Hard Time With Tail Gate Light Bar

[BruceA]

Recently purchased a 2019 RAM 1500 Big Horn "new body style". Spent the first week adding necessary accessories to it (Tri-Fold hard bed cover, running boards, Rhino Lined the bed, mud flaps, under rear set storage box and new floor mats. I also purchased a light bar for the tail gate. That's the only accessory I've been having a hard time with. It seems that the area in front of the rear bumper is not only uneven, but the cable for the rearview camera and tailgate lock interfeer with running the light bar level and without blocking the cable hatch area. I've been racking my brain attempting to come up with solutions to attach the light bar and am beginning to think the only solution would be to attach the light bar to the extreme bottom of the tailgate itself. If anyone has come across this problem with a solution, I would greately appreciate the help.

 

[Tim Garceau]

You could design a thin custom 48-60” bracket that mounts to the back of the bed frame and holds it.

 

[gofishn]

2014 I laid slim cd cases on top of rear bumper, then laid light bar on cd cases, perfectly level with bumper and can just get to spare tire winch assembly.

PS

Silicone u p the ends of your light bar and let it live longer.
Be surprised how much that simply little trick will help light bar longevity.

 

[crash68]

Stick it on with thin neodymium magnets, so even if it blocks something you can move it to access the tailgate wiring and spare tire ***** hole.

 

[IRSmart]

I think you all are missing the point. On the 5th gen, there really isn’t a place to put one. I don’t have a solution, I actually recognized this as a problem myself right when the redesign came out. I haven’t seen any lights on a 5th gen yet, but maybe someone’s done one and can chime in.

 

[CG2742]

I had same concern. I haven’t added one like I did my fourth gen. I have seen on here guys doing it though on the 5th gen. There are also a few styles that may help

 

[BruceA]

Thanks for the input on this. I was thinking that it was just me and there might be an easy solution to this. I've been trying different methods of attaching the light bar only to keep running into the same problems. It would seem that with the 5th Gen the only real solution would be to attach the light bar to the extreme bottom of the tail gate and tuck the connection wire under. Don't know how that would look, but if I figure it out, or if anyone comes up with another better solution, I'm all ears... Thanks and have a safe and happy holiday season.

 

[BruceA]

I ordered some magnets.... I am planning on giving that a try. I figure that on a 60" light bar, twelve magnets should do the trick. They might give me the ability to raise the light bar a little more in order to compensate for the uneveness of the area that the bar will be attached to. Also, they would give me the advantage of removing the light bar if need be. I plan on taking pictures of the application if it works and will upload them in case it might help anyone else with this situation. Thanks again for all the advice....

 

[BruceA]

Waiting for the magnets to come and attempt to install the light bar I bought. Thinking about removing the tail gate in order to make it easier to install the light bar. I remember reading that on the 5th Gen you have to be careful removing the tail gate due to an "assist" mechcanism on the left side of the tail gate. Has anyone run across this?

 

[gofishn]

Waiting for the magnets to come and attempt to install the light bar I bought. Thinking about removing the tail gate in order to make it easier to install the light bar. I remember reading that on the 5th Gen you have to be careful removing the tail gate due to an "assist" mechcanism on the left side of the tail gate. Has anyone run across this?

If its a Dee Zee typoe, should be a nut you just pp off, easy peasy

 

[Damion]

The 5th gens have a factory assisted tailgate. I haven't taken mine off yet so im no help with that sadly... but the shock for it is behind the drivers side tail light

 

[Randy Grant]

The 5th gens have a factory assisted tailgate. I haven't taken mine off yet so im no help with that sadly... but the shock for it is behind the drivers side tail light

Don't . It's a PITA.

 

[Randy Grant]

The 5th gens have a factory assisted tailgate. I haven't taken mine off yet so im no help with that sadly... but the shock for it is behind the drivers side tail light

Head over to the other ram forum (**************). There several there that have solved the problem

 

[300MAG]

Stick it on with thin neodymium magnets, so even if it blocks something you can move it to access the tailgate wiring and spare tire ***** hole.

Love the idea of using magnets but where are the magnets sticking to? I was looking at my truck today and there is only black plastic trim behind bumper /under tail gate.

Sent from my GM1917 using Tapatalk

 

[LimitlessRam]

I have a 2019 Ram Limited and added the OPT7 Redline Triple. It was not a plug and play install. The OPT7 comes with 2 mounting options. The adhesive strip (not an option here) and mounting clips (included with hardware)
I used the clips but added a 1/4" spacer (4 #10 stainless steel washers) behind the clip to clear the various shapes and the wiring harness. My install does not interfere with the spare tire access. I had to locate the LED strip flush with the top of the bumper to keep it visible and clear the tailgate.
For wiring, I attached to the back of the trailer plug (mine has the 4 and 7 pin plugs) Because the harness is one piece, I used the included IDC splices and hardwire kit to make the electrical connections.
First, I removed the wire harness from the back of the plug then peeled back the wrapping on the harness to expose about 6 inches of wire. The wire colors of the OPT7 hard wire plug match the Ram wire colors, except for the reverse light (the center pin of the 7-pin) with the wiring tested and complete, I re-wrapped the harness with 3M weatherproof electrical tape and plugged it back into the 4/7 pin connector. I DID NOT need any extra module or wire connectors.
The OPT7 is the brightest LED strip (1200 LEDs) and has sequential turn signals. I chose the amber turn color.

OPT7 60" Redline Triple LED Tailgate Light Bar w/Sequential RED Turn Signal - 1,200 LED Solid Beam - Weatherproof - Full Function Reverse Brake Running 2yr Warranty https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0771WDRHH/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_apa_i_2bLlEbMTYY9DY

 

[micedray]

I just installed the OPT7 60" Redline Triple LED Tailgate Light Bar w/Sequential RED Turn Signal. I did the install as LimitlessRam described. He's spot on. Thanks for the instructions LimitlessRam. This the brightest light bar I've seen.

 

[Mingya]

I'm think the only way to do this, is to remove the molded wire cover and try see if there's enough wire to go under the light bar. The outside ends where the bump is should be easy enough to configure something. But without removing the molded cover there really is not a good place to mount it that don't make it look out of place. Iv'e thought about the bottom of the tailgate but.. I even have a plastic pce that came with my bed rug and it fits very snug on the bottom of the tg and didn't look as bad ad just putting it on the painted surface unless you have a dark gray or maybe black truck. But definitely not on my fire red ram. I did see one guy on you tube that put 6 layers of 3m tape then the light bar. Not sure of the longevity of that without it maybe slipping down with some hot weather.