Why…

…are headlight bulbs such a pain to replace? It’s always a roll of the dice as to whether the retaining spring comes loose. I was 1/2 today and that’s all it took to make me loose my mind. Also, while I’m at it, once you get the notches lined up and the bulb seated, if you even breathe it falls back out. And again. And again. While you try to get the spring back in to the place you can’t see. And just as you get the spring in, the bulb falls back out.

Happy Friday, feel free to bitch about your personal first world problems here and get it out of your system so you can enjoy the rest of the weekend.

 

It's easier with practice. I've done it enough that it isn't that hard anymore.

 

Can always "upgrade" to something like this, no bulbs to replace. Open the access cap in the back and a desiccant bag might fall out

 

Fourth or fifth set of bulbs I’ve installed…I tried a high power bulb at one point, twice, that had a short life. It has gotten no easier with practice, what makes it difficult is the lack of line of sight when reinstalling the spring.

What’s always kept me away from aftermarket is the horror stories I read about leaks. I’d love a set though. My headlights are getting really cloudy and though I know I can restore them, I kind of want to replace them.

 

I definitely had a mega-b*tch time the first time I swapped out headlight bulbs on my 2.5gen.

What's considerably harder than stock bulbs is aftermarket LED bulbs with giant metal heatsink/fan/power supply assemblies hanging off the back of them, but even those I eventually got to seat correctly.

 

At least you can get to it easily! On the F150 you have to unbolt part of the fender liner then play twister or do some yoga to get to the bulbs! Miss the few minute bulb changes on my 2nd gen

 

All you guys saying it’s easy…do your springs fall off like mine do? That’s the only thing that makes it hard. I especially love when I don’t catch it when it falls…

 

The previous owner completely deleted those on my old truck. They still did light stuff just fine.

 

The gaskets must still hold the bulbs in ok then.

I wonder if they were intentionally or unintentionally removed. Those springs last time I checked are really hard to find.

 

I did almost 50k miles without them

 

Unbolting the washer fluid reservoir makes the passenger side easier, driver's side isn't terrible IIRC.

Better than alot of stuff these days where step 1 is to remove front bumper cover then remove the headlight housing to access the bulbs.

 

Today was the first time I unbolted that reservoir. I thought I’d be able to move it completely to the side. Was disappointed but it did help a little.

 

Agree, compared to our HHR, my 2010 Tacoma is a breeze. For our HHR I have to pull the fender liner loose and replace the bulb by feel. The alternative is to pull the bumper cover off and remove the headlight assembly.

 

You guys are starting to make me feel like a real whiny bitch