Need to Remove Fuse/Battery Disconnect?

[chrisj]

Hi. New here. I just bought some new taillights for my '09 LB (eBay) and of course the connectors didn't match. I cut the car-side connector off and have stripped the wires, and have also done the same with the taillight side.

My question is this. Do I need to disconnect power to the taillight before connecting those wires (especially ground) together? My immediate plan is to twist the wires from the car/light together and black tape them. I just don't want a meltdown when I go a twistin'.

Thanks for any info.

[Brian]

You should always disconnect the battery when doing electrical work.

[Alezius]

and if your able to solder and shink wrap them instead of tape, that's even better!

by the way, wich taillights did you buy? i'd like to see a picture of it install if it's possible (close shot),
because everybody says it's not a perfect fit (interior corner) on a 2009 Hatchback. ans i'd really like to change mine.:drool:

[chrisj]

Alezius, I got what was called a set from eBay that fit 2006-2009, but of course it was NOT a perfect fit, although I don't mind at all. Here is a picture of the ones I got.
This is a close shot that shows how it doesn't run along the car's line around the back and extends a little at the hatch, but you can't tell it at all. I installed them myself a couple of days ago and they look fine to me. I was halfway through the install when I discovered there were no bulbs in the tail lights, so I had to put the non-working factory light back in to go to the auto parts store for bulbs.

Lights work great.

[Alezius]

thanks for the pictures! Look good on your car!

[chrisj]

Thanks. I like the lights, but these were $60 or so, so I could change them out easily to ones that exactly fit an '09 later on. BTW, I did the twist and black tape method, so changing would be easy. I may leave these on for a year or so.