Reviews for Rugged Ridge 11226.12 Elite Tail Light Guards for 18-23 Jeep Wrangler JL with Factory LED Tail Lights
Loved these soooooo much……BUT, I have blind spot monitoring. When these were installed (which was easy) my radio, ac, and one touch roof stopped working. Could not figure out what it was . Did get a message that Blind Spot monitoring was unavailable. Removed the covers and everything worked again. Not sure why that impacted so many different things. Wish they worked for me bc they looked amazing.
Purchased these for my 2.0 Rubicon. They look great and work well, ONLY issue I have i have is when the back door opens, it swings against the guard and cracks it. Just be careful.
I’m giving it only a 3 star review because of the install. They really don’t discuss how all the electrical plugs need to be removed. Okay…so maybe not a huge deal, but it would be nice to know how much really has to come off the tail light. The real issue is the screw holes of the back plate. When this was powder coated, they did not cover the internal threads so all the debris and gunk was caked inside the first third of each screw hole making it impossible to insert the screws. What’s needed is a tap to rethread each of the holes. It took us an extra hour because we did not have a tap.
Ended up throwing out. They break easily along attachment points when tightening. They do not work with Bushwacker Trail armor Corner guards. This time around I took the Trail armor over the light guards.
This is a great looking product! They really changed the look my Jeep while adding some protection to the tail lights. Please be aware that this product is not guaranteed to fit with any heavy duty tire mount other than the Rugged Ridge brand. I had the Mopar HD mount and carrier and it would hit the light guard on the hinge side when I would open the tail gate to more than 90 degree angle. Opening it all the way would knock the light right off. Installation was easy, however a couple of the screws were very very difficult to tighten all the way when screwing the guard sides together. I ended up getting the Rugged Ridge HD spare tire mount kit just so that I could keep the light guards on because I like the looks and protection that they provide. I then ran into another issue with the 3rd brake light relocation because my wheels light mugs go deep into the center hub so the lug nuts that hold the 3rd brake light on wouldn't work. My wheels were solid faced so I then had to order new wheels and then ended up installing a Rugged Ridge round LED 3rd brake light behind the wheel. I had/chose to spend lots of extra money to make everything work and am happy with the end result. I hope this review will save someone else from the need to take extra steps to make these work.
BE AWARE THAT IF YOU HAVE THE MOPAR OVERSIZE TIRE CARRIER AND A 35" TIRE YOU MAY HAVE ISSUES WITH THESE. I had to either remove them or change my tailgate tire carrier to avoid possible taillight damage. They should warn you.
Good quality and decent fit however not perfect. **I did lose motion detection after these were mounted** reverse back up sensors still work.
I like the looks of the finished product but I don't think this was actually made for the JL.
When I started to install the guards it was obvious they were not built for a 2018 JL. I thought it would only take a few adjustments but it took a LOT of grinding and drilling to make these fit my Jeep. I spend monty in hopes the items I buy are made for my vehicle. This wasn't. It took me over an hour to fit the first one and a bit less for the second. The only reason I gave it 3 stars is that it is rigged and should do the job of protecting my tail lights. If. you are not interested in doing some drilling and grinding don't get these.
Couldn't use. Didn't fit Gladiator lights.
These look great, however the video provided for installation is a different type of lighting system (halogen). The wire connected to the Hour Glass shaped LED was squashed causing a malfunction of the lights. I wasn't aware that I needed to run them through the top vs the side. I was able to get them working again but the wires look awful and I am afraid they will eventually fail. (They are expensive lights) I recommend Quadratec upload a different video for the proper tail lights and stress how important it is to run the LED wire through the top and not the side. PS, if you sell replacement wiring harness for the LED Tail Lights please let me know as I would like to replace the exposed wires.