the first pair of tail lenses are available! :D

[Pete M]

at $200 for a pair, they are affordable, but they are not exactly cheap.   I was really hoping for cheap. 

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115160942565

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175085409390

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175085411417

[NHMJXJ]

Yeahhh ... no.

[DesertRat1991]

I'm glad to see these hit the market.

 

It's been a while since I looked at tail light prices but the cheapest one I see on ebay (that isn't broken) is going for $190.  So a new lens is about half the cost of a used tail light. Meh. Not a doorbuster deal but competitive enough to consider if you need a replacement.

 

I'm also interested to see where this half-a-tail light strategy is going.  Maybe profits from the first run will help cover the tooling costs for the tail light housing. But who knows.

 

[Jtslick89]

I'm waiting for the "how to" videos or @cruiser54 Bible to tail lamp lens replacement 😜

[Keyav8r]

Forget the taillight lens.  I want to find one of those ‘96 Comanches!

[89 MJ]

I was really hoping that these would have been a more reasonable way to clean up my taillights. I would love to have some silver trimmed tails and to remove the yellowing of my reverse light lenses, but I think I’ll just paint mine for now. 

[neohic]

This just might break up the used taillight market. Figure how many times we’ve seen prices like that on a pair of “useable” lights? I think these are a great option. 

[Rymanrph]

How do you separate the lens from the housing?

[Pete M]

heat can be used to soften the glue, or you can cut them apart with a dremel.  I'm sure there will be videos coming soon  

[500 MJ]

I like it, aftermarket support is never a bad thing. I feel that the OEM tails in great shape and poor shape will still hold their respective values. The high dollar, gotta be perfect, restoration folks will want nice OEM and the cheap “get me legal so I can drive my truck” folks can still get a legal bolt on light for less than these lenses. 
 

My biggest fear with this is that we may have too many DIYers trying to improve their truck’s appearance and do a poor job with cutting up the housings they have to glue on a new lens. Simply put, tail lights that are in good “driver quality” shape are the ones I fear for the most. 
 

Getting repop 3D printed housings available ASAP is a big item now…

[boxyjeep]

I bought a pair.  Will share how they look when I get them.

[AeroNautical]

15 hours ago, Keyav8r said:

Forget the taillight lens.  I want to find one of those ‘96 Comanches!

Yeah, all the work they put into producing these, you'd think they'd know the last year for the truck, haha. 

[Jesse J]

That is over my price range atm. more urgent things to fix on my truck

[Parei_doll_ia]

Molds are expensive, they have to cover development costs somehow.

[Limeyjeeper]

Got a pair of the Black ones. Price isn't bad considering how small the market is and if they are really sparkly lol. No matter what you do to a 30yr old piece of plastic it will never look as good as new. So for the Restomod crowd like me it could be a winner. 

[TieDyeJK8]

Bought a set of the black for my MJ. Can't wait to get them installed! Price wasn't ideal but buy once cry once. 

[ghetdjc320]

Mixed feelings. It’s good they made these but they only made half a product. It’s hard to find good quality housings. Are they expecting the 3d printing community to make the housings? Only other thing is the actual color seems off on the lenses. Maybe it’s just the pictures but they look a bit cartoonish to me. Just comparing to NOS lights but they don’t seem to be made of the same plastic or have the same transparency of the originals. 

[Pete M]

they are different, but they are very nice looking.  NOS on the right.  replacement on the left (loosely held to an empty housing).  I'll try to snap some pics in the sunshine tomorrow (assuming GA gets any sunshine tomorrow)

 

 

[boxyjeep]

Damn, you got yours already?  Mine is still somewhere in UPS land.  Hopefully get it this week.  Went with the black trim.

[Pete M]

I've had a pair of pre-production lenses for a while now.  when a random company asks if they can send a free sample of new MJ parts for your opinion, you don't say no.   but I wasn't able to share anything with y'all until the lenses were fully available.

[eaglescout526]

13 minutes ago, Pete M said:

I've had a pair of pre-production lenses for a while now.  when a random company asks if they can send a free sample of new MJ parts for your opinion, you don't say no.   but I wasn't able to share anything with y'all until the lenses were fully available.

I knew it!! Glad I read into those subtle hints from our messages. 

[Pete M]

please ignore the missing reflector inside the disassembled housing.  this was the only housing I have that has a perfectly clean mating surface for the new lens and I haven't yet stolen the reflector from one of my smashed housings. 

 

and as much as I want to show it lit up, that just isn't in the cards at the moment. 

 

but enough of that, here are my outside comparison shots.  black trim is the NOS housing.

 

 

 

 

 

[89 MJ]

Looks like a pretty good product. 

[buxmj]

Thanks Pete! Also, great to know they reached out to you a while back to see what your thoughts are. 

 

Buck.

[Pete M]

even with the steep-ish price, I do feel people will be happy with them.   

 

I look forward to the various how-to vids that I'm sure are coming   (this housing came to me broken apart.  my luck with using heat has not been stellar and so I've stopped trying.)