Tailgate light bar

[Skater]

Thank you so much. I guess my real question is the black clip that holds on the light bar and to which you affixed the spacer and screw, was that black clip included in the package with the OPT7? I have circled what I mean in red in the attached photo? If it was not included in the package with OPT7, where were you able to find that clip?

I appreciate your time and effort in assistance. This question really has been the most pressing and is now the last question I have before deciding how to install the OPT7.

 

[Dogpatch]

His was the Putco Blade light bar.

 

[dts828]

Thank you so much. I guess my real question is the black clip that holds on the light bar and to which you affixed the spacer and screw, was that black clip included in the package with the OPT7? I have circled what I mean in red in the attached photo? If it was not included in the package with OPT7, where were you able to find that clip?

I appreciate your time and effort in assistance. This question really has been the most pressing and is now the last question I have before deciding how to install the OPT7.

The opt7 does come with 4 clips

 

[ilian11]

Sorry! Yes, I have the putco. The OPT7 triple is 3/4" tall and in my opinion it will NOT clear the MFTG. The Putco is only 1/2" tall.

 

[ilian11]

Putco 60" Blade w/ Multi-Function Tail Gate.

Just wanted to make a post and put all my findings in one place to make it easier for people. I remeasured everything to make it crystal clear.

For MFTG ONLY, use smaller spacers. Link to the kit I bought is below.
- I used 3 of the 4 mounting brackets that come with the Putco blade.
- on each end I used 4 mm spacers
- in the middle I used 8 mm spacer
- screws I used stainless #8x1" middle and #8x3/4 ends

For this to clear you must mount the LED bar flush with the rear bumper. I used the supplied Putco mounting bracket as a guide. Set a bracket on top of the bumper and mark a straight point through the hole of the putco bracket. This is NOT your drill point. Drill a pilot hole 1/16 down from your mark so the blade sits flush not the bracket. The bracket should sit in line with the bumper. I placed the center spacer 2" off center to the passenger side. Each end spacer i placed 3" in so the brackets clear the bumps at the ends of the plastic shroud. Rest is self explanatory. Be ready to curse trying to snap the blade into the brackets unless you have super tiny fingers.

The putco blade is 1/2" tall and it gives you roughly 1/4 to 3/16 clearance when tailgate is folded down. I measured.

For comparison sake the OPT7 is 3/4" tall and assuming you mount it perfectly, you're looking at no clearance really so therefore in my opinion will not fit with MFTG.

Link to nylon spacers:

Swpeet 150Pcs Nylon Round Spacer Standoff Screw Nut Assortment Kit, Nylon PA66 Plastic Standoff OD 11mm and ID 6.2mm Length 3mm 4mm 5mm 8mm 10mm 12mm 15mm 18mm 20mm 25mm for M6 Screws Prototyping: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Swpeet 150Pcs Nylon Round Spacer Standoff Screw Nut Assortment Kit, Nylon PA66 Plastic Standoff OD 11mm and ID 6.2mm Length 3mm 4mm 5mm 8mm 10mm 12mm 15mm 18mm 20mm 25mm for M6 Screws Prototyping: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

 

[Skater]

Thank you for the write up, analysis, and information.

 

[BobbyLeeSniper]

@Bcryan All your questions answered here. And if not, we will help.

 

[Bcryan]

@Bcryan All your questions answered here. And if not, we will help.

Picked up all my stuff today and should be able to install it this weekend.
appreciate the input!

 

[Chris71704]

Thanks to everyone here, I installed the Putco 60” blade on my 19 Rebel using the Putco quick connect and two 1/4” and two 1/2” spacers to get around the rear concaved area. I’m pretty happy with it. There is a small delay but I can live with that. Took me 45 minutes to install. Can’t figure out how to upload the video so here are pics! Now patiently waiting for my B2 exhaust to come next week.

 

[Neurobit]

Thanks to everyone here, I installed the Putco 60” blade on my 19 Rebel using the Putco quick connect and two 1/4” and two 1/2” spacers to get around the rear concaved area. I’m pretty happy with it. There is a small delay but I can live with that. Took me 45 minutes to install. Can’t figure out how to upload the video so here are pics! Now patiently waiting for my B2 exhaust to come next week.
View attachment 71011View attachment 71012View attachment 71013View attachment 71014

That looks awesome.

 

[Chris71704]

That looks awesome.

Thanks!

 

[Gitter]

So I came across this thread while looking for lightbars and have been hesitant to commit to one because of the delay with the turn signal. I know, I will likely never see it, but it still would irk me from time to time.

