Tailgate Light Bar From OPT-7 How I Made it Work For The Ranger

[OCL]

I installed this on my '21 Tremor, and quickly realized it and my Ranger's Nanny BLISS/Trailer Monitoring "sensors" don't play well together.
Yes the light is awesome to look at. But it is also very functional at getting everyone's attention back there when you're braking, signaling, and even reversing. The additional white light for Reverse definitely help me see what's behind me better. I saw one on a Tacoma and I knew I had to get one for my Ranger. But the constant alerts from the Trailer/BLISS was bad. I tolerated it at first, but after 6 months I could tolerate it no more. Hard wiring it to my LED taillights was not an option. The wiring for the LED taillights are extremely thin, and there are way too many of them, and splicing into them was a definite no go. So I used a 4-PIN to a 7-PIN trailer hitch wiring adaptor. The light bar altered the electrical current going to the trailer hitch, which confused the truck's sensors.

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[OCL]

After doing some research on this website, I found this magnificent product from Tekonsha. It acts as a conduit between the Trailer Hitch Plug and the OPT-7 Light bar, and does not "return" a signal back to the truck's electrical wiring sensors. Thereby preventing the BLISS/Trailer alerts. If you're trying to install one of these pretty little light bars on the Ranger, you will need to wire it using this product. It was easy to install and required no splicing into an OEM wiring.

 

[OCL]

I also needed to get this adaptor to convert the 4PIN to the factory 7PIN trailer hook up wiring. This is necessary to get all the light functionality of the taillights, including Reverse.

 

[Muscleford]

Question, this light bar and these two additional parts work properly with your Ranger?

How long have you had this installed with no error trouble codes?

Guess I need to figure out if your Tremor has the same wiring as my '21 Lariat,

I really like tailgate light bars.

I have concerns about clearance with the tailgate. My tailgate and my license plate are so tight with the gate down, I can't even have a license plate frame. With a plate frame my tailgate rubs the plate frame,

 

[LB'sTremor]

Is this the one you have? I would love to see some pics and like @Muscleford mentioned how is the clearance between tailfate and bumper? closeup pics of that would be awesome and thx for sharing!

LB

Amazon.com: OPT7 Dynamic Taillight for Ranger, Frontier 2015-2024 - Redline 48" Aluminum 2-Section Triple Row LED Truck Tailgate Light Bar w/Sequential Amber Turn, Hardwire Kit, 5pc Easy-Install Neodymium Magnets : Automotive

 

[fob63]

Tekonsha 119178
Not a lot of reviews. Some of the negative reviews on Amazon are 2016. E-tailer doesn't show it anymore just their brake controllers.

 

[hookem57]

Question, this light bar and these two additional parts work properly with your Ranger?

How long have you had this installed with no error trouble codes?

Guess I need to figure out if your Tremor has the same wiring as my '21 Lariat,

I really like tailgate light bars.

I have concerns about clearance with the tailgate. My tailgate and my license plate are so tight with the gate down, I can't even have a license plate frame. With a plate frame my tailgate rubs the plate frame,

If you have a tow package, same wiring. I had a FX4 Lariat before my Tremor and they are the same.

 

[OCL]

Is this the one you have? I would love to see some pics and like @Muscleford mentioned how is the clearance between tailfate and bumper? closeup pics of that would be awesome and thx for sharing!

LB

Amazon.com: OPT7 Dynamic Taillight for Ranger, Frontier 2015-2024 - Redline 48" Aluminum 2-Section Triple Row LED Truck Tailgate Light Bar w/Sequential Amber Turn, Hardwire Kit, 5pc Easy-Install Neodymium Magnets : Automotive

Yes that is the one.

Clearance is tight with tailgate open. The bottom of the tailgate just about touches the lightbar at one section...barely. Basically a hair of clearance there. The rest of the lightbar clears. Luckily the lightbar has a thick plastic clear cover to protect the LED chips. I've had it on for 6 months, lots of tailgate open/closing use. Lots of heavy rain. Off road with dust too. No issues.

 

[OCL]

Question, this light bar and these two additional parts work properly with your Ranger?

How long have you had this installed with no error trouble codes?

Guess I need to figure out if your Tremor has the same wiring as my '21 Lariat,

I really like tailgate light bars.

