Lariat Only - LED Rear Bulb Replacement Question - Lariat Owners with LEDs

[A.Bursell]

I finally decided the best way was to use leds and resistors. So I installed resistors on the front turn signals and the rear bulbs, two on each side. I also installed less on the front running lights. Haven't had any issues since. It's the only way to go and I believe others have had similar experience.

Not the only way and arguably not the best way. I think most people would say the best way to go is disabling the bulb outage notification in Forscan. It's easier, completely reversible, and leaves your wiring intact vs. having multiple potential points of corrosion and failure.

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[A.Bursell]

I'm looking into getting the same DD bulbs. Would you mind posting a pic with them on at night? Tia

It's hard to get good pictures of lights. They look just like the OEM lights except the colors are more intense (i.e. more white, more red, more amber) and depending on the bulbs you choose they are brighter. You definitely won't be able to tell from pictures that they are instant-on and off as well.

I like the DD product because it basically looks OEM vs. others that essentially scream "look at me I put the brightest lights possible in my truck!"

 

[dusty1787]

@A.Bursell and @jimcebula , with the exception of Forscan for the hyperflashing, all you did was just swap out the stock for the DD bulbs and that was it? no resistors or anything like that?

and if so... how long have you been using them...and you have not had any issues I have experienced with LEDs during that time with the DD bulbs... correct?. If so, I will hold out to see if they have a black friday sale, or ask for them as a xmas gift from family.

 

[A.Bursell]

@A.Bursell and @jimcebula , with the exception of Forscan for the hyperflashing, all you did was just swap out the stock for the DD bulbs and that was it? no resistors or anything like that?

and if so... how long have you been using them...and you have not had any issues I have experienced with LEDs during that time with the DD bulbs... correct?. If so, I will hold out to see if they have a black friday sale, or ask for them as a xmas gift from family.

Correct- no changes other than Forscan. I've had my setup for maybe 6-8 months with zero issues.

I do think DD does a black Friday thing but don't recall if it's only certain items or how it works. Might be able to search for info on last year's sale?

 

[semicolin]

With the tail lamp resistors, did you need one for each lamp, or is one on each side enough to do both the top and bottom lamp?

 

[Dad]

I develop aftermarket LED lighting and have run tests with my personal Lariat Maverick and various XL and XLTs. I've seen (or rather, caused) this behavior many times on these trucks.

The BCM monitors the total current draw of each lighting function in the lamp. If you draw too much power, the BCM concludes there is a fault and turns off power to that entire function to prevent damage. This is why your LED accent is turning off along with the bulbs even though the bulbs are the only part drawing excess power. Cycling the headlamp switch resets the tripped safety function in the BCM.

If you have resistors installed, I would change to a different value.

If you don't have resistors, your bulbs probably have built-in resistors and are advertised as "CANBUS compatible" or similar jargon. In this case, the bulbs are simply incompatible with your vehicle.

Personally, I would change back to the OEM bulbs and wait for a full LED lamp to be released. Otherwise, you can swap to simple/dumb LED bulbs without built-in resistors and install your own resistors or make Forscan tweaks.

The bulbs are exactly the same between the premium and base lighting packages. However, the total current draw for the rear parking lights would be marginally higher due to the accent lighting.

Your post is spot on. I installed Lasfit CANBUS and after the brake light recall they became incompatible. Lasfit was good enough to offer refunds even though they were not at fault, but as of my post, they have yet to come with a working replacement. I've moved on as I've found the OEMS are plenty bright especially with the oversized light module one finds on the Maverick.

 

[semicolin]

I think that your post just forced me to mentally work through what is needed... four resistors, because there are actually two filament circuits (turn/brake) on each side.

Forscan it is!

 

[cyberdog]

My '23 Lariat doesn't seem to have any issues so far with the Lasfit bulbs, however, I haven't had ANY updates performed since taking delivery in April of '23. I look all the time in the mirrors for reflections, and they thankfully keep working. - At night especially, you can tell their lit due to their brightness, and absolutely see the add'l brightness when touching the brakes or turning on the turn signal.

Knowing at some point I'll need to bite the bullet for the updates, I did sign up for testing the new changes for the Lariats, but haven't heard so much as a peep from them. - I also have the front turn signals, and high-stop brake/cargo lights installed. (Wow are the cargo lights bright when the light up).

 

[Dad]

My '23 Lariat doesn't seem to have any issues so far with the Lasfit bulbs, however, I haven't had ANY updates performed since taking delivery in April of '23. I look all the time in the mirrors for reflections, and they thankfully keep working. - At night especially, you can tell their lit due to their brightness, and absolutely see the add'l brightness when touching the brakes or turning on the turn signal.

