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[Bodageta]

Every aftermarket third brake light I’ve bought in my life has leaked water into the cab. Sometimes you don’t know unless the carpet ends up wet or you pull the carpet up for other reasons. The leaks often show up far away from the light itself. Hopefully yours won’t leak but be aware of it.

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[Decayed]

Every aftermarket third brake light I’ve bought in my life has leaked water into the cab. Sometimes you don’t know unless the carpet ends up wet or you pull the carpet up for other reasons. The leaks often show up far away from the light itself. Hopefully yours won’t leak but be aware of it.

Interesting. I guess a little silicone adhesive couldn't hurt.

 

[DavesMav]

Looks great, just ordered one. I prefer the all chrome European look like this one gives. Thanks for sharing. I hope the aftermarket brings some nice options for tail lights down the road. Cheers,

Dave

 

[testa422]

Looks great, just ordered one. I prefer the all chrome European look like this one gives. Thanks for sharing. I hope the aftermarket brings some nice options for tail lights down the road. Cheers,

Dave

I’m hoping/waiting for some led tails as well

 

[felsf50]

I replaced my halogen third brake lamp with a fully LED unit. The installation was pretty straight forward. The only tools I needed for this were: T20 Torx bit, small pry tools, and an X-Acto hobby knife. I had to modify the connector on the new light just slightly. Overall, I'm very happy with new look. The look and feel of the new light is very comparable to stock despite only costing $33. I've previously purchased aftermarket replacement lighting that I could just tell were cheap, knock-offs, this doesn't seem like that at all. I'll update here if any issues arise though.


Here's the exact light that I used which has a chrome housing w/ clear lens: LED Third Brake Lights Cargo Lamp Center High Cap Mount Tail Light Chrome Housing
View attachment 23177
They also have a black housing w/ clear lens: LED Third Brake Lights Cargo Lamp Center High Cap Mount Tail Light Black Housing
View attachment 23178
Or a chrome housing w/ red & clear lens for an OEM appearance: LED Brake Light Compatible For Ford F-150 Super Duty Clear & Red Lens
View attachment 23179
This particular light looks to be VRacing brand but I think they're all the same to be honest. There were similar options on eBay for a few dollars less that looked identical.


New vs. original
View attachment 23158

The light came with a new gasket that I pre-applied to the back of the housing, this is shown below:
View attachment 23159

After removing the OEM light, you'll need to release a tab to gain access to the connector. The tab is identified below. I was able to carefully press this down and use a small pry tool to release it. This would likely be much easier and safer to access if you simply dropped the rear of the headliner down. I probably should have went that route as I could have easily punctured/damaged the headliner by trying to skip a step.
View attachment 23185

After removing the OEM light, I realized that the connectors vary slightly in that the guides are mirrored (luckily the wires are oriented correctly). The arrow points to the guide that I had to remove.
View attachment 23174

I used a hobby knife to trim this guide away. I scored it on each side then carefully cut through the remainder. This allowed to new light to be connected.
View attachment 23162
Installed look at cargo lighting in daylight.
View attachment 23163
Brake light in daylight.
View attachment 23164
Cargo lights.
View attachment 23165
Cargo and brake lights.
View attachment 23166
Brake light.
View attachment 23167
Brake light looking straight on at the back.
View attachment 23168


These pictures were taken in complete darkness, no garage lighting. I also just have the base Lariat, so no bed lighting, this is just the new third brake light illumination.
View attachment 23169 View attachment 23170 View attachment 23171 View attachment 23172

Editing to add Alternate OEM Ford option:

I actually found my old OEM LED Third Brake Lamp from my F150. Here it is with the OEM Halogen Maverick light for comparison. This would be another option if someone wanted to stay OEM but upgrade to fully LED. Install would be the same and the connector would require the same modification.
OEM LED Part number:
FL3Z13A613B

I found a couple of additional options that look to be true plug-and-play, as in no modification required to the connector.

Black housing, clear lens
View attachment 23330
Black housing, smoked lens
View attachment 23331
Smoked lens, Raptory Style 3-Dot LED
View attachment 23332

Was the length of the power cable long enough?

 

[Brett3550]

Now if only we could get a 3rd Brake Light with a built-in wireless camera that would come with a rear view mirror/monitor as well. That would be sweet.

 

[New England Aaron]

" I was able to carefully press this down and use a small pry tool to release it."

Any advice on the tab? I seem to be stuck, should I be pressing down on the top?

 

[New England Aaron]

I’d drop the headliner to avoid any damage. I pressed the tab down from the top and also had a pry tool underneath to simultaneously pry the tab towards the headliner. If the pry tool slipped it would have went right through my headliner. If you can just press it down from the top that would work, I just couldn’t get by pressing down alone.

So a tool pushing down and under the tab at the same time? or do you mean you pulled the headliner and got underneath it? Sorry, just never took down a headliner so nervous. Appreciate the help.

 

[CLH917]

So a tool pushing down and under the tab at the same time? or do you mean you pulled the headliner and got underneath it? Sorry, just never took down a headliner so nervous. Appreciate the help.

Are you the Reddit guy, also? Haha

I used what sounds like the same method as @JJC. I did not drop the headliner, and it’s a little bit of a pain to do it that way but it can definitely be done. I used the rounded pick tool on the top side to push the tab down, while using the panel tool on the bottom side to pull.

 

[New England Aaron]

Are you the Reddit guy, also? Haha

I used what sounds like the same method as @JJC. I did not drop the headliner, and it’s a little bit of a pain to do it that way but it can definitely be done. I used the rounded pick tool on the top side to push the tab down, while using the panel tool on the bottom side to pull.

lol yes that's me, thanks for the help man. I'll go grab some more tools, that helps a lot. It's just really hard to see in there. So essentially you want to pinch that tab together from the top and bottom?

 

[CLH917]

lol yes that's me, thanks for the help man. I'll go grab some more tools, that helps a lot. It's just really hard to see in there. So essentially you want to pinch that tab together from the top and bottom?

It’s incredibly hard to see and very tight quarters. If I remember correctly it’s basically one of these push tabs with a keeper on the back side. Similar to the photo. You just need to use that pick tool or something to push the “screw” out. Using the panel tool on the bottom side, or where the “head of the screw” is will just help do the pulling and give you a bit more leverage.

 

[New England Aaron]

It’s incredibly hard to see and very tight quarters. If I remember correctly it’s basically one of these push tabs with a keeper on the back side. Similar to the photo. You just need to use that pick tool or something to push the “screw” out. Using the panel tool on the bottom side, or where the “head of the screw” is will just help do the pulling and give you a bit more leverage.

That's so helpful man, thank you

 

[Allen King Jr]

This one

Ohh, the "Jellyfish Launcher" button

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