Chill out, it's no big deal.

You are probably reading this because:

A) You have moisture in your tail lights

B) You know someone with moisture in their tail lenses.

C) You're bored

Either way, I¡¯m bringin¡¯ the goods for you today. I¡¯m going to tell you how to fix one of the biggest problems that plague the custom truck industry ¨C moisture in your tail lights.

You know the drill: You get home from the grind to find a nice brown box on your doorstep. You open the box and your heart lifts with joy at the sight of your new tail lights. You rush outside to put them on your rig. Then you wash your truck. Later that night or the next morning you notice that one tail light is all fogged up and the other has an inch of water resting in the bottom. ¡°Oh no,¡± you say. ¡°I¡¯ve got water in my tail lights!¡±

Before you get unhappy about buying some ¡°leaky¡± taillights, let me break down what actually happened: CSI style:

When you took off your old tail lenses you didn¡¯t replace the little rubber/foam gasket that seals the hole that the bulb twists into. Through years of abuse, your old gasket just wasn¡¯t up to the task of sealing against a new surface. You sealed (ha-ha) its fate when you washed your truck and poured water all over your new tail lights. That water found its way past that opening and into your tail lenses. This phenomenon actually happens all the time with your stock tail lights and it has a name: Fishbowl Syndrome.

There is a small rubber or foam gasket on your bulb socket. When you push your bulbs into the housing and twist them down, that gasket is compressed and seals the opening. This eliminates any water from entering your tail lights. This little gasket is often overlooked when installing new tail lenses. Once your stock gasket has been compressed for a while, it doesn¡¯t spring back as much and won¡¯t seal against a new surface.

There are two things that you can do to solve your problem:

1. Buy a new gasket. Any auto parts store worth their paychecks should carry this product for you.

2. Use petrolium jelly to seal the gasket. Spreading a small layer of petrolium jelly on the gasket will help it seal to the new surface temporarily.

Will Mahoney is an automotive junkie who lives in Cleveland, Ohio. He likes racing autocross and tinkering with trucks and cars. He currently writes online content and articles for Stylin Concepts, a leading retailer of truck accessories, suv accessories, seat covers, floor mats and any other aftermarket truck and SUV accessories.