Removing rear door courtesy lights to replace bulbs

[turbopower6]

On a 1996 Suburban how do you remove the courtesy lamp lenses to replace the bulbs without breaking them. I thought I would ask before I start prying! Does the lens come off or does the whole assembly pop out? These are the lights on the two rear doors.

 

[WarWagon]

From the 1995 front doors I have had apart and I forget the back doors. Assuming they are the same and I recall the bulbs came out the same way. The complete light assembly should come out of the door panel. The lens does not come off. The bulb is pressed in on the end and the socket and wire pops out with the bulb in it. Want to play it safe you can take the entire panel off, but, it will ruin a Christmas tree type holder or two no doubt.

The bulbs are in the side toward the front of the vehicle.

 

[someotherguy]

Strongly suggest you pop the panel loose at the bottom and reach up behind it to pull the socket out of the lamp housing. While you -can- pop the housing out from the front of the panel, it isn't intended to work this way, and what often happens is you end up breaking the lens off the housing as it's glued on. The tabs on the housing are designed to hold it fast into the panel.

Richard