So I got an extra set of headlights so I could paint them, I done like I was told, put them in the oven at low temp, take out and pry loose. Well I tried to pry loose, they are like concreted in, I put them in the oven so many times trying to loosen up that glue, aint workin seems like it is getting harder. Don't want to mess them up any ideas or am I just being a paranoid little baby? lol

 

how new are they and what temp are you trying at ? how long in the oven ? on the newer heads they are a lil more of a pain so ive heard id try 225 at 10 min then try again using 2-3 flat head screw drivers start at the side that has the least tabs pry tabs up then start pulling lens away from back stick screw driver in to hold apart using another to help out.....thats really all the advice i can give i just did mine and i did the 225 at 10min and it worked right away....mines also a 04

 

did you check if the 08s have the little tabs on them that keep them on like the 04s do?

 

i used a hunting knife to seperate them. worked well.. just dont slip

 

The 06-08s take more time and patience than the 02-05s.

 

It is from a 08. Yes it has the little plastic tabs on it and I tried to pry them up. I put them in the oven at 220 for 12 minutes then tried to pry them, didnt work so I put them back in the oven for 10 more minutes. repeated a couple of times it seems like the glue is just getting harder. I am going to try it again this weekend just didnt want to mess them up. Was just seeing if there was a little trick out there. Thanks everyone

 

You need to leave them in the oven long enough for the plastic tab that has the 2 bolt holes gets soft where it starts becoming pliable. You are going to bend and try and purposely eform the black housing part by prying it away from the lens. This will allow you to put the housing back in the oven and so it won't re-stick to each other. I used a heat gun and just remolded the outer lip after I was all done and ready to put back to gether, but I didn't flod it all the way back, but rather kept it like that and just used extra RTV sealant to seal them up.

The sealant Chrysler uses is very tough. You only have like 3 maybe 4 min topps to work with it and it needs to be re-heated. It will be barely pliable when the black housing begins to get pliable(which is why i said leave them in until the housings begins to be pliable). I stuck my hand in the oven at about 10min and began checking by bending the plastic tab. Took 225*F at ~13 minutes for me.
The silicone will peel in a whole piece off of the slick plastic lenses. You will have to later on scrape and peel all that crap off the black housinf once separated.

I had 2 screwdrivers handy to split up the pressure of initial prying. Start diggin as deep as you can in a corner as quick as you can and then you have a head start. I began in the upper inside corner at the top of the bolted black bracket. Go a litte bit one way, reheat and then go the other way reheat and then it should pull apart by hand after that. i was pretty rough with mine and I only got a tiny hairline fracture crack that isn't even noticeable on the bottom. Again, i was pretty rough and began to have littl epatience with them. It's very hot working over those things and frustrating knowing how fast u gotta work and keep re-heating them.
Took me likr 45 min each headlight cuz they went in the oven total of 3 times each.

Make sure you take the rubber boot of that seals against the grill....it will melt...lol

 

This is the How-to from the "other" forum


(Last time I checked they didn't have a 'how-to' for these year model headlights but now they do. I do it slightly different than the way already posted. You may want to discard this or possibly add it to the existing one, either way is fine with me)

For this project you're going to need a few things:

1.) Paint/clear coat
2.) Primer
3.) Masking tape
4.) Sandpaper(optional)
5.) 1 small flat-head screwdriver
6.) Black Silicone/Gasket Maker
7.) Oven

**Before you get started read through the whole how-to and make sure you understand each step so you don't get yourself in a bind later, I've done 6 lights using this method and it works for me. Good Luck.**

First thing you're gonna do is take your headlights off your truck. 2 screws under the hood and one nut inside the fender well hidden behind a rubber grommet should get it (I think they're all 10mm). Also, take the bulbs out of your headlight housing at this time. You also may want to take note of how the headlight will seperate where the clear plastic and the black plastic meet.

Ok with the both headlights now in the house, you should pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees(on bake).

The ovens I have used have had 2 trays so I had to remove the top tray to fit these massive lights inside the oven.

