Ford’s rear Lightbar a bust.

[Ottocycle]

The light bars themselves are not vehicle-specific, including the one sold by Ford. It's the additional harness that comes with the Ford Maverick kit that is the problem, not the light bar. I've had zero issues with my Putco light bar because I used the Curt T-harness for the Maverick, not the Putco/Ford harness. We also ran the wire to the battery that ensures the light bar controller functions properly.

I'm not aware of anyone who's used the Curt T-harness having any problems.

X2 i used the curt harness and the 48 inch version and it works great

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[Dad]

Seen too many rear light bars on beat up, pimped out, trailer trash trucks to even like them anymore..

This thing seemed like a knee jerk reaction accessory by Ford to begin with.

Sorry about your experience.
Thanks for the heads up.

I tend to agree. While I'm all for more safe lighting, I don't see a big advantage offered by the rear light bars for the expense and install trouble/time trade-off.

 

[sundancer370]

Unsure - but it is not both taillights - only the drivers side for me. More likely wiring harness issue?????

I may have a solution for the drivers side taillight not working. It involves making two changes to the wiring harness, one necessary and one optional

1) Mandatory. I cut the brown wire and connected a 47ohm 2w resister between the two ends. This I believe limits the inrush current for the Putco module which seemed to cause the Maverick control module for the taillights to think there was a fault because it drew to much current. FYI, I also tried a 100ohm and a 33 ohm resister and they both seemed to work.

2) Optional. I wired the Putco module to take power from the 12v power point in the bed. On the Putco module there is a red wire that loops back to the module. One side of this has a small piece of heatshink on it. Cut this fairly close to the module (4" or so) and use the heatshrink or electrical tape to insulate the end of it. Then take the other side of the red wire and spice/connect in into the 12v power point in the bed. Doing the black ground wire is optional to splice/connect into the bed power point but I did it in the course of trying to make everything work. This provides power to the Putco module once the vehicle is ON.

You could also take the Red wire mentioned in 2) and connect to to an always on circuit or preferably a circuit that is comes on when the vehicle unlocks. I'm not sure what the current draw is for the Putco module is for battery drain though.

 

[Aherpa]

The light bars themselves are not vehicle-specific, including the one sold by Ford. It's the additional harness that comes with the Ford Maverick kit that is the problem, not the light bar. I've had zero issues with my Putco light bar because I used the Curt T-harness for the Maverick, not the Putco/Ford harness. We also ran the wire to the battery that ensures the light bar controller functions properly.

I'm not aware of anyone who's used the Curt T-harness having any problems.

Question for you since you have a Curt installed. . . .
On the Curt T-harness, does the flat 4 pin 'output' connector plug into the trailer, or, does it plug into the back of the 4 pin connector on the Maverick's bumper, or, is it used to run the light bar?

Thanks much.

 

[CTYankee]

Question for you since you have a Curt installed. . . .
On the Curt T-harness, does the flat 4 pin 'output' connector plug into the trailer, or, does it plug into the back of the 4 pin connector on the Maverick's bumper, or, is it used to run the light bar?

Thanks much.

Nothing plugs into the trailer 4-pin. The Curt T-Harness connects in line with the tail light harness behind the tail light itself so it stays completely independent of the tow system.

 

[dennish]

Nothing plugs into the trailer 4-pin. The Curt T-Harness connects in line with the tail light harness behind the tail light itself so it stays completely independent of the tow system.

Gave up on the ford accessory and purchased a curt harness and opt7 lightbar. Did you run the 12v power from the curt to the battery or use the 12v connector in the bed?

 

[CTYankee]

Gave up on the ford accessory and purchased a curt harness and opt7 lightbar. Did you run the 12v power from the curt to the battery or use the 12v connector in the bed?

We ran power from the battery primarily because we didn't think about using the 12V in the bed. I think I prefer it that way anyway, since I can have the light bar augmenting the hazards even if the ignition is turned off.

 

[jewc75]

Its not even a Ford part....its made by Putco. Its a not a FORD lightbar bust. Its a generic 48 inch piece of shit.

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