Please Help. JLU Rubicon LED Tail Light Guard w/Mopar Tailgate Reinforcement System?

[dshark1]

Not meant to be an insult to him, but I'd say there's no chance his was fine. It was just probably before he had tested much. In fact it's not my story to tell, but I've seen other posts of his more recently where's he's gotten rid of them entirely due to corrosion on the screws.

I've known multiple people in my local club with these -- all of us followed the same path, had the taillight guards first, no issue, added the tailgate reinforcement afterward, problem. Doesn't matter XR or not. One guy didn't realize there would be an issue, ended up cracking his taillight guard. Another tried to put rubber on his to deflect the tailgate, but that doesn't work -- tailgate is way too heavy to be deflected by the taillight guard. He moved to cut it after I told him about it.

The problem is here, this is my original pic pre-cut. When you open the tailgate all the way, green will touch green, yellow will touch yellow. You can easily test it by unscrewing the tail light (so you don't harm anything), have one person hold it in place, and another opening the tailgate. It will push on the taillight guard quite a bit.

The solution for green is to just cut it off with a Dremel. We tried not cutting off the whole piece, going very slowly and re-testing. However, we kept touching, and we decided it looked better than half a nub. Yellow we just ground down. It cuts very easily with the Dremel (in fact, one guy in the club did his in place still mounted on the Jeep). We started with it on all at once also figured out halfway through it's a lot shorter work if you start by taking the faceplate off. A mid-process pic:

I did find this video earlier which was all of our inspiration to cut. It demonstrates the problem: (my green spots in the picture). Later on in the video he cuts and mentions how yellow is a problem too.

In summary if you like the look of both pieces together (as I and others do), cutting/grinding is the solution. Not that hard if you have the tools.

Hey Man ,, Thx so much for that! So helpful…. They really do look awesome on. Now I just have to decide if I want to go through the trouble of getting them installed.

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[aldo98229]

Luv the look ,, kinda confused with reviews stating the problem with these & the @mopar reinforcement on the XR. However @aldo98229 has stated no problems whatsoever?

Oh, I got problems with those things alright.

Namely:

1. Whenever I opened the tailgate, the Mopar tailgate reinforcement pushed against the tail light guard on the passenger side, making a loud creaking noise, twisting the tail light assembly, and leaving a big scratch on the reinforcement
2. The steel hex bolts included with kit reacted with the aluminum cage and seized the bolts completely
3. It made cleaning the tail lights a PITA

When I went to remove the guards, the hex bolts wouldn’t budge. I needed a crowbar to pry open the aluminum cages and free my VERY expensive LED tail lights.

 

[dshark1]

Oh, I got problems with those things alright.

Namely:

1. Whenever I opened the tailgate, the Mopar tailgate reinforcement pushed against the tail light guard on the passenger side, making a loud creaking noise, twisting the tail light assembly, and leaving a big scratch on the reinforcement
2. The steel hex bolts included with kit reacted with the aluminum cage and seized the bolts completely
3. It made cleaning the tail lights a PITA

When I went to remove the guards, the hex bolts wouldn’t budge. I needed a crowbar to pry open the aluminum cages and free my VERY expensive LED tail lights.

Thx for the update. With that being said, think I’m gonna take a pass on these guards. Even though I luv the way they look. Just sounds like a pita! Thx again

 

[blink9cd]

Oh, I got problems with those things alright.

Namely:

1. Whenever I opened the tailgate, the Mopar tailgate reinforcement pushed against the tail light guard on the passenger side, making a loud creaking noise, twisting the tail light assembly, and leaving a big scratch on the reinforcement
2. The steel hex bolts included with kit reacted with the aluminum cage and seized the bolts completely
3. It made cleaning the tail lights a PITA

When I went to remove the guards, the hex bolts wouldn’t budge. I needed a crowbar to pry open the aluminum cages and free my VERY expensive LED tail lights.

For #2, which bolts were these? Are you talking about the 3 bolts that hold the two pieces of the cage together? How long did you have them assembled and on your Jeep?

