Hi F150 forum,

I have a 2013 f150 ext. cab STX with 5,0 engine. I want to remove my factory third brake light which is chrome and uses bulbs to a plug and play LED blacked out one i bought.

I was wondering if anyone has experience doing this? I opened up the 3rd brake light when i got back from work tonight because i thought it would be as fast and simple as my taillights were, but i was wrong. From reading the reviews it seems like most people either wiring them into it, which i would rather avoid if case i would want to switch back or what have you, or pull down the overhead cover from the cab to find the socket. Am i on the right path? anyone ever take down the overhead cover from the cab before? what should i avoid doing when performing that task?


Here the link to it https://www.carid.com/2013-ford-f-15...575021726.html BTW CarID customer service was trash. i think its a call center in India or something. I couldn't get any instructions at all. the guy knew nothing about vehicles then told me i had to call the dealership so they could cross reference part numbers instead of speaking with me about the overwhelming reviews. O

 

The mating connector to the one on your light is fixed to the inner wall of the cab roof via a "christmas tree" push-in molded onto it. It's too far back in to get at with your fingers. Easiest approach is to pull the headliner down to get at it it. There are two colour-matched "christmas tree" plugs with big flat heads holding the headliner up at the back. Those need to come out before the headliner comes down other wise you will crease it trying to get your hand up in there. The plugs are generally made for one-time insertion, you may or may not get away with re-using them....

 

is there a clever way to remove the color matched christmas trees? i dont have any of those fancy trim tools. i guess ill figure out if i can reuse it once i get in there

 

Harbor freight sells “fancy” trim removal kits for $10, strongly recommend investing in that to save time and broken trim pieces.

 

Thanks! its been on my list for a while, just a long list. I have a harbor freight near my folks house. maybe i can get one during the holiday or order from Ebay.

 

I think you're overthinking this. Do you have a soldering iron? I swapped mine out with a Recon branded light. Took 15 minutes to snip a couple wires and solder new ones on. To me, trying to figure out how to get the headliner off just so you can use the factory socket wasn't worth my time. If you don't know how to solder, you can just use barrel connectors and crimp them.

I doubt you'd ever want to go back to the stock light however, if that's something you want to do, just take a picture of the wires and re-solder or crimp them back the way they were if you switch back at some point down the road.