tahiles

I've been into three out of four of my taillights now, the inner ones I replaced the bulbs when I replaced a burnt out license plate bulb. Thought while I was in there why not.

Today I replaced one of my outer taillights because it had a crack in it and my inspection is due this month.

In every taillight the small bulb mounts just crumbled. I'm talking about the tabs that catch the bulb when turned into the housing. The bigger bulbs, dual and single filament have the triangular looking twist mounts and go in and out fine. The smaller bulbs look like they were made from an inferior plastic that has deteriorated with age.

I don't really want to replace the wiring harness sub-assemblies at all four corners (PITA and not exactly economical). I'd like to find the twist mounts and splice them into the existing wiring.

Anyone else had this problem? And if so what did you do?