Need replacement signal and headlights, mounting tabs broken (1 Viewer)

[oakback]

I had a loose turn signal light, one of the tabs broke, but I left it like that for several years. On a recent bumpy off road adventure it finally decided to go free. Then I noticed one of the headlight mounting tabs are broken too (I think the previous owner ran into something here). The light works fine and even seems to stay aligned. New headlights seem pricey.

Has anyone had this problem, and tried gluing the plastic tabs back? Is there an alternative repair, rather than replacing the entire headlight assembly?

 

[Greenbean]

Hmmm,
You might get a small piece of metal mounted with two small screws between the two. However you might need to pretrial small holes or your little screws would crack the plastic.


I had a couple busted tabs on mine also, I think one on each headlight and eventually just replaced both headlight assemblies and parking light lenses too. Made the whole front end look better. Not to mention the added benefit of the HIR bulbs in new housings. One had over 400K miles on it so the lens was nearly debris blasted like a piece of scotch tape, hahaha. I swore I had a good pic showing the old lenses but the best I have is this one zoomed in but you can tell, especially when looking at the clear plastic cover over the vertical oriented parking light within the lens itself.


Also want to add a tip, when you remove your front grill if you do the lenses, be careful and be sure you have the clips from the lower outer sections. One of mine stayed in the opening that is a part of the headlight lens plastic that's out of view. I would have missed it and almost threw it away but noticed it was missing when I went to install the grill back and then looked on the old lens assembly and the clip was still in it, easily removed and installed back onto the grill to let the grill clip in correctly to the lens framework.

 

[Trukdiver]

I have this same problem. A deer charged out of the woods at me and hit my right fender right where the turn signal and headlamp come together. Snapped the upper mount on the right side which also holds the turn signal. What did you come up with? They are OE glass headlights and I really don't feel like spending the $$$ on new ones. They look perfect. but just won't stay put.

I hope you found a solution or someone has a better idea!

 

[oakback]

I haven't messed with it yet.

 

[KliersLC]

This is on my list as a project as well. My Daughter's rig had both lights replaced by insurance and I asked to keep the old housings. I don't have any of the broken off pieces, so I'll be fabricating with some epoxy and some scraps I have laying around. I've had excellent luck in the past with the 5 minute epoxy and one or two thin strips of metal with the tab in between. Goop the tab up generously and then sand to shape and drill to fit. JB weld has been used before, but IMO, is too brittle and will crack over time. The epoxy is a little more flexible. Good luck!

 

[WP2LC]

I can’t even get mine off the damn truck! I have a blown blinker bulb and figured it would be a quick replacement. Realized I can’t just unplug and replace so I removed the top screws but can’t get it to release on the lower end. So then I pulled all the screws from the head lamp assembly and it seems to be fixed in the same place. Just above the bumper, where the blinker housing and headlight housing meet.

What am I missing???

Only video I found on YouTube the guy fastforwards through that section but it appears he removes the top screw then just slides it out.
I don’t get it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[nissanh]

I can’t even get mine off the damn truck! I have a blown blinker bulb and figured it would be a quick replacement. Realized I can’t just unplug and replace so I removed the top screws but can’t get it to release on the lower end. So then I pulled all the screws from the head lamp assembly and it seems to be fixed in the same place. Just above the bumper, where the blinker housing and headlight housing meet.

What am I missing???

Only video I found on YouTube the guy fastforwards through that section but it appears he removes the top screw then just slides it out.
I don’t get it.

Thanks in advance!

There is a 10 mm bolt right between the turn signal and headlamp housings. You have to remove the turnsignal housing to acess that bolt. see the circled spot in this image. you have to release the latch to pull the turnsignal housing forward. Try to reach from the bottom of the vehicle.

 

[jtb517]

I’ve had success using one of these to repair broken bumper tabs. It heats up and embeds a metal staple into the plastic.

Amazon product ASIN B096KTDBN8

 

[Cosmo Kramer]

Try super glue and add some baking soda, it creates a super strong bond.

 

[oakback]

I glued the upper tab on the turn signal, that went well. The lower tab for the headlight wouldn't hold, the mounting point isn't exactly flat, forcing the tab to flex, which was breaking the glue. I managed to stitch the lower tab back on with some bailing wire. If the upper tab stays glued, I think this should work for a some time.

Edit: signal tab didn't last a day. I'll "stitch" it too.