I have concerns about clearance with the tailgate. My tailgate and my license plate are so tight with the gate down, I can't even have a license plate frame. With a plate frame my tailgate rubs the plate frame,

Had the light bar installed for 6 months. Used the 4-Pin to 7-Pin adapter that is plug and play. Got repeated warnings of Trailer attaching/detaching, plus error for the turn signal and brake lights, plus the world's most annoying Ford Chime every time. Drove me nuts. The Tekonsha part eliminated all the chiming and the warnings.

Your '21 Lariat has same exact wiring. The lightbar plugs into your 7-Pin trailer harness (from behind the bumper and out of sight using the Adapter 4-pin to 7-pin). Your truck will also have the LED taillights like mine so splicing into them to direct wire a lightbar is out of the question. Thus the necessity to use the adaptors.

Clearance: Lightbar easily clears the license plate. When the tailgate is completely down, you may have some contact against the lightbar. I have a section that has a "hair" of clearance between the edge of the tailgate and the lightbar. The OEM plastic fascia that the bar attaches too isn't perfect flat so one small section sticks out just a tad. Lightbar just follows this slight contour issue. Unless you're driving with tailgate down, this isn't an issue. I always drive with tailgate closed so no issues there.

 

[OCL]

Tekonsha 119178
Not a lot of reviews. Some of the negative reviews on Amazon are 2016. E-tailer doesn't show it anymore just their brake controllers.

I had to order that Tekonsha part direct from them. The part is not on Amazon. Was $60 shipped to me. They were fast too and took only 2 days to get to my door.

 

[Muscleford]

My tailgate actually touches the black bumper cover at the fender ends and my plate cover in the middle. Guess I loose again. I actually had my dealers body shop see if they could fix that and they could not get any clearance at the ends.

I guess I could see if I could lower the license plate since there is space below it but that would involve making new holes in the black plastic bumper cover.

 

[ControlNode]

I'm still not following this comment.

I also needed to get this adaptor to convert the 4PIN to the factory 7PIN trailer hook up wiring. This is necessary to get all the light functionality of the taillights, including Reverse.

How does the 4 pin give play and play reverse?

 

[OCL]

I'm still not following this comment.

How does the 4 pin give play and play reverse?

That's a very good question and a good catch. The Opt-7 light bar comes with a 4-way PIN. But it also has an extra wire for reverse that is not part of the 4-way pin. They instruct you to hardwire this extra wire to your truck's reverse light. However, the 4-way pin to 7-way pin adaptor that I got also has that extra wire for reverse that connects to the Opt-7 white reverse light.

So if you're shopping for that 4-way pin to 7-way pin adapter, you will want something like this. Note the extra reverse wire that is white with a green wire connector at the end. Sorry if I wasn't clear about it. FYI, this white reverse light wire does NOT pass through the Tekonsha unit. It doesn't trigger the BLISS or any other alerts when I hit reverse.

 

[Big Blue]

That's a very good question and a good catch. The Opt-7 light bar comes with a 4-way PIN. But it also has an extra wire for reverse that is not part of the 4-way pin. They instruct you to hardwire this extra wire to your truck's reverse light. However, the 4-way pin to 7-way pin adaptor that I got also has that extra wire for reverse that connects to the Opt-7 white reverse light.

So if you're shopping for that 4-way pin to 7-way pin adapter, you will want something like this. Note the extra reverse wire that is white with a green wire connector at the end. Sorry if I wasn't clear about it. FYI, this white reverse light wire does NOT pass through the Tekonsha unit. It doesn't trigger the BLISS or any other alerts when I hit reverse.

I for one would like to see a full diagram (schematic) of how this is all wired together. All we have gotten so far is parts. Really want to see how the Tekonsha part is tied in to keep the truck from thinking a trailer is connected.

 

[OCL]

I for one would like to see a full diagram (schematic) of how this is all wired together. All we have gotten so far is parts. Really want to see how the Tekonsha part is tied in to keep the truck from thinking a trailer is connected.

You have to get that full diagram direct from Tekonsha. They do have a website for you to explore. In a nutshell, all the wires from the lightbar go through the Tekonsha unit (except for Reverse). The Tekonsha then has the 4-Pin output wire that goes to the 7-Pin adapter.

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