-2024, 11:18 AM
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#5
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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It’s time to use caution again. When you put the screws in, you won’t want to break open the new hole into the old, so use some liquid dish soap on the screws and slowly work the screws in. (You are not attaching the taillight yet.)
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04-18-2024, 11:19 AM
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#6
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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Feed the wires inside. I placed a little piece of electrical tape on the ends to prevent them from hanging up on the insulation.
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04-18-2024, 11:20 AM
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#7
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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Go inside and make TEMPORARY connections with wire nuts. You’ll want to be sure the lights illuminate properly before crimping on the butt splices. (On my lights, red went to red, white to white, and the black went to the brown.) Once you verify proper operation, you can make your crimps.
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04-18-2024, 11:22 AM
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#8
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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Put caulk in the existing holes. Affix the new lenses to the trailer, but don’t torque them down too much. The old taillights had metal grommets to prevent breaking the plastic lens. The new ones are ONLY plastic.
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04-18-2024, 11:23 AM
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#9
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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Caulk your lenses and check one more time for proper operation.
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04-18-2024, 11:23 AM
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#10
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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Some of the tools used.
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04-18-2024, 11:46 AM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2022
Location: Elk Grove, California
Trailer: 2024 Escape 5.0
Posts: 110
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Very thorough instructions - good job!
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04-18-2024, 01:15 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2022
Location: Suisun City, California
Trailer: 5.0
Posts: 121
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That was an awesome tutorial with the pictures and all very good
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04-18-2024, 01:29 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Niagara Falls, New York
Trailer: 2020 5.0TA
Posts: 206
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If someone did not want to drill new holes, they can search out new ones with the existing hole locations and not use the ETI ones….I found some on eBay and Amazon last year and stocked up in case they went obsolete like the bargman ones did.
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04-18-2024, 01:42 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Northern California, California
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21
Posts: 762
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Thank you for posting your taillight project, with all the pictures! Very nice!
Just curious, what kind or brand of caulk did you use?
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04-18-2024, 01:52 PM
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#15
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Portland, Oregon
Trailer: 2014 Escape 5.0 TA
Posts: 11,064
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suregrip391
If someone did not want to drill new holes, they can search out new ones with the existing hole locations and not use the ETI ones….I found some on eBay and Amazon last year and stocked up in case they went obsolete like the bargman ones did.
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Could you share the brand and model numbers for what you found, please.
TIA.
__________________
Donna D.
Ten Forward
2014 Escape 5.0TA
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04-18-2024, 01:59 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Niagara Falls, New York
Trailer: 2020 5.0TA
Posts: 206
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donna D.
Could you share the brand and model numbers for what you found, please.
TIA.
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Donna,
These are the ones I bought. They are narrower but they do share the same spacing on the mounting. https://www.ebay.com/itm/225529882792
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04-18-2024, 02:13 PM
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#17
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Portland, Oregon
Trailer: 2014 Escape 5.0 TA
Posts: 11,064
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suregrip391
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Great, thanks!
__________________
Donna D.
Ten Forward
2014 Escape 5.0TA
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04-18-2024, 02:17 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Niagara Falls, New York
Trailer: 2020 5.0TA
Posts: 206
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donna D.
Great, thanks!
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Oh,
I should ad, there is a plastic knub/flange on the back (for lack of better words) that needs cut off so that these will sit flush, right where the wires come out. I have not used them yet, so I cannot speak of the quality or the longevity.
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04-18-2024, 04:24 PM
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#19
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bea
... Just curious, what kind or brand of caulk did you use?
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Hey, Bea. It happened to be this https://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-Alex...8103/100097524
It was on hand, and should come off easily when the project needs to be done again.
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04-18-2024, 04:27 PM
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#20
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
Trailer: 21C
Posts: 42
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I saw that those you got Suregrip are SAE. (Good price.) How bright are they compared to the original?
The ones I installed are not quite as bright, regarding the running lights. However, there are more LEDs illuminated with the brake or turn signal (think visibility).
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