I didn't take the headlight out, I took the front half of the wheel well liner down. Got right in there and it was easier than taking the grille/headlights out. I didn't hook mine to the signals, just the park lights. I think the signal on the mirror is enough. I don't have the ones that light up white. The way they are mounted and the fact that the park lights come on when you open the doors they light up the cab steps perfectly.

 

You will want to tap into the wire harness that goes to your front directional light. If I recall there should be a total of (3) wires going to that bulb assembly. One of them is the hot for the running light filament in the bulb, the other is the hot for the turn signal filament (the brighter filament) and the third is a ground. I believe the ground is the black wire.

You want to tie into the two HOTS for your lights to make them blink with the turn signals. The turn signal filament and running light filament wires are normally grounded (and not hot) when the turn signal is not on or the running lights are not on respectively. This allows you to use this as the ground path for your auxiliary lights you are adding when the turn signal is not on. As soon as the turn signal is activated this normally ground wire becomes hot (pulled high) when the turn signal is supposed to turn on.

So, connect wire A to the turn signal wire and wire B to the parking light wire. Or in the reverse. It doesn't matter. Leave the black ground alone.

It will work as follows. Remember you obviously need a + and a - for your aux lights to come on so keep that in mind with the following logic flow to understand how it works. Also, when I refer to 'Turn Signal Off' that could be either your turn signal is not activated OR the flasher currently has it in an 'off state' while flashing:

State A: Running Lights Off, Turn Signal Off
Running Light Wire -
Turn Signal Wire -
Since both wires you are connected to are (-) your aux lights are off


State B: Running Lights On, Turn Signal Off
Running Light Wire +
Turn Signal Wire -
Since running light wire is a + and turn signal wire is a - your aux lights are on

State C: Running Lights Off, Turn Signal On
Running Light Wire -
Turn Signal Wire +
Since running light wire is a - and turn signal wire is a + your aux lights are on



This is what allows your aux lights to 'blink' with the turn signals. When your running lights are on your aux lights will blink OPPOSITE your front turn signals. When your running lights are off your aux lights will blink WITH your front turn signals.


I am going through this lengthy explanation to tell you not only how the turn signals work but also to convey that it really doesn't matter which of the two hot wires you connect which of your two aux wires to. It won't matter. Just don't use the dedicated ground wire (which I believe is BLACK) and you will be fine.

The above assumes the following:

1) The 2008 uses a standard front turn signal wiring method, which I assume it does.
2) Your aux lights are not polarity sensitive. Some cheaper LED modules are polarity sensitive and the above method will not work for them. That being said, if they SUPPORT blinking with turn signals AND a running/parking light function then they would require (3) wires to function and be polarity sensitive. If yours are (2) wire and support running lights & turn signals then they aren't polarity sensitive.

Hope this helps.


---Aaron

 

Ignore my previous post. The Big Recon is a 3 wire device. I just looked at its manual. Therefore it is very important to figure out which of the wires is for the turn signal vs running lights otherwise the Recon bar will not work properly. My above instructions were for a more simple two wire device like a set of bumper guides or a side mounted clearance lamp that you want to blink with the turn signals.

Easiest way to verify which wire is what is to get a copy of the schematics. Short of that just turn on the parking lights and stick a VOM into each of the holes in the turn signal harness's female socket (after disconnecting it from the bulb). The one that is hot is your running lights. Then turn off the running lights, throw the hazards on, and repeat the test finding the one that alternates hot/ground as you hear the flasher click. That is the turn signal one. The other one is for the ground.

The wire is directly behind each hole so that is the easiest way to identify the wires short of the schematics.

Sorry for my previous rambling post as it is obviously not relevant to the device you are trying to install.

 

Thanks Aaron for the detailed information. Yes, you are correct, the Recon lights are a little different. But, the information in your first post will definitely be helpful for someone trying to wire up the lights you describe.

By way of some additional information on this topic, I was able to get the Recons wired up yesterday so figured I'd post an update, with the wire colors that I ended up tapping into. So here goes:

Parking Lamp - Right = Violet and White wire
Parking Lamp - Left = Violet and White wire

Directional Signal - Right = Yellow and Violet wire
Directional Signal - Left = Blue and Green wire

I have to give reps to 'Sam" on another forum for posting wiring diagrams that helped out. Here's a link: http://www.hyperlinks.net/superduty/...ted1222011.zip

** I still need to wire up the "White" LEDs to come on when opening the door. I need to find a good place to tap into the dome light wiring, so if anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate it!! **

 

How do you like the lights? I am considering them to get some side visibility when backing my trailer in at night but am concerned they wold be too much.

The white courtesy lights would be nice. Let us know what you think of them when you get them installed.

How was the quality of the product?

 

I like the lights. Should look pretty cool at night with the camper in tow.

I was on the fence about doing individual lights (3 of them mounted on the step bar brackets), but came across the Recon option. Once I figure out how to hook up the white lights, I'll post an update.

As far as quality - that's yet to be determined. It's essentially a plastic tube with LEDs in it and a long pigtail with the wires. I was very happy to see that the wire were long enough to be run all the way to the the headlamp assembly (ran along the fender well). Hopefully they hold up!

 

i have mine on for 4 years now and no problems.

 

Hey all!

I just finished adding the Recon projector headlights for the 2011/2012 to my truck and I have to say they're great. Did exactly as they said on the box, easy to wire in, work fantastic and a great improvement on the original lights in terms of 'down the road' illumination without blinding oncoming drivers.

Pics in garage if you're interested!