1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

01 Tail Light Assembly Replacement

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by heids, Jan 20, 2015.

  1. heids

    heids New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2015
    1
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Model:
    One
    I'm a not-terribly-handy (but not totally inept!) apartment dweller with few tools, but it looks like I'm going to need to go buy a deep socket. I park on the street and came out the other day to find my driver side tail light pretty smashed up. I found one for $75 at the junk yard and believe I can swap them myself. I found a YouTube video that shows how to do it on a Gen II. On the Gen II, the nuts holding the assembly in place are 10mm. Definitely not the case on the Gen I. They're much smaller. I have a set of sockets but nothing deep enough to get me past those long bolts, but I'd rather not buy a whole set, since I'm not even sure whether I'd need metric or standard.

    Long intro, but simple question: anyone know what size nuts hold the tail light assembly in place on a 2001 Prius?

    Thanks!
     
    #1 heids, Jan 20, 2015
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    23,859
    15,514
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV


    The fasteners on your Prius are definitely metric. Are you positive those nuts aren't 10mm? I'm not looking right at mine at the moment, but picturing them in my head and that seems about right. If you think they're smaller, maybe you could pick up a 10 and an 8. You could probably make an open-end wrench work also - the torque involved is not very high.

    You say you have a socket set already - if you take the 10mm socket from there and do not attach it to your driver, will it slip down over the stud far enough to confirm the fit on the nut?

    -Chap
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Jan 21, 2015
    usnavystgc likes this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)