redoak45

Hey everyone,
First post here on the forum, hopefully in the right section for my question about my 03 Grand Cherokee. A couple days back a guy let me know my brakes lights were both out, the kicker is that the brake light above the rear glass works fine, but right & left sides are out. Here's what I've done so far:

Replaced bulbs
Replaced brake light switch
checked & replaced fuse

I've watched a couple YouTube videos where guys are talking about the light socket contacts not making contact and how you can slightly bend the tabs up to make connection. I did try this but could not even get a small screwdriver under the tabs....plus, the real mystery for me is that both right & left sides went out at the "same time" so it doesn't seem likely that it's a contact/connection issue within the socket. And,again the upper light is working fine.

Any suggestions? I am totally stumped!