chevy truck headlight

I put a new headlamp in my 93 chevy truck today and if I would have had the designer of this truck here I would have repeatedly kicked him in the groin!
What the hell were they thinking?
What was wrong with the old chrome frame and 4 screws to hold the light in place?
I use to be a certified mechanic back in the early 80's so you would think I would be able to quickly change a headlamp.
On the chevy you have to remove 6 screws from the grille and then remove both parking/turn signal lamps (8 more screws) and the remove the grille.
And then you still cant get to the headlamps. You must then remove 4 bolts that hold the lamp housing to the core support.
All of this to change a halogen high beam bulb.
What a bucket load of crap!
And I thought Ford was the only one to do something this stupid.
Why could they not have left access holes in the core support? That way you would not have to remove anything but the bulb.
There is an access hole for the low beam bulb but it will not turn and come out unless you remove the wiring connector first but there is not enough room to pull the connector far enough to come away from the bulb. I suppose you could force it but with the connector being vintage 1993 plastic I would be very careful.

Doesn't sound like they gave it too much thought. Unless they want to make it so the average Joe has to go to the dealer.

You think that is nuts,when I was getting the coupe state inspected this past week the mechanic told me the design geniuses now have him buying an $700. torque wrench to work on the new vehicles.It seems that they use advanced design stretch bolts that require a certain primary torque to be applied and then they must be advanced a specific number of degrees.He said the torque wrench takes orientation from satelite or some such thing,[all position digital readout] not sure I got the satellite part correct as my eyes were glazed over by the insanity at that point. And they wonder why..........................

I have similar feelings toward the Ford engineers that designed the oil drain plug on my wife's '99 Explorer.

The plug is aimed at the frame so that when you remove it the oil shoots out sideways (not down toward the catch basin as that would make too much sense) splashing all over frame support and the ground, and my arm and the tire and the ramp and the dog that has now come over to see why I am saying !&%&*435()(*&*$^%#$#^$%!!!!!

Anybody else experience this???

titleist1,how about one of these with the nipple and a piece of hose? http://www.quickoildrainvalve.com/ I had one on a VW diesel and it worked great. Chris

traderfjp wrote:Doesn't sound like they gave it too much thought. Unless they want to make it so the average Joe has to go to the dealer.

I don't know what the going shop rate is now. $120 ??
But it would cost you probably 1/2 hour so $60 to replace a $6 headlamp. With designs like this it's no wonder they are going tits up.

Did you replace both sides like they always recomend to do? They get to sell twice as many that way.

samhill wrote:Did you replace both sides like they always recomend to do? They get to sell twice as many that way.

No, Just the offending one. I will take my chances.

I feel your pain -- used to own a '94............

I'm a Ford guy. I get a kick out of my sister in law replacing her Chevy turck tail light & circuit board every year or so at $85 a pop. What idiots would put a circuit board IN the tail light? I'm not sure if they still do that or not. Her truck is 10 yrs old or so.

My '07 went back to basics (THANK GOD!!). Rear drum brakes again (although there are no springs -- just a thick "torsion bar" that holds everything in place....we'll see how much fun THAT is to remove.....) , headlight bulbs all accessible from engine compartment & the rear taillights are normal again.....although they are MASSIVE!