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So its 2020 and STILL all I can find in the aftermarket are tail lights that look super ricer or very strange. Ive gone through 3 sets of factory lights where the lenses pop out after some time. I dont even drive the car that much yet the tail lights still fail. Are there really no "close to factory" or factory repro's yet for these cars?
This is the first I've heard of the lenses popping out. Unless you mean they are warping from the heat of the bulbs? And if that is the case, you said you don't drive the car much so that is unlikely as well. If they are warping from heat, LEDs will help.
Wow. I've never heard of the lenses coming off. That's odd. If you still have the lens or it is mostly off, finish removing it and re-glue it with silicone or butyl glue. Or if its only separated in a small area, silicone it.
If you can get your hands on some export tail lights. I feel these are the perfect tail lights for these cars. The lines flow much better with the hatch lines. I’ve had these for at least 12 years and I’ve never had a problem with them.
My reverse light lenses starting to pop off as well and leaking water into the housings on my '99. I was able to grab a pair of the exports like above and never looked back.
Exports seem to be going for $500-$600. Seems crazy for some tail lights.
That is insane. I know some people love those. Personally, I'm not a big fan. I'm surprised you've went through so many. Try some LT lights? Very likely they're the same but worth a shot.
I'm not a fan of the export version either, I like the US-spec version much better.
I agree with VIP1 on this; I've never once seen a lens pop out on one of these cars locally. That includes my own '98 that still has it's 22 year old factory housings. My '98 lives in the garage, but my '02 Z28 used to sit outside nearly every day for 12 years and the original rear lenses never failed on that one either. I wonder if this has something to do with climate (hotter areas with more sun, for example). Looks like most of the folks who are familiar with this issue have listed locations of FL and CA, so climate might indeed be a factor.
This sort of reminds me of the melting Camaro nose emblem, this has happened to folks even when the car is garage kept (but always seems to be in the hotter climates with more intense sun - places where a detached garage can reach ungodly temps during a mid-summer sunny day).
The 02 I parted out was this year good, but I've come across a handful of them over the years. Not sure why it's only the reverse section. Maybe something to do with lamination process to merge the individual lenses?
Its extremely common in texas, the camaro reverse cover falls out of the tail light assembly. Mine has not but I see them regularly on FB classifieds missing those pieces
I honestly can't believe these guys been around these cars this long and never seen the reverse lenses come out!😂 Very common problem today and now there's even a issue arising with the LT tails delaminating in the reverse causing it to look dark and not clear. They do have knock off Candy Corns now for about 250$, after the original buyers were scammed at 450$ a set, look at Ebay
I honestly can't believe these guys been around these cars this long and never seen the reverse lenses come out!😂 Very common problem today...
A couple weeks ago I saw a beat up late 4th gen V6 car and was thinking of this thread, I specifically looked at the tail lights just to see if they had any obvious issues. Nothing. I still have yet to see a single example have this problem in my region. And yet, we get plenty of sun for all the headlights to turn hazy.
I don't see many of these cars on the road as daily drivers anymore though. Mostly just at shows or cruising on nice days, and that's how it has been for many years now. Maybe this problem is more obvious in areas not just with more heat/sun, but also with more of these cars still on the road daily.
I just had this happen to me last week, reverse lens fell off the driver side tail light. I've had the LS1 tails on my car for quite a few years now. I am in Florida and the car has spent most of it's life outside. Lens fell off while driving, so I couldn't even try to salvage it.
I have always wanted the export tails but refused to pay the ridiculous amounts people want for them... Have you seen eBay lately? For everyone loving the LT1 tails more, LS1 sets are like $300-500 shipped...
So yes, imagine my surprise that someone is finally reproducing exports. I dropped the $270 on them, will review them when they arrive.
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