replace 3rd brake light

I personally don't think it's a very good idea to replace the third brake light with anything other than a DOT replacement, nor do I think that it is wise to modify a DOT approved replacement. It is easy to envision a lawsuit that comes from a rear-end collision, and the claim being made that non-DOT approved lighting equipment was contributory to the cause of the wreck. I cannot think of a compelling reason to spend good money to make myself more vulnerable in a lawsuit, particularly to one involving one of the very most frequent kinds of accidents. My two cents. No one is asked to agree. This is merely my understanding of how, to our universal misfortune, the world works now.

korbendallas said:

I think there are a lot of guys here that use Night Shade or Rust-oleum Lens Tint.

Click to expand...

This what i used. I used a very light coat...and it looks very good, and the brake light/cargo light still are able to be seen pretty well.




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I think it was Calder at Raptor Embroidery that taped off the 3 red LED brake lights before spraying the cover, great idea, you still get the smoked lens but don't affect the brake lights

I'm having the same issue as the OP. I had water intrusion into the third brake assembly, knocking out my LEDs. Out of factory warranty, and extended warranty doesn't cover the part, so I just ordered a fresh one.

The new part they sent includes the wiring loom from the light bulbs/LEDs, to a harness plug. This didn't seem necessary when I removed the old broken light, as I would just utilize the lights and plugs attached to the truck.

However, the bulb sockets on my 2011 have 4 locking bumps per light. Whereas the new light assembly only has 2 locking bumps per light. Both part numbers match...so maybe it's updated to mitigate water intrusion. Either way, the old bulb sockets wont fit into the new light assembly.

Now we're back to the OP's issue, we could use the new wiring that came with the assembly. The only problem? The existing harness you would plug the new wiring into, appears to be hiding in a hole behind the brake light opening, somewhere above the headliner.

Can someone shed some light on this without talking about RECON or spray tint? I've never dropped a headliner, and I'm not even sure it's necessary in this situation considering the differences between the lights. I just want my brake lights/LEDs to work again.

"Can someone shed some light on this without talking about RECON or spray tint? I've never dropped a headliner, and I'm not even sure it's necessary in this situation considering the differences between the lights. I just want my brake lights/LEDs to work again."

Ditto ^^^

Trying to figure out how to pull down the headliner enough to access the plug in for the 3rd brake light without damaging or stretching the headliner. Any suggestions would be great!

Yes, you need to pop the 2 back tabs on the headliner. You can pull it down just far enough to see there is a quick disconnect for the wire harness. I had to bend my headliner a bit to get in there.


At some point around the 11MY they changed the bulbs on the brake light so you have to replace the entire harness if your truck is a 10 or11, here is a pic if that helps you out.

Thanks I will try that out tonight.

I ended up changing out the whole thing, WITHOUT dropping the headliner.

Just inside the 3rd brake light opening are a couple of xmas tree retaining clips that hold the plugs for the brake light. I popped those clips through from the backside, which freed up enough slack to see the plug through the hole.

Then I opened up the rear slider, and slid my hand underneath the headliner to hold the plug in place. I then unplugged, and plugged, everything. Probably not the most efficient way to do all this, but it's done. If and when the housing fills up with water again, since the clips are already pushed through, I can swap the lights in under 5 minutes.