How Do I Replace The Clearance Lights On My RV?

by Rod
(Huntington Beach CA)

I have a 1997 Fleetwood Tioga, 23 foot. I have owned it about one year. All in all excellent shape. Along the roof line in rear of the rig, four of my running lights are out. The covers seem VERY tight. Do they just pop off? Is this just age? Any tricks. I do not want to break anything.

Thanks

ANSWER: Greetings Rod thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

I am going to assume that the roof line at the rear of your RV is equipped with 5 Clearance Lights. The reason I am assuming that is if all of the clearance lights on the roof line at the back of the RV were all out, I would first check for a blown fuse.

The lenses do pop out. Depending on which type of lenses your clearance lights have; they may be easy to pop out or they could be a little harder to pop out and in some cases you can crack the lenses.

To remove the lenses you will need a thin flat head screwdriver. Do not try to pry the lenses off from the top or bottom of the marker light assembly. You need to lightly pry the lenses from the right or left side of marker light assembly. Some marker light lenses have little tabs on the right and left sides that will break off if you try to pry them off from the top or bottom.

Once you have the lenses off it will be easy to replace the bulbs. One thing you might want to do prior to putting the new bulbs in is clean off the electrical contacts where the bulbs plug into the clearance light assembly. You can use some fine grain sand paper or an emery board to clean the contacts. Make sure you blow off any sand paper residue.

Another tip replace all the bulbs and test them before putting the lenses back on; that way you will not have to remove the lenses again if there is a problem.

Hopefully the above information has been helpful to you.

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Happy RVing

RVing Al