3G TL (2004-2008)
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Tail light adjustment

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Old 02-09-2012, 09:56 AM
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Tail light adjustment

Can someone help me on how to adjust the rear tail light/brake light assembly? I want to adjust the light so the assembly sits flush with the bumper/quarter panel.
Old 02-09-2012, 10:05 AM
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did you just buy the car or something?

to remove the taillight, you need to remove the rear bumper first. then pop your trunk and you need to peel back the carpeted area to reveal the taillight itself and take out a couple nuts.

a lot of 3G taillights do not sit exactly flush with the bumper and quarter panel. i've seen it on MANY TL's, including mine.

what's going on with yours?
Old 02-09-2012, 01:31 PM
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Do I need some sort of "fishy" user name to post in this thread??
Old 02-09-2012, 01:41 PM
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^yes.

come back when you're able to join the club.
Old 02-09-2012, 02:44 PM
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Originally Posted by SharksBreath
did you just buy the car or something?

to remove the taillight, you need to remove the rear bumper first. then pop your trunk and you need to peel back the carpeted area to reveal the taillight itself and take out a couple nuts.

a lot of 3G taillights do not sit exactly flush with the bumper and quarter panel. i've seen it on MANY TL's, including mine.

what's going on with yours?
It's a long story. I was rear ended and the shop had to cut the quarter panel out and replace it with a new one. I think they **** it up bad. There is a huge overlap ~1/8" where the light sits beyond the bumper. It wasn't like this when I bought the car last summer. Mines an '08.

When I pointed this out to the shop, they say it's "normal". So I pointed that the opposite side is not like that. I dropped the car off and they ADJUSTED the GOOD side to offset. So I know it's adjustable, I just need to know how so I can adjust the good side back.

I looked at alot of TL and none are as bad as mine. 1/8" overlap!
Old 02-09-2012, 02:48 PM
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take a picture.
Old 02-09-2012, 04:02 PM
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Originally Posted by LoveMyTL-S
Do I need some sort of "fishy" user name to post in this thread??
Fish contains nitric oxide, so I think I'm ok to post.
Old 02-09-2012, 06:58 PM
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LOL wtf the shop messed the other side up to make their shitty job look good?

that's messed up. small claims time.

i'd imagine bending the mounting clips for the bumper would achieve the desired effect.
Old 02-09-2012, 07:21 PM
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Originally Posted by ez12a
LOL wtf the shop messed the other side up to make their shitty job look good?

that's messed up. small claims time.

i'd imagine bending the mounting clips for the bumper would achieve the desired effect.
I'm already in the process of taking this shop to court. This is nothing compared to what they did on the mechanical issues with my car.

They falsified work on the repairs of my car. I took the car back to this shop atleast 5 times. I got a bunch of paperwork saying they fixed the car, the alignment were perfect. I took the car to a suspension specialist and 80% of the alignment spec were off. Some were so bad they went outside the spec window.
Old 02-09-2012, 11:58 PM
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Originally Posted by yellowfin
It's a long story. I was rear ended and the shop had to cut the quarter panel out and replace it with a new one. I think they **** it up bad. There is a huge overlap ~1/8" where the light sits beyond the bumper. It wasn't like this when I bought the car last summer. Mines an '08.

When I pointed this out to the shop, they say it's "normal". So I pointed that the opposite side is not like that. I dropped the car off and they ADJUSTED the GOOD side to offset. So I know it's adjustable, I just need to know how so I can adjust the good side back.

I looked at alot of TL and none are as bad as mine. 1/8" overlap!
Sounds like they don't have the bumper on all the way. After my shop replaced a bad (brand new) taillight, mine did this as well. I pointed it out and they fixed it.
Old 02-10-2012, 10:08 AM
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there isn't a way from the factory to adjust this, your going to have to get creative like some mentioned either find a way to make the bumper come out farther or find a way to make the mounts for the lights go in farther... either way it will be more work than it is worth and you are more likely to make it worse. I had a little issue with this when I opened my tailights to black them out. When I glued them back i didn't clamp them enough, I tried finding a way to adjust fitment but there wasnt one so i opened them back up and reglued. GL tho hopefully you will figure something out.
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