KP Texan

Didn't see a ton of threads on this topic so I thought I'd share my experience. Most of the threads I found involved installing the puddle lamps in mirrors that didn't have them, or installing the drop in LED puddle lamps in place of the old ones. I didn't really care to drop $50+ on those so I decided to retrofit some LED bulbs into the existing housings. It ended up coming out pretty nice, puts out more light than the old ones, and matches my other LEDs Steps:

Remove housing and unhook wires - this is easy; just take a flat blade screwdriver and press on the tab, then you can wiggle the lamp out to disconnect the spade terminals.

Open the Lamp Housing - This is the most difficult part of the whole process, but it's still not too bad. Many people mentioned using a hack saw blade right where the lens meets the housing, but I was weary of removing that much material. I initially tried a sharp utility knife, but I found adding a bit of heat with a heat gun combined with running the utility knife on the seam worked better. Make sure to wear gloves when doing this since the knife will slip very easily! You can also look at the lens to monitor your process and see where it is still attached. You don't necessarily have to go around the whole lens either, since it will pop off before that point.

Install Bulb - Pull out the stock 31mm festoon bulb and install the new LED bulb. I went with this one since I didn't want to deal with properly aiming a board mounted array, and wanted to utilize the reflector within the housing: . I also put a dab of hot glue on each side of the bulb to make sure it stayed seated in the connector.

Reattach Lens - I found superglue to be the best for this task. I ran a very small bead around the top edge of the housing, put the lens back on, used a clamp to make sure the lens stayed fully seated, and then ran a bit more superglue on the seam. I initially tried hot glue to secure the lens, but don't do this! If the lens pops off while installing the light back in the mirror, it becomes a real PITA to get back out of there.

Reinstall Light - Hook up the connectors first and open door to check light. If it doesn't come on, then swap the wires (careful not to short them out when doing this). Then you can just pop the light back into the side mirror.

Also if you screw up one of these lights while doing this, you can get replacements under Ford p/n 3F1Z-13B375-AA .

A few pics:

paintballdude05

Great write-up, thanks for sharing!

Speedfreak400

Seems like a lot of work for less quality.



I run these in Red and they are top quality and BAD@***








https://www.gorecon.com/product/769/...ight-Kit-WHITE

KP Texan

I wouldn't consider it a lot of work, that is unless you're afraid/inexperienced with working on things. My solution was $9 vs $80 for those lights... not to mention there are some reports of failures on those such as this review:

Cheaply made Product

For the amount of money you pay for these LED light kit, you would think they would work atleast 2 weeks....wrong. Drivers side bearly glows now. Cheaply made, figure for the high price I would get a quality item...I was wrong. The little time it worked though it was nice looking.

MikeT
Year: 2014Submodel: 5.0L V8 FX4

yanki01

did this about 2.5yrs ago - same bulbs and still running great.

https://www.f150forum.com/f71/puddle...3/#post3861750

KP Texan

Nice! Your bulbs look quite similar to the ones I used! Glad to hear yours are still working well.

RogueGT

Mine's not equipped with the puddle lights so to weigh in on installing them. Pro's and cons to each way to go.
Replace the bulb is a small bit of work, seems simple tho but superglue the pieces back together and the bulb craps out in 3 yrs or so (devil's advocate) and try to get the superglue back apart. Probably not likely.
With the Recon it's plug and play (or so it seems) but the LED is integrated into the unit so not possible to replace the bulb. And in 5 yrs or so when they are no longer made you'll have to go a different route. Probably can't buy a single unit if only one craps out...need to spend $ to buy a pair.
Did I just talk myself out of performing this task???

KP Texan

You bring up some valid points and I actually thought about that. The way I glued it, I made reasonably sure that glue joint could once again be cut with a utility knife (didn't glue the inside lip of the lens to inside of the housing). I also used hot glue on the bulb, so a bit of heat will make it easily removable. Not an ideal situation either way, but perfectly doable.