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What part are you having trouble with? Getting the socket out of the housing, or the bulb out of the socket? The socket unlocks from the housing with a quarter turn, then the bulb just pulls out of the socket.
Just throwing this out there because I am not familiar with the workings of the socket. You could just cut the wires just before the socket, splice in the new socket wires and heat shrink them to keep them clean.
If the new socket does not have wires and only holes for the wires to go into, then you have another problem altogether.
Perhaps take a picture and post it? A picture of the existing one and the new one might generate some help.
I replaced the front light housing and bulbs for both sides a year ago, but don't remember exactly what they looked like. As I said, maybe cut the oem plug off and wire in the new one, and if the new one is just the plug without wires, you will need to figure out what sort of connector will fit in there.
I had to change mine recently. Surprisingly there's very little out there about it that comes up with Google. If you look along the bottom of the turn/marker assembly (the piece that is NOT the headlight), you will see two phillips screws. Remove those two screws (carefully, it is easy to lose them down into the bumper and they may or may not make it to the ground) and then remove the assembly. This gives you access to the plugs/sockets to remove them and replace the bulbs.
I waited quite a while to change the bulb because nothing I tried would remove the light assembly. When I finally learned that two screws were holding me back, it was not my shining moment of intellectual greatness...
Guys, I'm going to post a picture here in a bit (with some help from my Wife)
I am swapping TO the 2007 headlights, the socket in my '99 is a 90* angle and will not twist into the '07 light housing, the '07 lights came with all new sockets and I need/want to use the straight socket that came with them, I just need to find out how to remove/unplug the 90* socket from the pigtail and plug in the straight one.....there is a weird clasp/clip that I've never seen before........I know this seems trivial......but its holding me from installing my new lights........I do not want to simply cut out the sockets.....
Press in the tab on side of the socket pigtail near the wiring end. This should release the harness plug from the socket. You should be able to see a barb inside the socket that engages the latch of the plug.
Here is a picture of the pigtail that plugs into the socket.
I can't find one that shows the release tab and I don't have my truck anymore to take a picture of it for you. Sorry.
Roland, Thanks so much for your help and pictures!! just now had a chance to get back at it, I was able to unplug the old 90* socket from the pigtail and plug in the straight socket from the '07 light and it fit perfectly!
I don't know if the aftermarket '07 headlights come with new sockets, but my brand new OEM ones did. I got the adaptor harness online for the headlights themselves, and used my original '99 parking/turn sockets as the '07 socket would not plug into my '99 pigtail......Thanks Again!!
supercab, do not feel bad. I had to do the same thing when I bought mine and thought it was a PITA as well. It took me a bit but I could not remember what the answer was to help you.