Just bought a set of smoked front and side marker lights. The front housing is super easy to replace but I am having a heck of a time replacing the side markers. Just to be clear , not the bulb itself but the whole reflector. Jeep dealer says the whole fender needs to come off. Anybody know where to begin? Much appreciated.

 

You have to drill out the first rivet. There is no saving it either. Then you have to pull up on the fender and pull out the light. It's a big pain in the ***. Use the PDF instructions for the side marker euro guards. They make it sound simple.
Here: http://thejeep.com/shop/2007-2009+WR...Stainless.html

I took mine out to tint them. Then I used small black zip ties until I got replacement rivets.

 

Just a quick update after my experience this weekend. The rivet DOES comes off without having to drill it out. You can just push it out, and then reuse it (that's what I did). All you have to do is hit the pin with a hammer and small screwdriver (the diameter of the pin) and knock it out, then pull the river out.

I had not idea how that thing worked but a friend of mine convinced me that it could indeed be reused and he was right. May take a minute of careful hammering to get it loose and out. Watch out where you're knocking them, they're easy to lose when they pop out.

 

When you say you hit the pin with a hammer, are you talking step 1C in the euro guard instructions? I'm going to have to do this soon to replace a cracked cover and I'm not looking forward to it.

Any other tips would be of great help and appriciated.

Thanks

 

I just changed my stock side markers with smoked ones. Not too bad but a lot of skinned fingers and pinched hands. Be warned. I used the same directions as listed above.
I pushed the center of the rivet out with a good allen head screwdriver (1C in directions above). I didn't use a hammer. It was very tight but it worked.
Separated the rivet and removed. Next I pulled the light bulb wiring out and moved it out of the way. If you look at a new light housing you can see the "v notch" at the top. It needs to be pushed out of the way and the light will begin to move down. The inner and outer fenders just need to be pulled apart (very tight fit) to allow the housing to begin to slide down. The housing gets stuck a bit and it gets frustrating but I did it in about 10 minutes having never done it before. Just be careful as it seems you could break something easily but I was able to salvage everything without incident.
I don't know if any of this makes sense but good luck.