Tailgate light bar

[Powerman1960]

Yesterday I did the physical mounting of the OPT7 triple LED light bar and fiddled around with the positioning to get it clear of the tailgate opening, which is no small challenge.

In my case I mounted the 4 clips on the plastic fascia panel, spaced equidistant across the panel with spacers, 1" self-tapping screws on the outside and bolts/wingnuts on the inner clips. The one factor to deal with is that the fascia panel is curved - probably 1/2" farther away from the bumper in the center and closer on the outside, which means different spacers depending on where you place the clips.

I trial fit a number of times and tested the tailgate and found it touching every time until I ended up with rubber washers as spacers on the outsides, about 1/8 inch (and probably compressed to somewhat less than this) and 3/8 in the middle spots before the clips were leveled across the curved fascia. There's also molded "bumps" on the very outsides of the fascia panel that keep you from mounting the bar flush directly on the fascia. When the bottom light row is about flush with the level of the bumper, the tailgate clears with millimeters to spare. Hopefully 4 clips are adequate to keep the bar from coming loose, but maybe I will figure out some invisible way to zip tie the thing as a fail-safe.

I have to zip tie up all the harness this evening...

But a question for @grinch72 (maybe I don't understand something): Why did you make that little 6 inch harness from both ends of the hopkins 5-way kit? It seems like the light bar plugs right into the Curt 5-way and you could just put a bullet connector on the white wire and stick it into the one remaining open one in the curt? I am not sure why you made that adapter other than removing the single white wire/bullet connector is fiddly.

For now I have just plugged the 4-wire plug into the Curt. I had a spare 4-wire plug and just sacrifieced it and used razor knife to cut one bullet-plug worth of connector with one wire off the molded 4-wire and spliced that onto the bar's white wire and plugged that into the remaining Curt socket. All works fine.

Thanks for any explanations.

I wondered about that 6-inch harness , too, djwdjw. I actually purchased a separate 5-wire harness that I didn't have to use. The Curt 5-way worked perfectly The triple LED bar is really cool!

 

[grinch72]

I made it and used it as an extension to the OPT7 bar. That end is all wrapped up and shrunk wrapped together now but you’re correct in saying you don’t need it. To be honest I’m now not sure what my logic was!!

 

[Dmalonecentral]

Bit the bullet and ordered mine. Still concerned about the delay but it just looks too cool. I am curious if anyone has been able to test what happens if you just tap on the brake, will the light bar light up for a second a split second later?


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[borant]

Bit the bullet and ordered mine. Still concerned about the delay but it just looks too cool. I am curious if anyone has been able to test what happens if you just tap on the brake, will the light bar light up for a second a split second later?


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I just drove behind another truck with tailgate bar and it was about whole second delay between factory stop lights and bar.

 

[MValdez]

Curt Manufacturing 55384 Trailer Connector

easy install / clean look. note: you will have to get a little creative & crafty to get whichever lightbar you purchase to lay straight and flat due to the obstructive frame work along the trucks frame

 

[djwdjw]

I just drove behind another truck with tailgate bar and it was about whole second delay between factory stop lights and bar.

I tested this OPT7 triple today and it is the same. If you tap your brake quickly, the bar does not come on. It takes about a second to light-up.

 

[djwdjw]

Curt Manufacturing 55384 Trailer Connector

I think the 55384 gives you a 4-wire plug and then you have to go tap reverse somewhere, a tail-light or elsewhere in the harness.

The Curt 56584 gives you reverse signal at the same plug you plug the bar into. You only have to fashion your bullet connector for the single extra socket in the plug. This seemed easier and cleaner to me.

There is an unused 4-wire pigtail ("hardwire adapter" according to their video) in the OPT7 light kit you can sacrifice to get the single white wire the associated bullet plug to extract with a box cutter or razor knife that you can solder/splice to the bar's white wire and put into the remaining open Curt 56584 socket to get reverse. Quick and free.

 

[Dmalonecentral]

I think the 55384 gives you a 4-wire plug and then you have to go tap reverse somewhere, a tail-light or elsewhere in the harness.

The Curt 55584 gives you reverse signal at the same plug you plug the bar into. You only have to fashion your bullet collector for the single extra socket in the plug. This seemed easier and cleaner to me.

Dang, so I already ordered the 55384. I couldn’t find a 55584 listed on Amazon. Did you mean the 56584?


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[djwdjw]

Dang, so I already ordered the 55384. I couldn’t find a 55584 listed on Amazon. Did you mean the 56584?

Yes, 56584 (smack forehead). Sorry, corrected the original post.

Good luck on the tricky part of getting the bar positioned "just right" and secure. Takes too long and fiddly for my liking but the result is really nice when you get it right. Installing the Curt 56584 and wiring, zip-tie-ing takes just a few minutes after the bar is attached properly.

 

[Dmalonecentral]

Installed. Appreciate all the info on this thread. FWIW, I initially used 1/2 inch spaces on the outside ends and 5/8 on the inside and the first time I shut the tailgate the tailgate went under the inside of the clips and mangled them. I ended up with 1/4 inch on the outside and 1/2 inch on the inside brackets and all is good. Also, I did take the tail gate off to do the initial mounting. Not sure if it made it easier but I think it did.

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[19 streak]

I may have missed this somewhere but has anyone just hooked up the reverse light in the bar? I don't really want the brake light or running light feature. I just really want a brighter reverse light

 

[Dmalonecentral]

I may have missed this somewhere but has anyone just hooked up the reverse light in the bar? I don't really want the brake light or running light feature. I just really want a brighter reverse light

There is no reason you couldn’t just use reverse but seems like a waste of time and effort just for reverse. I saw a license plate mounted reverse light bar on here somewhere if that’s an option for you.

