After I washed my Screw I noticed a trail of mud coming from just under both the tail lights. Upon closer inspection there were several small pebbles and some dirt lodged between the lights and the truck body. I took the tail lights off and cleaned out a buch of gravel and dirt from the cavity. I could also see where it is easy for mud and small rocks to be thrown in there from the rear tires. Is this normal? Seems like a bad design to me. I live in the Denver area and they put a lot of small gravel and sand on the roads in the Winter. Its going to be a pain to clean those lights out.

 

Interesting, I have the same problem.

 

To answer your question-Bad design- Just take hose with power
nozzle attached and blast away from inside wheel well area. It takes patience but you will get most of it out. Late-BD

 

same problem here too and if left in there they chip away the paint.

 

When at car wash I lower tailgate and aim wand down through lower hole and up through upper. This seems to clean pretty well

 

Drop tailgate. Remove two tail light screws on each side and pull taillights out. Clean tail light recess. Cover big holes with duct tape. Reinstall taillights. Vrooom........

I did this when I installed my L-tails. No heat problems yet. Duct tape should last a while, but will eventually need replacing. I may tape in some window screen mesh so that heat can escape next time. HTH

Dang, I need a new pic .....

 

how do yall get your pics to come up with your replies?

 

Hey guys,

I've got the same problem, dirt coming out from the bottom of the rear tail light assemblies. I'll bet that Ford Engineers knew all along that this was a problem but some executive panel decided that there were other things that needed more attention and to get those damn S'Crews on the street and start to recoup their investment.

The execs probably figured they'd take their chances and if it became a problem for them the dealer network could handle adding something later and only for the ones that complain. Just guessing but I know **** like that happens when projects are delayed and the baby needs to be delivered so to speak.

Hey Big Daddy Whiteboy,

You've got to create a photo gallery on this site first, and then create a link to the photo you want to show in your post and that's it. The hardest part though is making sure you refer to the proper forum codes when you paste the link in your post.

Read the FAQs section to learn more about posing pics with your posts.



Good luck

DaveMan

 

Ramblin Wreck said it,

I had this same problem, the only way to get it all out was to remove the tail lights and give the area a blast from the water hose.

 

I believe Ford has a TSB out on this problem also. Need to ask your dealer about it. Of, course if they are as ignorant as the Florida dealers, you will have to give them the number. Do a search on this site to see ALL of the F-150 TSB's.
Other way is to plug the holes with ruber gasket material. works great.....

 

If not for this thread, I would not have known about the dirt behind the tail lights. I just spent 10 minutes shooting water under there and was surprised at the amount of dirt that flushed out.

Sounds like I'll soon be taking the lights out and looking for what you guys are talking about. If there's a way to keep the dirt out, I'm all for it.

This is my first Flareside. Never had this kind of problem with my previous Stylesides. Thought the fender liners in the Flareside would have kept the mud out.

 

Hey guys,

I took my rear light assemblies out and this is what I found. Looks like Ford just conveniently forgot to seal these holes from road debris. I'm attaching six photos for inspection. I've got some ideas on how we can seal these holes up with a nice rubber grommet but from what I've been able to find out there not available off the shelf, so it's starting to look like a custom made part.

Hope these help us figure out the solution quicker. I'm not even going to waste my time with Ford as they are having enough financial problems within their company and as such will not take this issue very seriously IMHO.





https://www.f150online.com/galleries...2-452-9444.jpg
https://www.f150online.com/galleries...2-452-9445.jpg
https://www.f150online.com/galleries...2-452-9446.jpg

Later,
DaveMan

 

Daveman,

THANK YOU for the pictures. Now I have an idea of what I need to plug those holes.

What the heck was Ford thinking? Did they really need those big holes?

 

I like RamblinWreck's suggestion of taping some window screen material over the holes. Should negate any potential problems with excess heating. I will give it a try.