BcP28
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Recently added a Softopper to my Ranger. Love the top so far, but am concerned about the lack of third brake light. I realize this probably isn't that big of an issue, but I'd hate to be a victim of someone texting and not able to recognize my brake lights, or a LEO having a bad day, so figured this was an easy solution.
I ordered an inexpensive red LED light strip from Amazon that comes with 3M adhesive tape attached. These lights seem to be good quality, weather resistant, are bright, and have low power consumption (I measured 34mA at 12.8V).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GRO844G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Next I had to figure out where to tap into for a clean brake light signal. The Ford Body Builder guide shows a tap in the fuse/relay panel in the driver's side footwell, but I didn't see a clean and easy wire path there, so I started looking into the tail light harnesses to see if there was a good tap. The LED tailights on my XLT have individual signals for the brakes, tails, and turns, so that looked like a good source. Pin 2 is a dedicated brake signal that is 12V, so that should work! This is the driver's side tail light.
Here's the harness disconnected from the taillight. The wire you want is the red one, at least on my truck. I used a simple wire tap. I'm not a huge fan of these, but it was easier than disassembling the harness to get a cleaner splice, so we'll see how it holds up.
I placed the light itself in the center on the rear flap. It seems to stick pretty good to the canvas. I ran the wire along the rail and over to near the tail light area. There is a hole in the bed under the rail that is good access to behind the tail light, so that worked perfectly.
I used a waterproof connector here so that I can quickly disconnect if I ever want to remove or fold the topper.
And here's the finished product. No rapid flashing lights, or flashing with turn signals. Seems to work well.
I ordered an inexpensive red LED light strip from Amazon that comes with 3M adhesive tape attached. These lights seem to be good quality, weather resistant, are bright, and have low power consumption (I measured 34mA at 12.8V).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GRO844G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Next I had to figure out where to tap into for a clean brake light signal. The Ford Body Builder guide shows a tap in the fuse/relay panel in the driver's side footwell, but I didn't see a clean and easy wire path there, so I started looking into the tail light harnesses to see if there was a good tap. The LED tailights on my XLT have individual signals for the brakes, tails, and turns, so that looked like a good source. Pin 2 is a dedicated brake signal that is 12V, so that should work! This is the driver's side tail light.
Here's the harness disconnected from the taillight. The wire you want is the red one, at least on my truck. I used a simple wire tap. I'm not a huge fan of these, but it was easier than disassembling the harness to get a cleaner splice, so we'll see how it holds up.
I placed the light itself in the center on the rear flap. It seems to stick pretty good to the canvas. I ran the wire along the rail and over to near the tail light area. There is a hole in the bed under the rail that is good access to behind the tail light, so that worked perfectly.
I used a waterproof connector here so that I can quickly disconnect if I ever want to remove or fold the topper.
And here's the finished product. No rapid flashing lights, or flashing with turn signals. Seems to work well.
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I'm pretty sure I just grounded to chassis. There should be a bolt somewhere behind the taillight I used. I'll pop the tail light out this evening and confirm.
