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What the heck is this under my tail lights?

wanted33

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Hadn’t looked to see if it was difficult to remove the taillights, so if it’s straightforward I’ll do that.
Rash, check he maintenance section of your owners manual showing how to replace the rear bulbs. It will explain how to remove the tail light assembly. FYI, our '18 doesn't have those things under the lenses.

Disclaimer: At least the owners manual does that on my '06 GT. Truthfully I haven't looked for that section in the OM of our '18.
 

Kungfukendrixx

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Hadn’t looked to see if it was difficult to remove the taillights, so if it’s straightforward I’ll do that.
You do not need to remove the tailight assembly to remove that little shipping pad. Just grab it and pull it off. Use your prefered quick detailer and microfiber to clean off the residue.
 
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Rash

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You do not need to remove the tailight assembly to remove that little shipping pad. Just grab it and pull it off. Use your pefered quick detailer and microfiber to clean off the residue.
Yep - just pulled them off with needle nose pliers. I thought they extended under the taillight and would be fairly long. Turns out they aren't much bigger than what you see sticking out. Glad I didn't remove the taillights!
 

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Jetnoise

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Yep - just pulled them off with needle nose pliers. I thought they extended under the taillight and would be fairly long. Turns out they aren't much bigger than what you see sticking out. Glad I didn't remove the taillights!
Still rattle free?
I wonder if the assembly manual calls them out.
Anyone work in a body shop?
 

spiderman405

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Just signed up for this forum because of this post (and because I just got my '18 GT). Are we sure these tabs are supposed to be removed?

I had this issue on one taillight after I first washed the car, so I think some water must have gotten between the light and frame and made these little tabs expand. Brought it into the dealer and they hadn't seen this before, so they removed the other taillight to get an idea of what they're supposed to look like (the problem light was on the subwoofer side so is harder to get to). The tabs are attached to the taillights themselves and, to the three of us, they look as if they're meant to stay there, to prevent rubbing I guess. Since the car is brand new, the dealer sent pictures to Ford (as evidence of a manufacturer's defect, I think) and they replaced my taillight.

Not an expert by any means, so it's certainly possible the tabs are supposed to be removed. But given this experience, I don't think that's the case (if it were, I think either the dealer or Ford itself would have said as much before fully replacing my taillight).
 

Jetnoise

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I couldn’t find them in the exploded parts view or a part number.
Leave em on if you like them. They seem to hold water and dirt so mine are removed
 

djpheer

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Just pryed mine out with a plastic fork. Was wondering wtf this was as I only had them on one side. They actually caused a big ass gap on that side. Looks like it closed up at least a bit since I removed them. Weird.
 

Elp_jc

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They look like spacers/isolators to me. They're on both sides, but in typical Ford fashion, the gap is larger on one side (the right one). They're of a felt material, so they don't 'expand', but definitely compress, like on the driver's side. They're barely visible there, but on the right side, VERY visible. Hope there's a way to push the bumper cover up, now that I know that gap is there. Ha ha. Will take a look underneath one of these days.

As a side comment, have you seen how awful the end of the rear bumper cover looks, right before the trunk's rubber gasket, when the trunk is open? Not expecting Bentley quality on this car, but man, it looks like crap. Not the cheapest Kias have that. Oh well.
 

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ice445

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My car has these too still, figured it was supposed to be there and haven't cared to do anything about it, lol. Water regularly drains from under the taillights after I wash my car so I wonder if it's meant to lift up the taillights to facilitate that.
 

djpheer

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Mine definitely didn't have them on the driver side. That's partly why I had to remove them on the passenger side. I couldn't take the lack of consistency and it was just such an odd find.the reason people are saying they expand is cause if you wash your car and they get wet they absorb water and expand and look like crap. One of mine basicly fell out on it's own and the others I just pryed out. Looks much better now that they are out and not even close to rubbing.
 

djpheer

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Honestly I can't get over how......bad....or how much of an afterthought this is to be found on a mass production vehicle. Even for Ford. Felt pads from home depot? Really? THAT was their solution to whatever they were trying to correct ? I have to believe it was meant to be removed at some point during production cause it looks way too horrible to be meant as a final production solution.
 

StangTime

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Those pads were added because some taillight housings would scrape the paint of the bumper over time. Fortunately on my car these were positioned far enough back from the edge that they aren't easy to spot. I would not remove them. If they are poorly placed, or missing, then new ones should be applied.
 

djpheer

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Pretty pathetic solution you have to admit. Why not add a nice solid piece of rubber padding under the light housing that is seemless and not visible ? Pathetic by Ford imo. Just saying.
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