Tail light broken bracket? Help

[1997]

Or in Canada we call it Newton/Meters.

not in my part of Canada, KM's, liters, (l/100km) and degree's C, that's as metric as we go. Liters, not litres either.

 

[Insert Quarter]

Has anyone ever had the stupid brackets that hold the taillights in our trucks break? Mine did this morning and it was just dangling from the wires and I check the other side and it was cracked too and Fixing to fall off itself. These are only 4 months old. Was wondering if this has happen to anyone else and how did they fix it and prevent it from happening? I’m going to use some gasket maker and then use some JB weld on the outside too make it stronger and hopefully hold

What bed-liner is that? It looks really nice, looks well done.

For future reference, I've had good luck with:

https://www.permatex.com/products/adhesives-sealants/epoxies/permatex-plastic-welder/

The Harbor Freight plastic welding kit works well too.

Just make sure what you're fixing is scuffed up and cleaned well with isopropyl alcohol.

 

[Hipster]

What bed-liner is that? It looks really nice, looks well done.

For future reference, I've had good luck with:

https://www.permatex.com/products/adhesives-sealants/epoxies/permatex-plastic-welder/

The Harbor Freight plastic welding kit works well too.

Just make sure what you're fixing is scuffed up and cleaned well with isopropyl alcohol.

These are better choices then making a gasket on your tail lights.

 

[CrustyJunker]

Wow, you guys are rough.

Not to bum you out...The cracking of the mounts isn't uncommon on aftermarket tail lights for these trucks. They get brittle after awhile. They will break from vibration, being too tight, or just age in the sun. The heat from the bulbs or LED electronics/load resistors (if equipped) doesn't help.

If they didn't break now, they might've broken later. The aftermarket supplied metal screw clips tend to get rusty and seize to the screw. Should you have needed to remove them, the screw clips sometimes rotate and break the tabs off anyway.

Next on the list, the plastic hooks on the other side may break off. Many of these lights don't fit perfectly. They have hard foam seals around them that aren't forgiving - putting constant tension on those spots. So on, and so forth.

Hope your fix is permanent! Happy truckin'.

 

[96blackswb]

I just used the gasket maker to form the shape of the broken brackets and put the clip on the inside and used the epoxy over the top and sides and all around and it made it hard so all is good now. It’s actually probably a lot harder than what it was before it broke. And I didn’t have the screws very tight because ive had this happen before with cheap taillights but idk the roads around here are rough and unforgiving.

 

[96blackswb]

What bed-liner is that? It looks really nice, looks well done.

For future reference, I've had good luck with:

https://www.permatex.com/products/adhesives-sealants/epoxies/permatex-plastic-welder/

The Harbor Freight plastic welding kit works well too.

Just make sure what you're fixing is scuffed up and cleaned well with isopropyl alcohol.

The bedliner is rustoleum bedliner was in 1 gallon can and I rolled it on but I added some extra grip to the bedliner. Bought some of that grip additive from Lowe’s that u put in paint for patios or steps so u don’t slip. Put two pouches in it and it made it look like it was sprayed in. Also used the rollers that adds texture to your walls to roll the bedliner on my truck and it made it look really good. Probably spent like 70 bucks total and I did like 4 coats on the bed. Came out really nice I thought

 

[victor II]

Did you try cleaning up the originals? On my ‘88 Silverado, I used 1500 wet/dry with a light soapy solution to knock off the faded clear coat and a tiny bit of the actual lens, then hit em with rubbing and then polishing compound, then a good cleaning and if I’m happy with em a couple coats of non yellowing clear coat. It goes fast and makes em look new. Same for the front signal housings.

I’m wary of the Chinese junk. To fix yours, I’d clean em up and use two part epoxy as was discussed.

Don’t let the disparaging comments get to you; on every forum I belong to it’s the same. Let us know how it all turns out..

 

[Chuck_13]

What the h#ll is going on with this forum lately?Seems to be turning into Corvette Forum!Is the covidinsanity finally taking its toll?

 

[haroldwca]

Quote: "I gave my advice. You had it fixed, took,pics, and reposted in 2 minutes time. No need to get butthurt because I said it's a goofy repair, because it is."

. . . and no need to get your nose out of joint because he said it was a rude comment, because it was.

 

[df2x4]

What the h#ll is going on with this forum lately?Seems to be turning into Corvette Forum!Is the covidinsanity finally taking its toll?

I actually felt bad about the way I worded my comment in here earlier after thinking about it for a bit. I apologize for that. I was in a bad mood that night to begin with.

I stand by the advice though, those brackets are pretty thin plastic even on the original housings so you don't want to tighten the screws much at all.