pulling bulbs with fat fingers

I'm looking to replace my interior lights with LED, and when I puled off the front map light, there's a foil reflector until the plastic cover... with the reflector installed I can get my fat fingers on the bulb to pull it out. When I started to remove the reflector, it felt attached- like I would rip or reak it if I tried to remove it. any suggestions, or do I just man up and pull out the foil reflector??

and to break the rules, anyone have a source on led puddle replacements for 2013? it's not just the bulb, you have to replace the whole fixture. the bulbs at drivelites were almost $100 for the pair- that's too much for courtesy lighting.

 

[Anime]

You can use a pair of pliers with something on the jaws to give them cushion and allow them to grip the smooth glass bulb, something like cloth tape or even duct tape can work. It helps to use enough tape so there is enough cushion for the tape to make as much contact as possible on the curved bulb surface, as just a hard, flat surface will contact just a tiny part of the bulb and can exert enough force to crush it.

Needle nose pliers work well for this, especially for smaller bulbs. Knipex even makes a set for the purpose, with vinyl cushions, called "bulb exchange pliers":

http://www.kctoolco.com/knipex-6-3-halogen-bulb-exchange-pliers-pl-grip-p/3041160.htm

Just take it easy and use the friction of the tape to "pull" the bulb out rather than just relying on squeezing the pliers to get enough force to grip it. You can of course put some good force on a bulb without it breaking, due to the shape, but you still need to watch it with pliers so you don't shatter the bulb.

There are also tools like spark plug boot pullers that have rounded, cushioned jaws, though they work better on the slightly larger auto bulbs.

You might also be able to just stick duct tape on or around the whole bulb to make a tab to pull it out, or be able to push rubber tubing over it and then pull it out.

 

[skippyp]

Thanks for the thoughts. I did try pliers and tape, but in the end I just carefully bent the reflector up and pulled the lights. too bad the second and third row dome lifhts are factory LEDs and not replaceable.