VTNomad
Full Access Member
In 2005 Jeep made the switch to clear turn signals (lower half circle on the upper tail light) on their tail lights. I personally found it more pleasing to the eye, but wasn't going to pay Jeep $270 for two new tail lights. Over the weekend I scored a pair off of eBay for $35.
The first thing you'll need are two amber bulbs (part number 9441840, $3.10 each). You will also need a #20 torx bit. You will need to use a manual driver or have a long extension to reach the torx bolts on the driver's side, they are obstructed by the tail gate. Remove the torx bolts, two per tail light, and give a firm tug. Unplug the wiring harness (slide the red tab and squeeze the black button, it will then pull right off) and detatch it from the tail light. The are 3 bulbs per tail light, all in their own individual socket. The top and bottom sockets swap directly with the new tail light.
This step is only necessary if the sockets were not included with your purchase. The middle socket will not swap without some minor modification. For whatever reason Jeep decided the 05-06 sockets needed 3 tabs to hold them in instead of the 2 tabs the earlier years used. This is easily corrected with a Dremel tool or small file. After trimming the tabs down enough for the socket to fit in the tail light make sure all the tabs on the back of the socket line up. Because of the modified tabs, you can twist the bulb further than it needs to be to make contact. To test, try your turn signal on both sides, if you use the emergency blinkers you won't notice. If installed incorrectly, your turn signals (on your instrument cluster) will flash faster than normal. The turn signals on the front bumper will flash faster as well. You rear signals will not work.
Plug the wiring harness back in, reattach the wiring harness to the light (don't forget to slide the red tab back over) line up the tabs on the back of the tail light with the hold on the body and give it a firm smack into place. Tighten everything down with the two torx bolts you removed earlier.
All in all it was an extremely easy install and took less than 20 minutes including the time spent modifying the bulb socket. You could do it in 5 minutes if you don't have to Dremel anything.
The first thing you'll need are two amber bulbs (part number 9441840, $3.10 each). You will also need a #20 torx bit. You will need to use a manual driver or have a long extension to reach the torx bolts on the driver's side, they are obstructed by the tail gate. Remove the torx bolts, two per tail light, and give a firm tug. Unplug the wiring harness (slide the red tab and squeeze the black button, it will then pull right off) and detatch it from the tail light. The are 3 bulbs per tail light, all in their own individual socket. The top and bottom sockets swap directly with the new tail light.
This step is only necessary if the sockets were not included with your purchase. The middle socket will not swap without some minor modification. For whatever reason Jeep decided the 05-06 sockets needed 3 tabs to hold them in instead of the 2 tabs the earlier years used. This is easily corrected with a Dremel tool or small file. After trimming the tabs down enough for the socket to fit in the tail light make sure all the tabs on the back of the socket line up. Because of the modified tabs, you can twist the bulb further than it needs to be to make contact. To test, try your turn signal on both sides, if you use the emergency blinkers you won't notice. If installed incorrectly, your turn signals (on your instrument cluster) will flash faster than normal. The turn signals on the front bumper will flash faster as well. You rear signals will not work.
Plug the wiring harness back in, reattach the wiring harness to the light (don't forget to slide the red tab back over) line up the tabs on the back of the tail light with the hold on the body and give it a firm smack into place. Tighten everything down with the two torx bolts you removed earlier.
All in all it was an extremely easy install and took less than 20 minutes including the time spent modifying the bulb socket. You could do it in 5 minutes if you don't have to Dremel anything.
