Recon LED Tailgate strip- installation notes
09-25-2009, 10:44 PM
#1
Bye F150, hello F250
Thread Starter
Recon LED Tailgate strip- installation notes
I recently bought, and installed, the Recon brand of LED strip- the one I got has both red LEDs for running, turn/stop, and white LEDs for reverse. For those with 09’s and up, you may want to modify yours for a better fit. Read on;
First a warning- the Recon, and I imagine others, have 50-60, or more, small LEDs that make up the light. You will only notice AFTER installing it and lighting it up, that not all the LEDs are lined up with each other and that affects the look. On mine, I think there are 50 red LEDs, 35 are pointed straight back, but 15, in random locations, are pointed slightly up or slightly down. So, when they are on, and you are behind, the light(s) look really red where they are pointed straight back, and not so red on the ones that are not pointed straight back, of course, depending on where you look at it from. If you can, check out the light bar before you buy one, look down the line of the LEDs and pick one that has the more lined up than the others.
Also, I noticed that the brake/turn LEDs (red ones) will not work while the white ones are on. I imagine that is by design.
On the Recon bar, there are 5, 3” strips that are screwed to the LED bar with a very short screw and raised washer, stainless I assume, and on the back of those strips is the 3M tape that you use to mount the bar to the vehicle’s body. On the first dry fit, I noticed that on the passenger side, one of these “mounting strips” lined up awkwardly with a little offset dent in the body panel. All 09’s and 10’s that I saw have this, it was not just me. I undid the right most mounting tab, drilled a 5/8” hole through the plastic about 1.25" to the right, and moved that tab to this new location. The 5/8” was needed as the mounting tab has a 5/8” raised hole for the small screw to go in to the middle of. Sorry, no pictures. In hindsight, I think I should have drilled a 1/8" hole, and that shoulder on the tab could have acted as a spacer for a little better fit. This will make more sense when you actually have to do this.
Now that the tab was screwed to the new location, I put a piece of black tape over the original hole from the back and a shot of silicone, to seal it up. Then, after a couple more measurements, and a rub down with rubbing alcohol, I peeled the tape and set the bar in place. For this adjusted tab, I loosened the screw about ½ turn so that the tab sealed on its location for a day or so, before I tightened it, but not enough to pull that tab back up. The tab did not seat perfectly flat for me. A shot of silicone on that screw to keep it in place. I eyeballed the bar from one end to the other, and its very level. From the back, its level too. There is a lip under the tailgate on the body panel which is a nice guide to use.
For wiring, you can plug the cable into the trailer harness, you would still have to run the white wire up to the taillight and tap into a reverse lead. Since I was rewiring my bargeman harness anyways, I decided to hardwire mine to the hitch wiring- this involved removing the factory black tape that was covering the split loom on the 7 wires going to the back of the 7 pin Bargeman. One by one (left, right, running, reverse), I cut the trailer wire, added the wire from the LED strip, then soldered, siliconed, rubber-taped, then electrical taped each connection, put the taped glob back in the loom, and taped that too. I think this should about waterproof it all. For the ground, I lowered the spare tire, and found the factory trailer-wiring ground above the spare (large white wire) , used a 10mm to loosen it, then slipped my own soldered/crimped connector under that loosened screw, then torqued it all back down.
Yah- a lot of work, maybe a bit overkill but when screwing around with wiring in places that will get wet, stoned, salted, … a little time spent now saves a lot of headache later on.
Here’s a couple pictures;
First a warning- the Recon, and I imagine others, have 50-60, or more, small LEDs that make up the light. You will only notice AFTER installing it and lighting it up, that not all the LEDs are lined up with each other and that affects the look. On mine, I think there are 50 red LEDs, 35 are pointed straight back, but 15, in random locations, are pointed slightly up or slightly down. So, when they are on, and you are behind, the light(s) look really red where they are pointed straight back, and not so red on the ones that are not pointed straight back, of course, depending on where you look at it from. If you can, check out the light bar before you buy one, look down the line of the LEDs and pick one that has the more lined up than the others.
Also, I noticed that the brake/turn LEDs (red ones) will not work while the white ones are on. I imagine that is by design.
On the Recon bar, there are 5, 3” strips that are screwed to the LED bar with a very short screw and raised washer, stainless I assume, and on the back of those strips is the 3M tape that you use to mount the bar to the vehicle’s body. On the first dry fit, I noticed that on the passenger side, one of these “mounting strips” lined up awkwardly with a little offset dent in the body panel. All 09’s and 10’s that I saw have this, it was not just me. I undid the right most mounting tab, drilled a 5/8” hole through the plastic about 1.25" to the right, and moved that tab to this new location. The 5/8” was needed as the mounting tab has a 5/8” raised hole for the small screw to go in to the middle of. Sorry, no pictures. In hindsight, I think I should have drilled a 1/8" hole, and that shoulder on the tab could have acted as a spacer for a little better fit. This will make more sense when you actually have to do this.
