Putco LED Light Bar

[Muscleford]

There has been lots of confusion/discussion about this item. This combined with space, at least on my truck, turned me off and I really wanted one for my truck. My tailgate actually touches (just barely) my license plate cover and almost touches the bumper cover at the outside end.

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[FiberTech]

I'm completely confused....and now dazed!

Ordered "plug and play" Putco # 9203048-07 and received what these pic show. The various instructions available are completely different from each other:
(1) if you view their video on the product page which makes it looks simple by unplugging the 7 pin from behind bumper and merely plugging it into the harness, and the bar into the harness.
(2) online PDF instructions which are so vague they make no sense..but it appears to be just 2 connections somewhere & somehow; vs.
(3) their QR code instructions that were in the box require removing taillights and lots of wire cutting and splicing!

If you look at the harness I was sent, there are too many connections on it and not not enough connections on the truck!...and NO 7 PIN end!

I have a "chat" message into them...waiting for a call back during "regular business hours".

That doesn’t look like the plug and play connections that I had gotten for my lariat Tremor. That looks like, you would connect it to your trailer harness.
Unless they use a different way to connect to the lariat style.

 

[NeilP]

I'm completely confused....and now dazed!

Ordered "plug and play" Putco # 9203048-07 and received what these pic show. The various instructions available are completely different from each other:
(1) if you view their video on the product page which makes it looks simple by unplugging the 7 pin from behind bumper and merely plugging it into the harness, and the bar into the harness.
(2) online PDF instructions which are so vague they make no sense..but it appears to be just 2 connections somewhere & somehow; vs.
(3) their QR code instructions that were in the box require removing taillights and lots of wire cutting and splicing!

If you look at the harness I was sent, there are too many connections on it and not not enough connections on the truck!...and NO 7 PIN end!

I have a "chat" message into them...waiting for a call back during "regular business hours".

If you have LED tail lights, then the kit you rec'd is most likely the correct one. If you plug anything (and I do mean ANYTHING) into the 4 prong or 7 prong trailer plug, the Ranger thinks there is a trailer connected. You can set the trailer settings for a 3 ft trailer, and that will keep BLIS active it you have it. If you have back-up sensors in the rear bumper, they are deactivated.

By the looks of the kit in the photos, you have to remove the tail lights and plug the Putco harness into the factory tail light harness. By tapping into the factory tail light harness you are not supposed have any issues with the Ranger thinking you have a trailer connected.

I ordered the kit (it looked exactly like what you have) for my 2022 Ranger with LED tail lights a while back and wound up returning it as soon as it arrived. I had read to many negative comments about it and it seemed like folks were having all sorts of issues.

 

[lakorai]

Putco really needs to improve their documentation and quality control. It's like they don't even test their stuff before they release it on the market. The instructions for this product are not even in the box and the link to their Sharepoint hosted PDF don't even mention the Ranger.

Just paid $250ish for this kit from Realtruck.com and this is the second Putco kit I have bought from Them. The first kit was for the halogen tail lights (turns out my XLT 2019 has LED OEM taillights). So I return this and get the LED taillight version. Supposed to be fully plug and play to avoid having issues with BliSS when plugged into the trailer connector.

Just got the LED version in (part 9203048-07; Red/White version). Well the connector is the correct oval shape with the correct number of pins (16 total), but the plastic guides to prevent it from accidentally being installed backwards are incorrect (see pictures). I'm not going to play Russian roulette by griding off the plastic guides on my led taillight housing and their harness. If I did this wrong I could blow tons of fuses or worse.

Anyone seen this issue? I'll be calling their support on Monday; maybe just the wrong harness kit was included in the box with my purchase?

 

[Muscleford]

There have been many issues with this item. Last I heard it either is not plug 'n play or it just does not work. There are several threads here about this item and it's issues. One member even had their dealer install, it is available through Ford accessories, and they were going to have the dealer remove it because of issues.

I wanted one but because of the issues and the price I changed my mind.

Good luck.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

Putco really needs to improve their documentation and quality control. It's like they don't even test their stuff before they release it on the market. The instructions for this product are not even in the box and the link to their Sharepoint hosted PDF don't even mention the Ranger.

Just paid $250ish for this kit from Realtruck.com and this is the second Putco kit I have bought from Them. The first kit was for the halogen tail lights (turns out my XLT 2019 has LED OEM taillights). So I return this and get the LED taillight version. Supposed to be fully plug and play to avoid having issues with BliSS when plugged into the trailer connector.

Just got the LED version in (part 9203048-07; Red/White version). Well the connector is the correct oval shape with the correct number of pins (16 total), but the plastic guides to prevent it from accidentally being installed backwards are incorrect (see pictures). I'm not going to play Russian roulette by griding off the plastic guides on my led taillight housing and their harness. If I did this wrong I could blow tons of fuses or worse.

Anyone seen this issue? I'll be calling their support on Monday; maybe just the wrong harness kit was included in the box with my purchase?

I went through the same thing with that kit. I contacted Putco and after some painfully vague communications figured out that kit doesn't attach to the tail light directly, but the connector under the truck attached to the frame rail. The connector you need is at the very rear outside of each side frame rail.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I went through the same thing with that kit. I contacted Putco and after some painfully vague communications figured out that kit doesn't attach to the tail light directly, but the connector under the truck attached to the frame rail. The connector you need is at the very rear outside of each side frame rail.

Nice catch! Way to throw those folks a bone Jay. This is what good forums do.

Newbies, pay attention - your time to contribute will come - when it does, this is what you do. ?

 

[Rocketeer61]

Good call on not making the connector fit. If Putco couldn't even get that right what else did they get wrong?

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

The problem is the original instructions they included in the earlier production, were cut'n'paste from the F150 instructions. The Ranger harness was not intended to go to the back of the tail lights, but to the connector on the frame rail. The website has the updated instructions.

 

[lakorai]

Hi everyone:

Putco responded and they DO have a proper PDF for instructions for this model.

Attached for those of you who have had issues. I asked the rep to please post this as a PDF link in the support section of the product page.

This worked great. Thanks @JACKSMYDOG for the pointer.

Also another tip. If you purchased the Putco LED Ford replacement emblem you can tap into the aftermarket harness with this kit rather than the factory harness. I did the passenger side.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/installing-tailgate-light-bar.3030/

You want to tap into pin 1 and 3. Pin 1 is ground and pin 3 is Park Rear. On the factory harness on the passenger side this is wire colors black (pin 1 ground) and lack/white (pin 3 - park rear). Colors are identical on both the drivers and passenger's sides.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/installing-tailgate-light-bar.3030/post-542042

 

[Muscleford]

Would like to get one but the price $694.95 is somewhat of a big stretch for my credit card. If anyone has sprung for one how do you feel about your decision to purchase?

Just wondering??

 

[Bullet]

That's crap... I was impressed with the light bar when I saw it online. Apparently more $ spent on marketing than R&D. It's not a cheap product. Let me re-phrase that... They're asking a lot of money for their product. And the nerve to tell YOU how to repair it.

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