Bulb Nightmare

Front turn signal bulb out on my 2001 Dakota. Piece of cake it’s only a bulb. Little did I know? After a trip to the local parts store to buy a bulb, which are only available in 2 packs, when I need the second one I can never find it. Reaching behind the headlamp assembly I discovered the bulb does not have enough clearance to be removed from the case. I proceeded to remove the entire headlamp assembly. Should have stopped here and went to a shop. I have over 40 years experience tearing things apart and reassembling them but this was a nightmare. It has been unseasonably warm here but at 40% plastic is not designed to snap apart. I will admit I should have searched for some instructions before going any further but it was just a bulb right. Upon disassembly I discovered it is designed to snap apart the head lamp assembly from the mount, but at 40% this is not easily done. Also the headlamp adjusting screws were rusted into the plastic retainer, if I had researched instructions I would not have had to remove them. The repair is not that bad once you understand how it is assembled. 3 bolts and a ball joint snap and the whole assembly is easily removed. A large hairpin retainer at the top and a small screw at the bottom and the mount is separated from the assembly. I did end up replacing both bulbs and the side marker light, reassembly was easy except for snapping the ball joint back in to place. I even ended up with the headlamp alignment on the money. So the moral of the story is no matter how simple a repair looks read the instructions first, I probably won’t to old to change my ways now, besides you learn from tearing apart more then is required.