2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission clearence light install???

[THenningsen]

Got the cab clearence light kit from the dealer and was wondering what all is involved in removing the headliner? Do I need a special tool to remove the plastic retainers? I don't want to tear anything up. The way I understand it, is that once I drop the headliner, the holes should already be marked in the metal. Is that true? The kit I got is for the 03-05 trucks... mine is an 02, I just like the lights better on the 3rd gen. , but does that mean that I can't use the template included in the kit? Thanks for the help.

 

[MDale]

I have an 01 and have the same kit as you, just wanting until warmer weather to install. I was wondering the same thing about drilling the holes.



Thanks,

Matt

 

[CEpp]

supposably the holes are stamped in the bottom side of the roof. if u drop your headliner everything is marked, ive also heard the some templates are wrong. so id guess that id drop the headliner to see. . all the trucks have the same roof, just with or without cab lights. and the embossments are on the inside of the roof. . id hate to trust a template and drill a hole and its wrong. . just my $. 02.

 

[ces944]

I just put my lights on about 3 months ago. It took about 1 hour. first remove the A pillar arms this allows the headliner to come down farther, next take off the visors, next if you have a center console there are two screws in the sunglass compartment take them out, and in the garage door opener compartment there are two clips. If you slide the console backwards it should pop out, then unclip the wiring harness. Next pull the headliner down, be carefull not to break it. As you look at the roof you will see a rail with five holes in it. These are the holes for the lights. I took an automatic center punch and punched in the middle of the holes. Next I got on top of the truck and drilled a 3/8 hole for the wires to go down through and then placed the light gasket on top of that hole and drilled the holes for the screws to hold the the lights down. Next place the gaket on the roof, then put the wires through the hole, next tighten the lights down. I went back in the truck and hooked all of the lights together ran the hot wire to the fuse box, ran the ground wire under the dash and put everything back together. it works great no leaks yet and it wasnt that difficult. Just make sure you use a center punch when you drill the holes through the roof or the drill bit will walk all over the place. Hope this helps. Curt

 

[PullinRam]

He said it above perfectly. Here's a picture of the install under the headliner.



Fairly easy install overall.

 

[ERobinette]

Has anyone used led lights for clearance lights, if so which ones? I tried to pull the trip computer once before after removing the screws. I pulled towards the rear and got nervous with the amount of force I was applying and gave up, any hints? Thank you, Ed

 

[rono]

ERobinette, after removing the screws, you have to release the two clips, then slid to the rear. One of my clips released just fine, the other one I had to use a flat screwdriver to push the release and pry down to make it turn loose.

Ron

 

[SHobbs]

ERobinette

I changed out the OEM bulbs in the clearance lights to LED's. There are LED kits for the clearance lights but they can be pricey, 5 new LED bulbs cost me under $30. I think the bulbs were $5 a piece. The number on the bulbs are 194, you can find places to get them on line, I did a search and found mine.

 

[THenningsen]

can someone please tell me which wire I need to tie into to wire my clearence lights. My light kit has a green wire. thanks.

 

[CFowler]

SHobbs, any advantage to using a l. e. d. bulb?why did you swap them out?

 

[tking]

SHobbs, any advantage to using a l. e. d. bulb?why did you swap them out?

Anytime you can reduce the load on the headlight switch, it's a good thing.



LED's draw MUCH less power than standard bulbs.

 

[SHobbs]

CFowler

I changed them for the longevity and brightness. These things are much brighter than the regular bulbs. After I changed to the LED's the clearance lights were a little lighter shade of yellow but not much. As stated by tking taking the load off the headlight switch is a good thing, I think I remember seeing a post here about the headlight switch getting too hot and burning up. I have my gauges tied into the headlight switch as well as 12 LED's on my running boards so swapping to LED's was a no brainer, with all that I have running off that switch dropping the load will help the switch last longer.