RECON Tailgate Light Bar

[Texas_Bear]

For those of you wanting to install RECON's tailgate light bar, the 60" LED lights (Part #26416) will not fit unless you remove the bolted hinge receiver on the bottom right (passenger side) side of the tailgate. I called RECON about this problem on the 2008 F-250 Super Duty model and they stated they were aware of this. They, RECON, contacted Ford and were told the hinge is a safety item only. It was invented to stop the tailgate from flying off the bed of the truck when involved in a high impact collision. Therefore, it can be removed to install the 60" tailgate light bar. It doesn't look like you have to remove the male end of this safety device that's attached to the tailgate itself; there should be enough clearance. I'm installing my "White Lightening" tailgate light bar tonight, so I'll let ya'll know if it works.

[2008TTCC]

Did it work?

[Texas_Bear]

It Worked! I stopped by one of the Ford Dealers after work and asked them what purpose the tailgate latch serves. They said it was a new safety latch Ford placed on all the 2008s to prevent the tailgate from flying off in case there was an accident. So I decided to keep the "White Lightening" tailgate lights and install them after all.

This is how easy it was:

I disconnected the rear camera, took the tailgate off, removed the latch from the bed (2 bolts), and unscrewed the 2 hex bolts from the tailgate, removed the male end, then replaced the hex bolts. After removing the taillight assembly, I hard-wired the reverse wire of the RECON lights (White wire) into the positive (+) Reverse (Green wire) Driver's side taillight. It all took less than 2 hours to complete.

[InnovativeDiesel]

I install the shorter Recon light bar for the compact trucks. It fits well, right next to the safety latch and is almost in the middle. Maybe slightly to the left, but hardly noticable.