How I replaced my rusted license lamp bracket

[deermagnet]

edit

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

Imagine my surprise when I'm in the middle of the same scenario with parts on backorder and I see this thread! Must be a PA thingie!

I've got a license plate lamp mounting bracket on order (along with new lamps & mounting bolts) from both my local dealer (now sells suzuki's but carries Isuzu parts) and St. Charles. Figured whoever got me the parts first, I would just keep the others for spares.

All I got so far was one lamp assemble from my local dealer and 5 mounting bolts from St. Charles....lol.

Was starting to think about going the "custom" route when low & behold you already did it! I was surprised @ how much was involved with removing the cladding & such...thought it was simpler than what you've show it to be.

Good to have someone else blaze the trails first! Thanx for the info.

[p_justin13]

I just cut mine out as well Salt here in Illinois ate right through the damn thing couldn't even get the screws out of the light bulb covers, it was just on big ball of rust. I tigged in a new chunk of metal and mounted a little led bar up there and tapped it into the exhisting wiring. I came out pretty nice. Yours looks good though like the plates.

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

I just cut mine out as well Salt here in Illinois ate right through the damn thing couldn't even get the screws out of the light bulb covers, it was just on big ball of rust. I tigged in a new chunk of metal and mounted a little led bar up there and tapped it into the exhisting wiring. I came out pretty nice. Yours looks good though like the plates.

Yeah...when one of my bulbs blew out I thought...I'll get to that shortly...than the other one blew like days later...so I thought I'd simply replace the bulbs & life would go on.

Then I went to take the screws out of the light bulb covers and just like you...it was one big ball of rust. Tried PV Blaster a day ahead of working on them but no luck. They stripped immediately out. I ended up cutting the screw heads off with a carbide cutter....then the lens both cracked trying to pry them off the gasket. Than I put in new bulbs but the one socket was so corroded it wouldn't work even after a good cleaning. Wrote that one off as a complete loss. Got the other one working but had to re-seal the lens with RTV.

At least I got one working for now until my parts come in (hopefully). If not I'll be following you guys down the do-eet-Ur-self route...lol.

I looked up inside my tailgate with a flashlight & it looks really good in there with exception of the bracket (or what's barely left of it)...I'm sure once I get it off it'll be rusted underneath...but its amazing how nice everything else looks but the bracket looks like it came off of the Titanic...lol.

[crager34]

I just ordered the bulb assy from St. Charles myself. Along with new wiper arms.

[ObsidianDragon]

Aha! Just the topic i was looking for ^_^. My problem began when one lens cover got infiltrated by water, one bulb went out, life went on..still passes inspection. Now the whole bracket decided to cut and run and both bulbs are out (in both ways). Put up with it for a lil while as I haven't done too much driving with the VX but since now that its getting warmer here I'm gettin ready to tackle the dangly bulbs. Props for photos!

[Marlin]

I ordered mine last spring, still no parts..lol. The refunded my money. I would be VERY VERY careful about putting aluminum in there. Aluminum on steel equals horrible galvanic corrosion. Make sure you put some plastic or rubber washers so there is minimul corrosion, maybe stainless steel fasteners. Looks good though.

[ObsidianDragon]

Well, anyone looking to do an OEM part fix should know that the grommets where the wires go up are actually part of the wire and are able to be pulled with some prying fingers.

They have a click connector on the end that can be reached by removing the spare tire. Just to the left and right of the center piece there are openings and a small white tab. Pinch these white tabs to let the wire away from the metal, you can access the wires from the opening. Pinch apart the now showing connectors here and your ready to put in your new wires.

Had me baffled how i'd put in the new wires for a little bit, but really easy after i found access. The new wires come preassembled with the bulbs and lens cover held together with the bolts, you need to thread the wires through the mounting bracket and through the original holes.

Just thought i'd throw this in here just in case someone didn't want to go splicing wires.

[dietz99vcross]

Just want to thank Deermagnet for the photos in the original post. Doing this myself and using his post as my instructions it worked great.

thanks - Mike

[BeeVenom]

I'm doing the same thing on my VX. One license plate lite just fell down and 'hung out' one day directly in front of the plate itself. Ha! And my VX doesn't see the bad MI winters either. It did take forever to get the cladding off and i found the pretty little rusted lite bracket just as seen in the pics. I like the idea of an aluminum bracket to replace it and will use double-sided tape between it and the door. I was able to order new license plate lites from Isuzu though, so that was a good thing!
Now, I need to start on refurbishing the finish on all the cladding too.

[Bulldoggie]

I ordered mine last spring, still no parts..lol. The refunded my money. I would be VERY VERY careful about putting aluminum in there. Aluminum on steel equals horrible galvanic corrosion. Make sure you put some plastic or rubber washers so there is minimul corrosion, maybe stainless steel fasteners. Looks good though.

X2

They did a study of galvanic corrosion, when rebuilding the Statue of Liberty.
Stainless Steel is best at not accelerating other metals corroding.
Even Plumbers know not to mix metals. without gaskets or brass fittings between.

[VX crazy]

I have a problem with one of the lightbulb sockets, not the bar, replaced that last year.....is there a way to splice in a different socket, mine the rubber has disintegrated and the bulb will not stay in, the socket is just crap.....any suggestions??

[Marlin]

Another material for the light bar which I wish I woulda considered, is plastic. Find a L shaped plastic piece at least an eighth-inch thick. There's really no weight involved, so the plastic would work just as well as any metal.

If the next person doing this would at least try the plastic option, we'd appreciate it.

This job is gonna be done hundreds of times over the next few years by our members. If everyone would post something about their own experience with this, it would help the next guy, and eventually we'd have a near perfect how-to for this.

Mark Griffin

I like the plastic idea, and then put in something like these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LED-L...#ht_3509wt_806

[yellowgizmo99]

I use those on m/c, also got some with skulls that have red LED's and hooked up to break lights so light up when I break

[VX crazy]

I am just looking for a socket like ours that I can wire in to existing wires......