Knowing at some point I'll need to bite the bullet for the updates, I did sign up for testing the new changes for the Lariats, but haven't heard so much as a peep from them. - I also have the front turn signals, and high-stop brake/cargo lights installed. (Wow are the cargo lights bright when the light up).

Glad your bulbs working out. The villain was Ford's recall targeting the rear bulbs failure to identify a burned out bulb and that somehow affected the LasFits to not work. I put Lasfits in the turn signals and they are very bright. Same with the cargo light although, for that one CANBUS in not needed.

 

[Tbone289]

I've found the OEMS are plenty bright especially with the oversized light module one finds on the Maverick.

I agree that the OEM bulbs are plenty bright. Unfortunately their response time to brake input is poor.

 

[Dad]

I agree that the OEM bulbs are plenty bright. Unfortunately their response time to brake input is poor.

Oh. I hadn't considered that and frankly have never checked. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Tbone289]

Oh. I hadn't considered that and frankly have never checked. Thanks for the heads up.

I sent you a DM. At highway speeds, the faster response time of LED can provide the vehicle behind you several extra feet of stopping distance.

 

[Aherpa]

All,
If you haven't read any of my posts on here before I have a 23 Lariat EB which I have tried to the best of my ability to troubleshoot and used different LEDs as well to get them to work. With the exception of going extreme high end price or using resistors.. I would like to know have any Lariat owners just simply swapped out their brake bulbs with LED (if so...what/how/make/etc) and have had them working with no issues at all? Or did you have to use resistors or anything to make them work?

I used the morimoto and lasfit bulbs and what issue I was having is that the whole Lariat Rear assembly would randomly turn off while driving. A simple physical turning off and back on with the dash switch would "reset" the issue and they would start working again but would randomly turn off (hours/days/weeks/...randomly no way to know) again. When the assembly was dark, it would be the whole assembly plus the LED accent lighting(not just the bulbs). But if (while the assembly was dark) you hit the brakes or turn signal, the LED bulbs would flash like they are supposed to (but not the accent lights). And when they are working, they would function as needed. But when they went dark, the light switch off and on trick was a temp fix.

I could only tell if I seen my reflection in windows/cars behind (or if I got out to check while vehicle is running) to make sure the lights were still on. It got so bad previously that I would, on any moderate drive, make it a habit to quickly switch them off and on again while driving to make sure if they happened to go dark, it would then "reset them". But every time I would start a drive, I would start the truck and switch the lights off and on before leaving. After too many times I said screw it and swapped back to the stock bulbs I still had, and have had 0 issues since. So that makes me think the Lariat trim does not like the LEDs or the LEDs are not fitting the right parameters for the "computers with wheels".

I am up to date on all my recalls, tried forscan and everything, but both sets of bulbs would cause the issue, and I do not want to get rear ended or pulled over and ticketed. But after a few months now, I am definitely missing the nice brightness and look of the LEDs.

So I am reaching out to my fellow Lariat owners who have swapped the rear brakes to LEDs... have you had issues like mine or not? and what bulbs have you used with no issues?

Here is a link to one of my previous posts where I have 2 different video clips showing what the issue is. Seeing the Lariat has a different rear light assembly than the other 2, this does not seem to affect the XL or XLT. I believe the Lasfit site even states the bulbs for the brakes as not compatible with the Lariat.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/auto-headlamp-setting-problem.39858/post-760504

so TL-DR... Lariat Owners ONLY.... if you swapped out brake lights with LEDs and have not had any issues, what bulbs are you using, or resistors, or what did you do to make them work? And have you experienced the same issues as I have posted 2 videos about, or havent paid attention to them? Thanks everyone!

EDIT: I was reminded the Signature Lights may also be included on this, not just the Lariat. such as the Black Appearance Package*

I installed Sylvania red 3157R (I had to trim off the little tabs) in the tail lights of my hybrid Lariat and they worked fine. They are not blinding but brighter than the originals.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A77RU5I?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

After installing the OPT7 light bar, my dash turn signal indicators started to 'fast flash', but the tail lights and turn signals all worked normally.

I was finally able to get rid of the 'fast flash' of the dash indicators by disabling 'bulb outage' in the BCM using Forscan. There are three 'bulbs' that are monitored. I only disabled the ones concerning the tail lights. After doing that, everything works. No dash indicator fast flashing and all the lights work like they should.
Open the BCM and search for 'bulb outage' to see them. Sadly, you cannot adjust the amperage range, you can only disable or enable the feature.

I manually look for burnt out bulbs myself, but not having the automatic feature 'on the job' for me will be missed.

Good luck.

 

[Dad]

I sent you a DM. At highway speeds, the faster response time of LED can provide the vehicle behind you several extra feet of stopping distance.

Yeah. Saw the DM. Thanks. Considerable time lapse between the LEDs and the OEM incans.

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