Found the thread.

License Plate Reverse light
https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/license-plate-reverse-light.4787/

Link to product
https://www.vleds.com/lpr-reverse-72-w.html


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[19 streak]

Exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you

 

[1200GS]

This was what I ordered.

OPT7 60" Redline LED Tailgate Light Bar - TriCore LED = https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z8TGR4G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Hey Jamie - when I follow that link Amazon tells me that tailgate LED won't fit my 2019 Ram 1500... any idea why?

 

[Dmalonecentral]

This is the one that I ordered. It has running, Brake, Orange sequential blinkers and reverse.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HUJW75O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_A45rCbPQ991SV


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[Powerman1960]

GS1200, I ordered the same one (Dmalonecentral) ordered from Amazon, and yes , the links on Amazon indicated it would not fit, but it will!

 

[jamie.howlett]

No idea. Sorry.

 

[1200GS]

Yesterday I did the physical mounting of the OPT7 triple LED light bar and fiddled around with the positioning to get it clear of the tailgate opening, which is no small challenge.

In my case I mounted the 4 clips on the plastic fascia panel, spaced equidistant across the panel with spacers under each. I used 1" self-tapping screws on the outside and bolts/wingnuts on the inner clips. I may go back and use bolts/wingnuts on the outside clips for better strength. The one factor to deal with is that the fascia panel is curved - probably 1/2" farther away from the bumper in the center and closer on the outsides, which means thicker/taller spacers in the center vs. the outside edges, depending on where you place the clips.

I trial fit a number of times and tested the tailgate and found it touching every time until I decreased the spacer thickness and ended up with rubber washers as spacers on the outsides, about 1/8 inch (and probably compressed to somewhat less than this) and 3/8 in the middle spots. I'll check with a straight edge to see how close to flat the bar is, but there is some flex possible when it is mounted. There's also molded "bumps" on the very outsides of the fascia panel that keep you from mounting the bar flush directly on the fascia. When the bottom light row is about flush with the level of the bumper and the clip spacers are short enough, the tailgate clears with a few millimeters to spare. There is very little room (tolerance) to show well out back and miss the tailgate lip when opening, but it does fit and looks great when you get it positioned right. Hopefully 4 clips are sufficient to keep the bar from coming loose, but maybe I will figure out some invisible way to zip tie the thing as a fail-safe.

I have to zip tie up all the harness this evening...

But a question for @grinch72 (maybe I don't understand something): Why did you make that little 6 inch harness from both ends of the Hopkins 5-way kit? It seems like the light bar plugs right into the Curt 56584 5-way and you could just put a bullet connector on the white (reverse) wire and stick it into the one remaining open one (reverse) in the Curt? I am not sure why you made that adapter other than removing the bar with the single bullet connector wire might be fragile and fiddly if you had do it more than a time or two, therefore the 5-wire to 5-wire quick disconnect. Thanks for any explanations.

Not understanding the 6-inch harness functionality, I have just plugged the 4-wire plug directly into the Curt 56584. I sacrificed the unused OPT7 "hardwire adapter" 4-wire pigtail from the kit and used razor knife to cut one bullet-plug worth of connector with one wire off the molded 4-wire plug, then spliced that onto the bar's white bare wire and plugged that into the remaining Curt 56584 socket. All works fine.

I'll be sending the Hopkins 5-way plug set back to Amazon.

PS - I took a look at the light bar at night - quite cool. The backup lights make a huge difference lighting up the invisible area behind the truck. The OPT7 bar does not come on if you quick tap the brake, it needs about 1 second to light up.

Thanks for sharing all the info to put this together.

Ok y'all... so apparently I'm a very slow learner... I read through this thread several times now: so the reason for using the Curt 56584 is so the we do NOT have to splice into the taillight for reverse, correct? But in y'alls descriptions you always reference something like "then spliced that onto the bar's white bare wire and plugged that into the remaining Curt 56584 socket"... that's what confuses me: what are we splicing into what, if we're NOT splicing anything into the taillight? In the photo of the Curt 56584 attached I don't see any "remaining socket"?

 

[Dmalonecentral]

Ok y'all... so apparently I'm a very slow learner... I read through this thread several times now: so the reason for using the Curt 56584 is so the we do NOT have to splice into the taillight for reverse, correct? But in y'alls descriptions you always reference something like "then spliced that onto the bar's white bare wire and plugged that into the remaining Curt 56584 socket"... that's what confuses me: what are we splicing into what, if we're NOT splicing anything into the taillight? In the photo of the Curt 56584 attached I don't see any "remaining socket"?

The Curt connector is so you don’t have to use the outside facing wiring pins on the bumper. You hook up the Curt connector as a pass through behind the bumper and gives you an additional 4 or 5 pin connector.

The 56584 has a 5 pin connector so you have one open slot. I then took the extra harness that came with the light bar ( only needed for hardwire scenario) and cut off the bullet pin and wire nutted it to the bare white wire for reverse and plugged it into the 5th pin on the Curt connector. No splicing needed. All plug and play. If you buy the bar and the 56584 once you see it all it will make sense.


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[SpeedyV]

It is because it is a four wire setup. Brake and blinker are on the same side in the same wire. The lightbar needs to wait and determine if it is constant power(brake) or pulse power(blinker). At that point it lights up accordingly. I thought it would annoy me as well and almost went with a different setup but in the end I am very happy with it.

@grinch72 - The light bar looks fantastic...especially the turn signals and reverse. But the delay is a non-starter for me. Have you thought of a way to work around this, i.e. with a different setup than the 4-wire harness?