From what I've read in this thread, it looks like it can be fixed when wired directly to the turn signals in the tail lights. However, it then causes the brake lights to not work on the lightbar because the tail lights separate the brake and turn signals. Am I on track so far?

If this is the case, has anyone tried combining both the brake and turn signals into a single line for the light bar? I have been successful combining the separate turn signal with a brake signal in past use the Diode Dynamics "Turn as Tail" modules with my previous truck...but I wasn't using the output for a light bar like these. In theory it should work, but I was curious if anyone else has tried this yet.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/tail-as-turn-module-diy.html

 

[dts828]

So I came across this thread while looking for lightbars and have been hesitant to commit to one because of the delay with the turn signal. I know, I will likely never see it, but it still would irk me from time to time.

From what I've read in this thread, it looks like it can be fixed when wired directly to the turn signals in the tail lights. However, it then causes the brake lights to not work on the lightbar because the tail lights separate the brake and turn signals. Am I on track so far?

If this is the case, has anyone tried combining both the brake and turn signals into a single line for the light bar? I have been successful combining the separate turn signal with a brake signal in past use the Diode Dynamics "Turn as Tail" modules with my previous truck...but I wasn't using the output for a light bar like these. In theory it should work, but I was curious if anyone else has tried this yet.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/tail-as-turn-module-diy.html

I can't help you the diode dynamic stuff but I was like you reading about the delay but jumped in and wired using the Curt harness. Honestly haven't even thought about once installed. The delay is literally a 1/4 second and I doubt the people behind you are going to notice and rag on you. What I did notice is how perfectly the amber leds of the bar matches the amber taillight led's.

Sent from my GM1917 using Tapatalk

 

[GrayBeard]

That looks awesome.

Did you put the 1/2” spacers in the middle near the camera wiring and the 1/4” spacers near the ends? How did you mount the spacers to the truck?

 

[19BlueStreakSport]

Did you put the 1/2” spacers in the middle near the camera wiring and the 1/4” spacers near the ends? How did you mount the spacers to the truck?

That's what I did with my OPT7 lightbar.

I used plastic spacers and the clips that come with the OPT7 light bar. Figured out where the needed to be and drilled the holes through the plastic panel. Then used nut and bolt to hold the bracket and spacer to the plastic panel. Easy peasy.

 

[GrayBeard]

Installed my OPT7 triple LED light bar, today. Here's a few pics of where I mounted my clips for the tailgate to clear the light when opening and a couple of pics with the reverse lights on and off from my back-up camera. Thanks to the many members that have posted pics and given excellent info on the install of this light to new gen Rams. A couple of tips: ensure that the bottom of the light bar lines up with the top of the bumper cover (lesson I learned the hard way), and I used 1 inch long speaker mounting screws on the included clips with a c-clip fastener on the back of the plastic for stability. For a spacer , I used a 1/4" hard plastic spacer from a tv wall-mount kit I had leftover. I always keep extra stuff like this for a reason! lol Hope this helps others on this forum.View attachment 12836View attachment 12837View attachment 12838View attachment 12839View attachment 12840View attachment 12841

Did you screw through the plastic and into the bumper?

 

[GrayBeard]

here you go... screws are stainless steel to avoid rust... not that it matters really.

Did you screw through the plastic and into the bumper?

 

[Chris71704]

Did you put the 1/2” spacers in the middle near the camera wiring and the 1/4” spacers near the ends? How did you mount the spacers to the truck?

Hey sorry for the delay. Yes, I used 1/2" spaces on each side of the camera wiring and 1/4" on the ends. Worked great! I just screwed through the black plastic piece to mount the putco brackets

 

[SpeedyV]

So I came across this thread while looking for lightbars and have been hesitant to commit to one because of the delay with the turn signal. I know, I will likely never see it, but it still would irk me from time to time.

From what I've read in this thread, it looks like it can be fixed when wired directly to the turn signals in the tail lights. However, it then causes the brake lights to not work on the lightbar because the tail lights separate the brake and turn signals. Am I on track so far?

If this is the case, has anyone tried combining both the brake and turn signals into a single line for the light bar? I have been successful combining the separate turn signal with a brake signal in past use the Diode Dynamics "Turn as Tail" modules with my previous truck...but I wasn't using the output for a light bar like these. In theory it should work, but I was curious if anyone else has tried this yet.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/tail-as-turn-module-diy.html

Would love to know if you went this route...

 

[Skater]

I'm with SpeedyV, I would love to know if you installed the Diode Dynamics "Turn as Tail" modules and if they worked.