 

[JPAloha]

I’ve had the RR tailight guards since new, just added the Mopar tailgate reinforcement……fully open there’s 1-2mm of room. I was worried the guards would need trimming but thankfulily all good.

 

[aldo98229]

For #2, which bolts were these? Are you talking about the 3 bolts that hold the two pieces of the cage together? How long did you have them assembled and on your Jeep?

Yes. Not quite three years.

 

[dshark1]

I’ve had the RR tailight guards since new, just added the Mopar tailgate reinforcement……fully open there’s 1-2mm of room. I was worried the guards would need trimming but thankfulily all good.

Sounds like you got really lucky! I really want to order them, love the look! But after all the problems I read, I just don’t know? Glad 2 hear they worked out for you.

 

[blink9cd]

Yes. Not quite three years.

Cool thanks for letting me know. I've had them for about a year and they still undid fine, figured you had them longer.

I haven't done that much research yet, but this site makes it sound galvanized steel works better with aluminum than stainless. Or of course, using aluminum screws, since this isn't a ton of force: https://www.hunker.com/12502151/screws-compatible-with-aluminum

So I might buy a couple different bolts soon to be on the safe side.

 

[blink9cd]

I’ve had the RR tailight guards since new, just added the Mopar tailgate reinforcement……fully open there’s 1-2mm of room. I was worried the guards would need trimming but thankfulily all good.

Wow I'm surprised to hear yours doesn't need any trimming. Every person in my local club, me, other people in this thread, the video I saw on YT, etc. have all had the the exact same issue. Does your tailgate not open as far as ours?? Anyway congrats

 

[blink9cd]

Sounds like you got really lucky! I really want to order them, love the look! But after all the problems I read, I just don’t know? Glad 2 hear they worked out for you.

If you love the look, it's really not that much work to trim/grind that one spot, especially if you don't experiment as much as I did and follow the lines I ultimately took. Just need a Dremel.

If I recall there might be some plastic stick on ones somewhere on Amazon that look similar.

 

[JPAloha]

Wow I'm surprised to hear yours doesn't need any trimming. Every person in my local club, me, other people in this thread, the video I saw on YT, etc. have all had the the exact same issue. Does your tailgate not open as far as ours?? Anyway congrats

I was surprised also. I gave it a try to see how much trimming was needed but it just misses.

 

[dshark1]

If you love the look, it's really not that much work to trim/grind that one spot, especially if you don't experiment as much as I did and follow the lines I ultimately took. Just need a Dremel.

If I recall there might be some plastic stick on ones somewhere on Amazon that look similar.

Yeah, still thinking about ordering them. Also didn’t like hearing about the bolts getting frozen. I seen the stick on”s , just not as good looking.

 

[blink9cd]

Yeah, still thinking about ordering them. Also didn’t like hearing about the bolts getting frozen. I seen the stick on”s , just not as good looking.

I agree on the stick on's; thought about it but not the same. You could always wait until I figure out the bolts I'm gonna add and post it here lol. It's just six tiny bolts so I imagine only a couple dollars -- not the first time I've bought new hardware to replace what a vendor gave me based on recommendations from this forum (those were some big heavy control arm ones).

But also, mine have been on for a year and been fine, so you know you'd have time.

 

[dshark1]

I agree on the stick on's; thought about it but not the same. You could always wait until I figure out the bolts I'm gonna add and post it here lol. It's just six tiny bolts so I imagine only a couple dollars -- not the first time I've bought new hardware to replace what a vendor gave me based on recommendations from this forum (those were some big heavy control arm ones).

But also, mine have been on for a year and been fine, so you know you'd have time.

Thx so much!

 

[zouch]

just curious; what is the purpose someone might want these for (if not for looks)?
are people really running around driving into things in Reverse and breaking tail lights? and are these preventing it?

Thanks for the info. I don't want them for the look. I need them for more practical reasons. And if what you are saying about them casuing more damage, then that is something that I have to consider. Thanks again.

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