Review on Brake Light Explorer Third 2004 2008 by Mariqn Carey

Like many of you, I had a third brake light leak on my 2010 F-150 Platinum. The back of the headliner was constantly flooded with water and the lamp assembly had to be replaced. This one fit the bill and it turned out great. After reading the reviews I thought I could help clarify a few things. First, the STOCK brake light has three bulbs. Notice I said LAMPS. The two outer bulbs (left and right) illuminate the two outer charge lights. The third, middle bulb provides light for the (red) middle brake light. Connection to standard wiring is easy. This block has pluggable "plugs" in the shape of the base of a traditional lightbulb. You plug them into the truck's outlets. You remove the standard bulbs one at a time (see below) and simply plug the new unit into the bulb socket. Instead of putting lightbulbs in outlets, this device plugs into any outlet to get power. Just like you do with miniature Christmas lights. . A NEW brake light has two wires coming out with connectors in the shape of a bulb socket. They are simply plugged into truck lamp sockets. This gives the new brake light power. No cutting and splicing of cables, crimping tools, etc. required. Simply "plug" the new unit's plugs into the truck's "light sockets". ATTENTION! This device uses LED LIGHTS. It doesn't have individual bulbs, instead it has a white LED strip and a red LED strip. So it goes without saying that you only need TWO connectors: the socket that originally powered the third brake light (centre, red) connects to the CENTER (male) connector on this unit. (Reasonable, right?). What about the two remaining truck cables, one on the left and one on the right? (You powered the two outer bulbs of the white cargo lights). If you look at this brake light you will see a wire/plug coming out from the right (passenger) side. Plug this connector into the RIGHT (female) socket on the truck. As a result, the bulb is still hanging on the left (driver's) side. Simply remove the bulb, insert the empty socket into the left hole of the new brake light unit and twist, done! This connector is empty and is retained in the brake light housing. Screw the other two plugs into the recesses (sockets) of the housing of the new brake light in the same way as when removing the old one. Now check the connections. When you open the door or turn on the charging light, the white LED strip should light up. When you press the brake pedal, the red LED strip lights up. Again, the key is to remove one connection at a time and "map" it to the new device. A NOTICE. This device is NOT designed to be used as a backup light. These trucks are not designed to use the cab (cargo) lights as backup lights. The reversing lights are located in the rear lights. If you want this white LED brake light to come on when reverse gear is engaged, you need to wire it yourself. Regarding installation, please note that many people have damaged their flashlight assembly by over tightening the screws. A few notes: The screws that come with this lamp are NOT designed to mount the lamp on a truck. These are fastening screws with nuts that simply hold the lamp together in the box. Remove and discard these nuts and bolts. Similarly, if you remove the rod bolts when removing the original lamp, SAVE THEM. These are sheet metal screws required for reinstallation. Plastic is not designed to "twist" under excessive pressure. Just "squeeze" them. If you twist them, the plastic will break. Yes, the gasket is thicker than the original. This is because the thin factory gasket is the cause of the problem of water entering the truck. The new Ford gasket is also thicker. So yes, that new bulb will stick out further from the truck. Although it's minimal. It looks good and is ok to keep water out. After installation, do a final check of the red and white lights before proceeding to the next step. Here's what I did to get the water completely right. I bought 100% silicone for my caulking gun. I bought black silicone for my black truck. After removing the original bulb, completely clean the area under the gasket and allow to dry. I then applied a small bead to the area of the gasket that will be in contact with the truck's surface. Slowly and carefully install the lamp onto the truck, making sure the round plastic tabs fit into the holes near the screw plates so the gasket is fully seated on the truck. The silicone will be squeezed out from under the gasket. It is in order. I then injected some silicone into the screw holes to keep the screws and holes sealed. Now carefully insert the standard self-tapping screws into the holes and lightly tighten each one. Again, you won't be tightening the bolts, just tightening them. The gasket (and silicone here too) keeps a good seal. Finally I applied silicone around the perimeter of the installed lamp. Enough to fill the gap! Use your finger to slowly smooth it all over. Don't use too much and you won't get obsessive compulsive straightening because once it starts to dry it doesn't straighten well. Now let it dry. Don't forget to apply some silicone around the satellite radio antenna on the roof! This is a known source of leakage on these trucks.