Has anyone or does anyone know if a third brake light/cargo light off a newer F-series will work on a 1988 F-150 cab?

During my rebiuld I'm also trying to modernize at the same time.

 

I know that the cabs are basicly the same from '87-'96 so you can get a 3rd brake light/cargo light from a '92-'96 and put it in your '88, you will probably have to run all new wireing for both lights, that should be no problem.

 

Actually the cab structures are the same from 80-96, I think. I thought it could be done, but wasn't for sure. The wiring harness will probally need to be swapped correct?

 

Do you have a cargo light in your truck now? if so thats a good starting point.
If not I'd find a '92-'96 and get the light assembly and while you are there make yourself a template so you can install the light into your truck correctly, and yes the wireing harness would be helpful as well, but you might have to get creative with the install into a truck that never had it.

 

I believe you would have to get the light from a 94-96. My 93 XLT only has the cargo light on it. I believe the brake light was added in 94.

 

Yeah, My 88 has the cargo light on it now, I think the 88 I might be buying for parts has the cargo light also.

So, the light fixtures are the same & bolt up to the existing area. All that I have to do is change the wiring, correct?

 

I hate to ruin the party, but I looked into this recently and decided it was not worth the hassle. on 1993-earlier trucks, the opening in the cab for the sincle rear cargo light with brake is about 1 inch high by 4.5 inches Wide cutout there int he cab. the 1994-u cabs witht he cargo/Brake light combo are about a 1 inch by 7 inch wide cutout, so you would have to do soem cutting to get it fit in there. Go pop one off a junked truck and look, you will see what I mean. I was perfectly willing to go run wiring for it, but I draw the line at cutting up a perfectly good cab.

 

I'm not worried about cutting up the cab! I have to replace portions of the cab anyhow. Now what I will probally do it cut up the old cab to get the light mounted correctly. This way I will have the exact measurment for the donor cab!

I'm not saying that I'm going to even do it yet. Just trying to get some ideas going on.

This is what my truck currently looks like. I'm hoping to start the construction next week or two.

 

Parks811-OUCH! I remember seeinf those awhile back-forgot it was your truck. Given that your roof is already hosed, I would just chop the to off a 94-up cab abd weld it in, then you have the right cutout already.

 

My 93 F350 crewcab only has a cargo light, the brakelight was added in 94, and the plastic housing will fit, if you notch out the hole in your cab for the extra "stuff" that needs to hang in. Then you connect the additional wire to your brake lights, and it will light up when you hit the brakes.

Its not *that* difficult to do if you really wanted to.

I instead, put inside my clear cargo light, a bunch of high brightness RED led's with a 1.2K ohm resistor for each LED, tied them all in parallel, and wired that up to the brake light switch. I only did this because I had a bunch of LED's around and was too lazy to go to the junkyard when it was 17 degrees outside.

Many ways to skin this cat.

Another option is to take a chrysler minivan tailgate 3rd brake light, theyu are fairly shallow and you can install it with two screws to the sill at the bottom of your rear window. Useless if you have a lot of crap in the bed, or a bed cap, but just because the part doesn't have a ford logo on it doesn't mean it won't work. A 3rd brake light is nothing more than a plastic housing with a light bulb in it. Find one that fits where you want to attach it, and install it!.

If I listed all the non-ford F350 parts I have on my F350 some of you would say I'm not a purist <G>

 

On my 92 F350 there is only a cargo light. I thought about adding the third brake/cargo light there too, but didnt even think about the cutout size issue. Im thinkin of getting one of the 3-light bars that mount on the back edge of the bed under the tailgate (like on duallies) and putting dual filament tail/stop bulbs in it and running one wire from the tail light wire and one from the stop light wire. Do you think this will work?

 

You could run the taillight wire from the taillighs but you would have to run a wire to your brake light switch for the brake light function. There is no one wire at the rear of the truck that you can use for a third brake light.

 

You will have to enlarge the hole in the cab to fit the newer style brake/cargo lite and you will also have to run a wire for the brake lite. This can be tapped into the wirin harness with a clip on type wire connector or run the wire up to the brake switch and tie it in there.

 

I knew I was going to have to run wiring, that wasn't a problem. Where I thought I was going to really run into a problem was it not working at all. I'm not worried about cutting the whole out larger, I simple side grinder or even a dremel should be able to do that.
I'm cutting the top of cab off the truck anyways when I find a decent one to replace it with.

 

Thanks, guess I'll just stick with using it as a marker light.