I have a 2003 F-150 XLT extended cap.

What is the trick to get to the halogen head lights? I hit deer this past week and the grill and plastic around the head lamps is damaged. Since I will be out of town for a while it will be three weeks before the body shop can start to do a repair. In the mean time I would like to replace the damaged left halogen bulb. I managed to get the old one out using gravity, but there is no way to replace it from the top with out removing stuff. From the bottom everything seems to be in the way. There must be a trick. Any help?

 

In my truck you pull the tab's up that lock the lights in then you put the head light into its guide... Like at the end of the things on the light have tabs and you slide them into it.

hope that helps

 

Sorry, I guess that I was not very clear. I did not mean how to release the bulb from the socket, but rather how do you get your hands, with a new bulb in them, to the socket to make the replacement. There is not enough room from the top to even slide the bulb down into place. There all sorts of stuff in the way from the bottom. I see that if I were to remove the radiator overflow reservoir, I could go straight in from the back, but removing the reservoir seems extreme.

 

the headlights come out of the front of the truck. when you open the hood you should see two brackets/tabs you can pull on (behind and above either side of the headlight). Pull them up and the headlight will come out. 2 for each light.

Kinda hard to describe exactly how they work, but get a flashlight and look at them, you should be able to figure it out. It might seem like that won't work, but if you line everything up correctly they will be able to slide out. The enlarged hole in the bottom of the brackets needs to line up with the bushing. Some times they will come up just a little, and feel like it's stopped. They need to be pulled up about an inch.

 

Thank you, that was most helpful. I was even able to get the duck tape around the broken pieces better. It should last me until I get the truck into the body shop.

 

LOL... in my mind i was thinking you could not get the whole thing back in the hole... because when i took my head light out the first time i could not get it back in untell i put 2 with 2 and did it the way its made to go.