Hello guys, I recently discovered a leak in the rear window of my 2002 F150 Supercab. My truck has the brake light built into the surround molding and the plastic has broken off on one side. I was under the assumption that the 97 to 2003 window surround would be the same on these trucks but when I went to the junkyard I found some 97/98/99 trucks that have the third brake light that screws into the molding but is not attached. This seems like it would work better but it makes me think the molding is not compatible with all the years. Anyone know for sure? I tried looking the part up online but the pictures are not conclusive if the molding includes the brake light or not.

 

The rear moldings are different in the 2002/2003 model years. They use an exterior weather stripping that wraps around the outside of the molding, previous years had the weatherstripping underneath. Unfortunately, in order to make the exterior weather stripping fit on the 2002/2003 moldings they thinned out the material considerably on the outside. This is what causes the break just to the left or right of the brake light. In addition, 2002/2003 molding has more screws on the sides to mount to the cab than previous years. I do not believe that the brake lights are different though and I have used older year brake lights in the newer moldings. Good luck finding an unbroken 2002/2003 molding they are hard to find in the junkyards. I am considering reinforcing the thin part of mine with some type of expoy.

Oh and FYI, the leak is not caused by the molding and replacing it will not help. The leak comes from a gap in the butyl tape behind the window. You will have to remove the window and replace the tape. The correct tape part number is: E69Z19562A

 

Thanks for the info. I think the brake lights are the same except the brake lights from these 2 years attach to the molding. Do you think it would be possible to use window molding from a previous year and cut the additional screws off? Or because of the additional screws, it wouldn't quite work?

 

I wouldn't mess around with cutting screws off, they are there for a reason and would probably only cause you problems if they were missing. Just keep looking around for the correct year..I would actually reglue my broken molding and try to make that work before I cut an old one. You could just go to a boneyard a pull a 97-01 molding and see if you can get that to work as is, but remember you have to fix the window to stop the leak and the window has to come out before you can remove the molding.

 

Yeah I just saw a bunch at the junkyard and thought it may be easier. I have a good gap between the molding and the brake light where it broke of maybe a quarter inch. I'll see what I can do to glue it. Thanks again. I saw another thread on here where they removed the window and used some black caulking type stuff. Window weld I think it was. Is that better to use than the tape? Also, it looks like the the seatbelts need to be removed in order to get access to the window removal so I think I need a torx 47 bit. I just bought a torx kit and it doesn't have that size. DO'H

 

I almost always use the factory recommended stuff. There is actually a TSB saying specifically not to use the solid butyl most people use as it causes leaks. And a T45 bit will work to take off the seat belts

 

Update* So I removed the window that was leaking but it was drama because whatever the previous owner used to seal it the last time was ridiculously hard to get the window out. I scraped and scraped for hours and eventually had to use a crowbar to get the window out. In the process, I cracked the plastic piece that holds the window. The crack is on the inside of the seal so I probably could have still used it but I went to the junkyard and was able to find a replacement instead. I figured why risk it but also I didn't want to scrape this crap off the window because its not coming off. It will be hard enough getting it scraped from the truck side. Anyhow, during this junkyard hunt, I found a old supercab (maybe 99 I don't remember exactly) but it was where I pulled the window from. The molding piece that fits around the window (that I was looking to replace in my above post) was still in good shape and so I took it and it fit. The piece has more clips and less screws than my previous one but it does fit so I guess its not only the 2002/2003 models that are compatible after all.

 

I haven't posted on this site before but been a member for over 5 years. I'll clarify the rear window surround trim that there are two different numbers from Ford. The Regular Cab and the Supercrew use one particular number and the SuperCab uses another. They mount differently in where the holes are. This was well discussed in another Forum. There are also 2 designs to the rear sliders. The first has a thin area around the top of the sliding part where the second, improved design, is a solid wide inner mounting trim. The first design tends to crack at the thin points when you try and remove them. The newer design doesn't as easy. I had to research this in September to replace my broken surround and replace a stock window with a privacy slider.