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How to Install Recon 60 in. Tailgate Bar w/ Red LED Brake Lights, White Reverse Lights on your F-150

Installation Time

1 hours

General

Installation of the Anti-Collision Red LED Light Bar is easy and no tools are required. Follow the steps below to get professional results and years of dependable service. The light bar mounts in the recessed area between the bottom of the tailgate and the bumper shelf and plugs into a standard four-pin trailer receptacle or can be hard wired into the truck taillights.

INSTALLATION NOTES:

1.Please read all instructions before installing the light bar.

2. The following procedure describes a generic (typical) installation.

3. Prior to installation check all parts and inspect bar for damage and/or cracks.

4. Lighting laws vary depending on the jurisdiction, check your local laws before installation.

5. Light bar must be installed at 15 °C (60 °F), or higher. If the temperature is lower, a heat gun should be used to ensure proper adhesion.

6. Consult your local mechanic or technician if uncertain of wiring or installation of light bar.

INSTALLATION

Step 1 - Cleaning
Important, thoroughly clean the mounting surface before mounting. Use warm soapy water first to remove all wax and dirt. Dry completely and clean again using a cleaner. Do not touch surface after cleaning.

Step 2 - Marking the Mounting Location

1. Do not remove adhesive tape backing until after the mounting location has been marked using tape. First hold the -light bar assembly in position so it's equally spaced from top to bottom and left to right. (see Figure 2a.)

2. The wire bundle end of the light bar must be toward the driver's side in order for the turn signals to work properly. Mark this location with three strips of tape, place tape so top edge of tape is the center (top to botom) of recessed area (see Figure 2b).

3. The top edge of these tape strips should line-up with the bottom edge of the light bar (see Figure 2c). NOTE: On Ford F150 trucks the bottom of the light bar assembly is located by a sheet metal ridge in the body. Only side centering measurements are required.

4. After removing the light bar assembly, make sure that the top edge of all three tape strips are at an equal height. Accurately determine the side-to-side location by first marking the truck centerline on the center tape
strip (see Figure 2d).

5. Measure to the left 30 inches from centerline and mark this location on the left tape strip (see Figure 2e). The left end of the light bar assembly will start at this left mark, and the bottom edge of the tight bar will be placed in line with the top edge of the tape strip.

Step 3 - Mounting Assembly

1. Peel off the adhesive tape backing while being careful to not contaminate the adhesive surface with finger prints or dirt. At the driven side pre-rnarked location, lightly attach the light bar at the marked tape for the left to right centering. Make sure bottom edge of light bar is in-line with the top edge of tape. AT THIS TIME DO NOT APPLY A LOT OF PRESSURE - You may want to adjust the alignment of the light bar later.

2. Lightly attach the center section of the light bar at its marked location, and finally the right side. If the light bar is not straight and level, pull up the adhesive taped areas lightly and reposition (see Figure 3a).

3. Remove location tape strips (see Figure 3b).

Step 4 - Activating the Tape to Promote Full Bond 3M's Technical Sheets for VHB tape require that at least 15 pounds of pressure need to be applied to product. We advise using the plastic or wood handle of any tool and press firmly along the light bar at tape adhesive locations. DO NOT PRESS ON THE CLEAR LED LIGHT STRIP. VHB tape will gain 50% of strength in 20 minutes and fully bond in 3 days (at temperatures of 15°C or higher).

Step 5 - Electrical Hook-Up

1. Use the supplied tie wraps to hold the wire bundle up and out of view behind the bumper. Plug the connector in the vehicles standard flat four-pin trailer light connector if it is available on your vehicle. If your vehicle has a round four-pin trailer light connector, a widely available adapter can be purchased to convert it to a flat four-pin connector.

2. If your vehicle does not have a trailer light plug, you can clip off the light bar four-pin connector and hard wire the leads directly to the vehicle taillights using the information in Figure 4. The park light lead is the one directly next to the ground.

3. A few vehicles utilize different bulb filaments for stoplight and turn signals. In this case a widely available adapter is required to go from a five-wire system output to a standard four-wire trailer light input. Another option in this case is to connect the left and right wires identified in Figure 4 and connect them to the vehicle brake light wire. If this is done, only the light bar running lights and brake light function will operate and not the turn signals.





First connect the flat four connector and white reverse light wire as stated in the included instruction sheet then follow the supplemental instructions below:

The remaining RED wire needs to be connected to a constant ‘hot’ 12V power source such as the wire coming off either your Ignition or Accessory Terminal where your ignition key goes into your vehicles steering column. Most late model vehicles have ample space under the dashboard on the driver side where you can access these two ignition/accessory wires. The RED wire MUST be connected to one of these two wires otherwise the Xtreme light bar will not function properly.

Once you have followed the instructions on the first installation instruction sheet, simply hard wire (aka splice) the white wire coming out of the RECON LED tailgate bar directly to the postive wire of your drivers side reverse light. This wire can be found by simply removing your drivers tail light lens and following the two wires for the reverse light. The negative is typically black. Splice into the other wire which is the positive wire.