While the oven is pre-heating I usually grab a cookie sheet(?) and atleast one oven mitt, you can use whatever you want or is easier for you. When the oven reaches 250 degrees it's time to put the headlight on the cookie sheet and slide it in the oven

Now, let the headlights bake for roughly 10 minutes. (This is the only way I've tried it and I've never had the headlights 'fog up' and I can seperate the headlight in 1 shot so there is no need to re-heat the lights) When the 10 minutes is up the headligths WILL BE HOT! Use the oven mitt(s) and take the headlight out of the oven. You can take the whole tray out and set it on top of the stove but I usually put a couple of pot holders or a towel on the counter to set the headlight directly on.
This is a top view to give you an idea of what your trying to do.

Where the clear housing meets up with the black piece is where you need to slide in the screw-driver to seperate the housing. Note the tabs, try not to break these since you'll want to use these again later, they pry up pretty easy though so that shouldn't be a problem.
Take your time, do a good job without doing to much damage and make your way around the headlight seperating/prying apart the headlight. If it becomes too tough to seperate, then put it back in the oven after it's cool to the touch for another 10 minutes and repeat as necessary(The first set I did was on my truck and I did have to re-heat them once, but the next 2 trucks I've done since then I've gotten apart in 1 shot( it's no big deal just make sure they are atleast cool to the touch before re-heating ). Once you seperate the clear housing from the black backing, the chrome piece with the reflector just pops out(take note of how it pops out since you're going to have to reverse this process without scratching your fresh paint job later)and it should look something like this.



**If you have other plans for the reflector on the side of your blinker besides painting over it, now would probably be a good time to take it out (4 little clips will do it)**
Ok now the easy part, prep and painting. Sanding, the first 2 trucks, I did not sand the headlights but on the last one I did. I think you could by-pass this step, I couldn't tell a difference except that you definitely need to come back with primer if you do because chrome comes off very easily and the plastic scratches pretty easy and I was using 1500 and 2000 grit sand paper so you want to make sure that if you sand to prime it before you paint to help smooth out you finish. Next step would be masking off the area(s) you don't want painted. Since the headlight 'bowl' stays attached to the black plastic piece, all I worry about taping off is the reflector 'bowl'.
I put a few light coats of paint and then a few heavier coats of paint. Waiting about 10 minutes between coats. I come back with the clear coat immediately after my last heavy coat of paint to lock in the shine. If you have a different technique then by all means use it, I'm not a professional.
Anyway, however you decide to paint, when you're done it should look like this


The directions on the paint can said to wait an hour before handling, I usually wait atleast 2 or 3 just to be on the safe side. I would definitely wait an hour though. Now it's time to start putting this thing back together and wrap this job up. Go back inside your house (you did paint outside or in a shed or something right?) and very carefully slide your freshly painted pieces back inside the clear housing. I cannot stress enough to take your time and if it's not going in, carefully slide it out and try again, if not you will be looking at some scuffed paint.
At this point I pre-heat the oven at 250 again. While waiting I put a nice bead of the black silicone in the groove that the clear housing goes into. When the oven is ready I put only the black plastic piece with the headlight bowl and the fresh bead of silicone back into the oven, again for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes pull the black piece back out (don't forget your oven mitt(s)) and slide the clear housing (which already has the painted piece locked inside of it) back into the grooves. It sounds easier than it is, if possible I suggest having somebody help out with this step but it can be done by yourself. Once you get it in place, and sometimes it doesn't cooperate, lock the tabs back down on the clear housing.
I added another bead of black silicone around the edges when I was done to get it as close as I could to a factory like seal. If you skip this step then you can put your headlights back on your truck now, if you do add another bead of silicone wait until it dries because it gets a little messy. I only added the last bead of silicone to the last truck I did so I'm not sure how much it helps in preventing the light from fogging up like I find mine from time to time first thing in the morning, it's nothing that can't be cured by turning your headlights on for a few minutes though so this last step is optional. That's about it....here is what I ended up with.

 

Wow, I searched for how to take apart the headlights and this was the first that came up, sweet.

Ok, planning on doing some HID retrofits in my truck, and I figured out how to do this, but what I wanna know, is has anyone ever taken the fog lights apart?

I wanna add some halos to mine, but Idk how to do it.

 

Thanks for the response. Did anyone have any spider webbing on their lenses? I baked mine at 220 for 10 minutes a couple of times but now I have some small spider webs on the lens.