Now that the tab was screwed to the new location, I put a piece of black tape over the original hole from the back and a shot of silicone, to seal it up. Then, after a couple more measurements, and a rub down with rubbing alcohol, I peeled the tape and set the bar in place. For this adjusted tab, I loosened the screw about ½ turn so that the tab sealed on its location for a day or so, before I tightened it, but not enough to pull that tab back up. The tab did not seat perfectly flat for me. A shot of silicone on that screw to keep it in place. I eyeballed the bar from one end to the other, and its very level. From the back, its level too. There is a lip under the tailgate on the body panel which is a nice guide to use.
For wiring, you can plug the cable into the trailer harness, you would still have to run the white wire up to the taillight and tap into a reverse lead. Since I was rewiring my bargeman harness anyways, I decided to hardwire mine to the hitch wiring- this involved removing the factory black tape that was covering the split loom on the 7 wires going to the back of the 7 pin Bargeman. One by one (left, right, running, reverse), I cut the trailer wire, added the wire from the LED strip, then soldered, siliconed, rubber-taped, then electrical taped each connection, put the taped glob back in the loom, and taped that too. I think this should about waterproof it all. For the ground, I lowered the spare tire, and found the factory trailer-wiring ground above the spare (large white wire) , used a 10mm to loosen it, then slipped my own soldered/crimped connector under that loosened screw, then torqued it all back down.
Yah- a lot of work, maybe a bit overkill but when screwing around with wiring in places that will get wet, stoned, salted, … a little time spent now saves a lot of headache later on.
Here’s a couple pictures;
09-26-2009, 08:27 AM
#3
Bye F150, hello F250
Thread Starter
S
09-26-2009, 11:52 AM
#4
Just another member
Nice!
So you recommend product, other than also being careful to see how bulbs line up? Any tips on where to buy, or just most anywhere is good you think? Thanks
So you recommend product, other than also being careful to see how bulbs line up? Any tips on where to buy, or just most anywhere is good you think? Thanks
09-26-2009, 12:42 PM
#5
I gotta get one of those! Oh yea, I guess I got to get the truck first though. I'll probably have to mail order one, cause I've never seen them for sale around here. Thanks for the post with the pictures.
09-26-2009, 09:53 PM
#7
Back Up Lights?
Are those KC lights next to your trailer hitch? Did you mount a switch on the dash or hard wire them? I'm thinking about getting a pair and would want to be able to turn them on manually.
Jim
Jim
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09-27-2009, 08:05 AM
#8
Bye F150, hello F250
Thread Starter
Johnwill- sorry, I have no clues on where to buy other than an autoparts place, they had to order it so I bought sight, unseen. Here in Canada, our choice of add-on-parts dealers is a little limited. Try Pep Boys, maybe even WalMart in the States.
The part number is 26416, 60" LED Strip from Recon.
Jimmy- no, those are some no-named super thin halogen "fog lamps". Most that I was looking at, jutted below the trailer hitch level. I already bottomed out once and snapped the brake-light insert that is in the hitch receiver, so when I saw these, I got them. $10 I think! I hardwired those to a switch in the cab, through a fuse relay. I was going to do both- wire, through a diode, to the reverse lead so they come on automatically with reverse, and to the switch for manual operation, but right now I can't remember why I didn't.
We go camping and sometimes loading, unloading the trailer in the dark is a challenge, as well, I like being able to light up the area that I am backing into, even with the camera, sometimes things tough to see. Makes a good "get off my ***" light too!!
Cheers
The part number is 26416, 60" LED Strip from Recon.
Jimmy- no, those are some no-named super thin halogen "fog lamps". Most that I was looking at, jutted below the trailer hitch level. I already bottomed out once and snapped the brake-light insert that is in the hitch receiver, so when I saw these, I got them. $10 I think! I hardwired those to a switch in the cab, through a fuse relay. I was going to do both- wire, through a diode, to the reverse lead so they come on automatically with reverse, and to the switch for manual operation, but right now I can't remember why I didn't.
We go camping and sometimes loading, unloading the trailer in the dark is a challenge, as well, I like being able to light up the area that I am backing into, even with the camera, sometimes things tough to see. Makes a good "get off my ***" light too!!Cheers
03-30-2010, 12:54 PM
#9
BAMF Club
Do the Fire&Ice leds help with backing up at all? or is it mostly for show?
