Looks like I have to jack the bike up and loosen the shocks. I opted to wait as I have new shocks coming but did anyone have to take their taillights off to do this. Having trouble getting in the last bolt.

 

It's not easy, but IIRC, I didn't have to take either the shocks or the lights off.

 

On what bike? On my 48 I didn't have to Nd it was 1,2,3

 

You shouldn't need to mess with your shocks or lights.
Use blue Loctite. Do one bolt at a time, a little loose at first. Then, set your sissy bar in place to align everything and torque to spec. Verify tire to bolt clearance.
Pic from:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US...ts/-J02896.pdf

 

Wasn't easy but I put mine on my nightster without jacking it up or taking anything else loose.

 

yeah I'm having trouble getting a wrench into the spot infront of the light at a straight angle with a torx bit on it. Any suggestions?

What do you use to hold the retainer clip or whatever in place by the bolt near the light or does it just hold itself there.

 

The clip secures itself via the bend at the bottom. You'll need to hold it to re-thread the bolt into it. I was able to barely squeeze my hand in there, iirc. There's another piece of hardware under there that's a fender support. That's why I said do one bolt at a time. You don't want the entire assembly under the fender to come apart. I probably used an Allen-wrench style torx tool to get to the bolt head next to the light and/or removed the lense to gain clearance. It looks like if the lense was removed, you could use a 6" extension so your ratchet falls towards the outboard side of the light housing. I used some bungee-nut bolts I made for re-assembly and they require only a standard wrench. They're great for securing a pack.
Thread for bungee bolts. Post #11. I made a set in chrome and had a set powder coated black. I wound up liking the chrome:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...ked-bolts.html

 

Never thought of taking the lenses off I'll have to try later thanks