Improved Recon Tailgate Bar...

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CineSLR

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Because I need to black out my tail lights, I wanted to do something to appease the local PD while driving the truck on the street. The new tailgate bar Recon just released (this is one of the first ones in the country) is very bright and definitely gets people's attention when you jump on the brakes. When it works properly (which is a majority of the time) it has been great. The extra red and white light out back back is a big help when using the back up camera. It isn't so bright that it over powers the camera like most aux lighting setups.

(not in reverse here, just bakes applied)
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This is a slightly longer exposure but you can see that the bar is just as bright as the taillights (parking lights)
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...and the bad news. I have been having some intermittent freak outs by the light bar. For instance new years eve (which was a colder night) the light bar decided to stay in the reverse setting for the entire hour drive out to my buddies camp. My first thought is maybe I have a bad bar but yesterday I spotted a Ram with the same problem (stuck in white (reverse) mode) Other days portions or all the amber lights will be stuck on and nothing else will function at all. My bar was professionally hardwired by my audio shop so I know the connections are good. The really odd thing is that its totally random. Most of time the bar performs as it should. Customer support suggested connecting some blinker box but the blinkers function normal and it would be a huge PITA for something that I doubt would fix the issue. We tied it into the factory tow harness including the 12v which required a special Ford relay that 1 out of 3 dealerships had in stock. Anybody else have any experience with these things? Am I missing something? Oh, and to make matters more interesting if its stuck in reverse mode, there is no changing its mind. But if its just the amber usually a re-start will fix the problem. My first guess is going to be that relay, we shal see!

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The truck is clearly not in reverse (I'm not even in it)
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*This is by no means a thread to complain, Ryan at Recon has been very good about returning my emails etc. We have yet to fully get down to the bottom of it, and I'm sure we will! Just thought you guys might be interested. When the bar is working, it does look and work great. :peace:

The day of the install...
i-HdCgnwW-XL.jpg


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Edit:
One more thing to note that I forgot to mention about the install is that the spacers that came with the bar were too tall. Some will be happy with the stick on option but I wanted mine mounted with hardware. We ended up using some washers to get the exact spacing needed with the gate open. Might not be an issue with a stock bumper but just thought I would give a heads up... :waytogo:
 
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dinoone

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I hate to say it but that's one reason I don't buy Recon products. Bar looks great I hope they get the issues worked out.
 

Hockster

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That second picture is a great sunset pic!!! and I would definitively look at the relay.. Sounds like its getting stuck...Does the bar have a controller box or is it wired stright to the relay...
 
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CineSLR

CineSLR

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Well,
The relay comes from the factory in all the SDs and some F150s but for whatever reason they don't include it with the Raptor. Its the "charge" line on the tow setup for house batteries on your trailer. It only comes on when the engine is running so the bar doesn't function with the key fob (which I like).

Dino,
I'm with you on that too, I figured this was one of their bread and butter products and how hard could it be!?

I'm also working on more pictures and video of the scanning turn signals etc...
 
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