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Anyone have a replacement rear driver side taillight lens and/or socket/harness?
The replacement I wired in must be sending current through the plastic and cause resistance at the metal ring around the blue jewel piece. Still not entirely sure.
As for the replacement lens, a bunch online don’t have the blue jewel and my passenger side is still good.
Both look broke from the blue dot outward on my screen. Wrote a few of those blue dots too.You have a bad ground, but those plastic lenses are not conductive, they both broke when that blue dot of glass expanded when hot, and busted the weaker red plastic. You can get new sockets.
I crossed out some. I first thought you were saying that you had a bad ground. Perhaps was the thread title "Taillight grounding issues" that lead me astray?
Last edited by tbear853; Mar 17, 2024 at 08:42 AM.
Reason: fixed it
Both look broke from the blue dot outward on my screen. Wrote a few of those blue dots too. You have a bad ground, but those plastic lenses are not conductive, they both broke when that blue dot of glass expanded when hot, and busted the weaker red plastic. You can get new sockets.
You’re definitely right, they’re both broke. The left has melted the red plastic white. You think that’s just heat? I can’t imagine I’ve used that light long enough to heat it up. How do you think it’s grounding that ring considering it doesn’t actually touch any other metal.
I also cant see it being a bad ground to cause it to crack.
Do all the lights work as they should with out the lens in place, yes you will need to ground the housing maybe screw it back in to test?
If they do work as they should it is not a ground issue.
Also as you said how can it ground as the lens can not conduct so it is again not a ground issue.
I will say it is a heat issue. The dots expand at a different rates than the lens and you get the cracking.
If you dont think the bulbs get that hot turn the light on and try holding the bulb and then tell me they dont get hot
Also note there is no air flow inside where the bulbs are so it just keeps getting hotter and hotter.
BTW you know some states the blue dots can get you a ticket?
I dont know if your state is that way or not but it just takes 1 cop to pull you over to find out.
If it was me because both lens are cracked I would get new lenses with out the dots and move on down the road.
If you really want the dots get new lenses and pop the dots out of the bad lenses, drill a hole in the new ones and pop the dots into them.
Dave ----
You’re definitely right, they’re both broke. The left has melted the red plastic white. You think that’s just heat? I can’t imagine I’ve used that light long enough to heat it up. .
Yes, just heat. Light a light bulb, both filaments, and hold it in a cupped hand..
Originally Posted by simplyvince
How do you think it’s grounding that ring considering it doesn’t actually touch any other metal.
It's not.
Somehow when reading your first post in this thread, I got the impression that you thought you had a bad ground and thought it was causing the breaking by grounding through a isolated piece of metal. I see now that you were just addressing the cracking. I inferred that you had a light malfunction too. It was only after reading Dave's reply above that I saw I read too much into your first post in this thread.
Blue dots have been illegal here since they came out, busted red lenses showing intense white light being but one reason. The intense blue light exiting the prism like blue glass at the center is another reason.
Hah yeah all these bulbs get hot but just the left getting so hot to melt that red plastic to white was a little odd to me.
And sorry for the confusion on the post. I was thinking out loud about the ground issue while scratching my head.
But I do have some issues inside the cabin with a loose hazard switch that will prevent turn signals from working. And turn signals in the dash don't work when my low beams are on but they work outside the truck. I’m gonna try to resolve some of that this weekend too. It’s a work in progress and labor of love and asking “well how the hell?”
Also thanks for the tip on the blue dots being illegal in some states. Makes sense if they bust out but also makes sense on why I can’t find replacements. I did think about the drill and fill suggestion so I’ll probably do that. The blue dots just add a nice touch.
I would just get new lenses and be done with it.
Now need to mess with them old ones other than to hang them on the garage wall.
If you wanted something really cool put a light behind them.
As for the dash lights.
First make sure the cab has a good ground.
Battery to motor, motor to frame and motor to firewall of the cab.
Once they are all good see what happens and go from there.
Dont remember to the dash turn lights work at all if not replace all dash light bulbs as a start.
May even want to swap them over to LED's like I did in my 81 F100.
Dave ----
I’m gonna look at bulb sizes too and see if maybe just the left one is a little too big or the replacement socket makes it touch the blue dot and/or metal ring.
Some of the replacement sockets position the bulb too close to the plastic and cause them to melt.
Yeah I think you’re right. After all the talk I didn’t think about it making contact and just getting that hot. Gotta stop making left turns and driving at night.
I would just get new lenses and be done with it.
Now need to mess with them old ones other than to hang them on the garage wall.
If you wanted something really cool put a light behind them.
As for the dash lights.
First make sure the cab has a good ground.
Battery to motor, motor to frame and motor to firewall of the cab.
Once they are all good see what happens and go from there.
Dont remember to the dash turn lights work at all if not replace all dash light bulbs as a start.
May even want to swap them over to LED's like I did in my 81 F100.
Dave ----
Yeah I’m over the dot hah. I would like to go to LEDs but when I swapped all the external bulbs I had intermittent issues or fast blinking. But maybe it’s back to checking all the grounds.
So upon inspection again, looks like the replacement metal pigtail for the left taillight makes the bulb stick out almost a whole inch and touch the metal ring around the blue bezel. Put in an LED bulb I had laying around until I get a new pigtail.
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