I'm going to keep posting this until it gets answered! How do you rewire the '97 flairside taillights so the turns and brakes on both bulbs work together??? HELP!!! THANKS!!!

 

ford6mann
I will post the solution this afternoon. I did this a few months ago but only in a temporary fashion. Yesterday I found I have the right side lower bulb not flashing so I guess my temporary fix did not last or a blew out a bulb. This morning I am going to make it permanent and get a bulb if needed. I will post the wire change after the fix. Basically, you just jumper from the top red area to the bottom. Ford put a dual element in the bottom red area but not the wire. Be patient for another couple of hours.

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97 F-150, 2WD, Reg Cab,Flareside,Dk Toreador Red, Windsor 4.6, Magnecor 8.5mm wires, Bosch Plat +4s, 3.55 LS, EGR Bug Deflector, ******* Bed Cover, Bed Liner, XL Full Length Running Boards, Air Aid Kit, Gibson Single Out Cat Back, Superchips, TransGo Shift Kit, Hellwig Rear Sway Bar, Hellwig 2500# Overload Springs,Energy Suspension Polyurethane Front Sway Bar Bushings, 265 70 16 tires, Rancho RS9000 shocks

 

Okay, here it comes. I did not need a new bulb. My problem was my temporary fix; the wire vibrated loose.

1. Open tailgate and choose one side to work on. Remove the tailgate cable (to ge to the top screw for the taillight).
2. Remove the two screws holding the taillight assembly (I used a nut driver 5/16). Support the assembly with one hand as you remove the screws.
3. Do not take the connectors off the bulbs. Looking at the connector for the top red area there are two black wires and one with orange and green. You will want to run a jumper wire from the orange/gren wire down to the empty slot on the connector on the bottom red area. I used a #12 piece of house wiring about 10 inches long just because it was available. I stripped about an inch of insulation from each end.
Push one end of the jumper wire in next to the orange/green wire on the top connector. On the bottom you will see there is no connector, just an empty slot. Push the wire in the empty slot far enough to contact the bulb. I used some electrical tape to secure the jumper to the other wires for support.
4. Put the assembly back into the fender and see the double lights work.

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97 F-150, 2WD, Reg Cab,Flareside,Dk Toreador Red, Windsor 4.6, Magnecor 8.5mm wires, Bosch Plat +4s, 3.55 LS, EGR Bug Deflector, ******* Bed Cover, Bed Liner, XL Full Length Running Boards, Air Aid Kit, Gibson Single Out Cat Back, Superchips, TransGo Shift Kit, Hellwig Rear Sway Bar, Hellwig 2500# Overload Springs,Energy Suspension Polyurethane Front Sway Bar Bushings, 265 70 16 tires, Rancho RS9000 shocks

 

On the 97 Flareside the bottom red area does not light up for stop and turn signal as delivered from Ford. Some clever individual figured out how to make the bottom area functional. Seems Ford put a dual element bulb in place but not the wire to connect them. This does the connection. Now there are two red lights blinking for turns and four red lights for stop.


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97 F-150, 2WD, Reg Cab,Flareside,Dk Toreador Red, Windsor 4.6, Magnecor 8.5mm wires, Bosch Plat +4s, 3.55 LS, EGR Bug Deflector, ******* Bed Cover, Bed Liner, XL Full Length Running Boards, Air Aid Kit, Gibson Single Out Cat Back, Superchips, TransGo Shift Kit, Hellwig Rear Sway Bar, Hellwig 2500# Overload Springs,Energy Suspension Polyurethane Front Sway Bar Bushings, 265 70 16 tires, Rancho RS9000 shocks

 

Why would you want to do this? Is it for more visibilty? Is there something different about the flaresides? Just curious, maybe I'd want to do it also.
Thanks


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1998 F-150 XLT 4X4 Supercab Flareside
Bright Red, Med Graphite 60/40 Int
4.6L V8, Auto, 3.55 gears, HD/Tow Pkg, ORP
Slider, Keyless Entry/Alarm, Pwr/W/L/M/S

ADDED

Uniden PRO520XL/Wilson 1000 CB
Alpine CHM-S655RF 6 CD Changer
Ventshade Stepshields in grey color

 

but will this work on a 2000 styleside??

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TRUCK
2000 XLT 4.2 Auto
3.55 non-limited slip
Superchip
K&N filter in airbox mod
custom ported STOCK throttle body

PC
Thunderbird 1.1ghz @ 1.33ghz
Abit KT7A-Raid
384mb Kingmax PC-150 ram
60gig IBM gxp RAID array
Geforce2 GTS 64mb

 

I check it out and only the top lights work for brake and turn on my 98 too. I think I'll try this out. Has anyone had problems like fuses blowing or even worse short circuit fires. I know this is extreme I just thought I'd ask.

 

When you remove the light assembly you will see a large empty area inside the fender area that is made of Fiberglass. If the wire came loose I doubt there is much chance of a short and fire.
I taped the jumper wire to the other wires at both ends to ensure they would not come loose.
As for the Fleetside I can not say because I have never looked at the lights on a Fleetside.

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97 F-150, 2WD, Reg Cab,Flareside,Dk Toreador Red, Windsor 4.6, Magnecor 8.5mm wires, Bosch Plat +4s, 3.55 LS, EGR Bug Deflector, ******* Bed Cover, Bed Liner, XL Full Length Running Boards, Air Aid Kit, Gibson Single Out Cat Back, Superchips, TransGo Shift Kit, Hellwig Rear Sway Bar, Hellwig 2500# Overload Springs,Energy Suspension Polyurethane Front Sway Bar Bushings, 265 70 16 tires, Rancho RS9000 shocks