So I decided to open up my fogs today and paint them black. While I was at it I also decided to attempt to open up my 3rd brake light and black it out as well. Here we go...

The 3rd brake light is held on with 2 screws simply unscrew them and the light comes off as one complete unit. Behind the light you will find the bulb sockets.



Simply turn the light fixtures to unlock them and pull the from the holes. There's also two retainers holding the wiring to the light. These simply pulled out on mine.



Once you take all the bulbs out the light should be free from the truck. Next begin removing the weatherstripping attached to the light. (NOTE: My truck is an 04 and lives in AZ heat, un-garaged so the weather strip came off easily, yours may not.)



Once the weather strip was off, I pre-heated my oven to 200F and placed the light on a baking sheet. I put it in the oven for 10min then removed it and used a small screw driver around the edges to pry the cover free. Again my truck lives a hard life in the AZ sun and my light already had some cracks in it. I was very careful to not pry to hard on the cover. Once I worked the outer edge loose I noticed the cover was still not free, then I figured out that Ford, (actually its made by Hella) also placed glue under the cover around the screw mounting holes as well, and this is what was still holding the cover on. Being very careful I pried on the side closest to the screw holes until they popped free. The picture below shows the glue around the screw hole.



Once I had the outer clear cover removed I had some options. There is a removable red cover over the brake light portion. I decided to remove it and black out under that too, but it could be left on and just black out the rest. Here is the light with the outer cover removed.



On the backside there are 3 tabs holding the red cover in place.



With a little persuasion, 2 small screw drivers and a few choice words these tabs can be pushed in and the cover removed.



Now it was time to mask off the reflector areas. Using Darrens method of sticking the tape to my shirt a few times to remove some adhesiveness I decided to make a test run on an area that was going to get painted. even with the tape being less sticky the chrome came right off on the tape. I knew this wasnt going to work so I had to go to plan B.



I decided to cut some cardboard pieces out that I could fit tightly over the reflector areas.



I then cut some smaller cardboard pieces for the backside and used a screw to hold them tightly together.



I did this for each of the reflector areas.



Then I used a red scuffing pad on all the remaining chrome.



After I was happy with the scuffing I used some prep spray and a lint free rag to clean the surface, followed by a light blast of air to dry everything completely. Then it was time for paint. I used the standard Krylon fusion in satin black for this.
1st coat



2nd coat



Once i was satisfied with how it looked and everything was dry I removed the cardboard covers.




I ran out of time on this today as I had to go to work but I decided to place the covers over it just to get a feel for what it would look like.



Here is a shot of it without the red cover inside. I was thinking it may be cool to leave this red cover out and go to a red bulb or red led.



After cleaning the lenses with some glass cleaner, it was time to put everything back together, The red lens simply snaps back into its 3 slots




I then used some black RTV silicone adhesive and ran a small uniform bead around the edge of the light base. Remember to put some around the screw holes too.



Then its just a matter of placing the cover over the base and applying enough pressure for the two units to bond together. A dish towel and a couple text books should do the trick. be careful not to apply too much pressure or the base will actually slide around and not stay in place.



After letting it set up over night I reinstalled the light in the revers order from above. On tip is to put a bead of silicone around the foam gasket, as the third brake light is notorious for leaking. Here are the finished pics. Need to get some night shots

BEFORE




AFTER





As you can see the results are noticeably darker, but because the outer lens is frosted its still not as dark as I would like. Next step will be to smoke it.

Here are a couple night shots. I didnt notice any difference in output. Still lights up my whole bed nicely.

 

Nice! I tried this last year but ended up breaking the lens.....that sucks!

 

Now that looks good! Props for being successful at getting it done, i'll definitely have to give this a try, possibly on Sunday. Later down the road smoke it and it'll be set. Good job! Get that thing assembled and feedback and photos.

 

great job

 

Yeah theres actually alot of cool different things that could be done with this. You could smoke the red lens before you put it back together, and smoke the outside cover for a nice deep red tone. Putting it back together now. Just a heads up for everyone im gonna keep adding the rest of this onto the original posting, so all the info will be in one place.

 

Thought id give a little update DONT USE BLACK SILICONE!! I should have known that because this is a clear lens that I would be able to see the black silicone through the lens. It looks bad, guess ill have to smoke it now.

 

Good tip. Is it on the truck yet though? Looking forward to pics. I wanna see the light output shots. My cargo LEDs light up everything but i'm expecting a minimal die out of output like the fog lamps. Barely noticeable though. What is you opinion on the output change? Same as the fog lamps just a barely noticeable output loss?

 

Just put up the finished pics. Sorry about the pics all I have is my camera phone right now. I have not gotten any night shots yet ill do this tonight.

 

Sweet deal, not bad. Let us know how they light up!

And to add, in this picture, the light looks bad ***, If only the OEM lens was 100% CLEAR! Would look fantastic!

 

Added some night shots.

 

I need some down time where I don't need my truck to do all the lights

 

Yes it helps to have more than one vehicle.

 

No excuse, i'm 22yrs old and my truck is my only vehicle .

Gotta have confidence and patience, oh, and a few hours to spare of coarse.

 

Well I guess not too many people are interested in this. lol

 

Well there is still people that are glad to see it done, myself included. PM Bluejay and request it be listed as a tech article if you have yet to already. Its a good article.