Lightning XLT / Pro rear tailgate mods

[DadBald]

It's looking like I'll be going for XLT ER. I love the rear light bar of the Lariat & Platinum, but no way I can afford it. And actually, I don't really want leather interior, or the 15" screen, so I think my mind is made up. But that rear tailgate just looks kind of plain, and honestly a little out of place with the Lightning's stylized brake lights.

I'm curious if anyone has thought about modding the rear tailgate of the XLT or Pro trims to spruce it up a little. Either an aftermarket light bar, OEM light bar, decals, etc. I realize the truck isn't out yet and aftermarket won't exist yet, and OEM likely won't fit (and nobody knows what's needed to mod it yet).

I've heard the opinion that Rapid Red body color helps hide the missing tailgate light bar the best. I kind of agree.

I'm looking at Oxford White. Would prefer Star White, but it's not available on the "lower" trims. The front looks awesome with the light bar, but the back looks like a stripped-down work truck. I was thinking I'd fill in the F-150 stamped into it with a wrap/decal, kind of like this, except maybe black with a thin blue border to match the Lightning badging on the rear quarter panel:

Anyone have any other ideas you're considering?

Sponsored

 

[F150ROD]

A tail gate swap would be the best bet. The question is, will it be plug/play and will it the cost be worth it. Other than that I guess we could wait to see what the aftermarket will do. I assume Ford will eventually include it as years go by.

 

[HtownHog]

Aftermarket will catch up to it soon after release I'm sure. Same as the grill swaps to mimic the Raptor format from years ago.

 

[metroshot]

It's looking like I'll be going for XLT ER. I love the rear light bar of the Lariat & Platinum, but no way I can afford it. And actually, I don't really want leather interior, or the 15" screen, so I think my mind is made up. But that rear tailgate just looks kind of plain, and honestly a little out of place with the Lightning's stylized brake lights.

I'm curious if anyone has thought about modding the rear tailgate of the XLT or Pro trims to spruce it up a little. Either an aftermarket light bar, OEM light bar, decals, etc. I realize the truck isn't out yet and aftermarket won't exist yet, and OEM likely won't fit (and nobody knows what's needed to mod it yet).

I've heard the opinion that Rapid Red body color helps hide the missing tailgate light bar the best. I kind of agree.

I'm looking at Oxford White. Would prefer Star White, but it's not available on the "lower" trims. The front looks awesome with the light bar, but the back looks like a stripped-down work truck. I was thinking I'd fill in the F-150 stamped into it with a wrap/decal, kind of like this, except maybe black with a thin blue border to match the Lightning badging on the rear quarter panel:

Anyone have any other ideas you're considering?

Although I can afford the higher trims, the leather trim really turns me off due to the heat I live in most of the year.
After driving decades with leather, I am just tired of burning my a$$ off everytime I get in.
Even in mid November, yesterday the temps reached near 100 degrees!

Thus a base SR XLT w/ cloth seats or highly optioned Pro trim is what I am looking at for a daily commute truck.

As for the rear lighting, instead of modding to mimic a higher trim, I"d opt for a LED light bar to illuminate the rear when I go in reverse. The reverse lighting on most vehicles really sucks - they don't light up the rear enough to see what you are driving back into....

 

[HtownHog]

Although I can afford the higher trims, the leather trim really turns me off due to the heat I live in most of the year.
After driving decades with leather, I am just tired of burning my a$$ off everytime I get in.
Even in mid November, yesterday the temps reached near 100 degrees!

Thus a base SR XLT w/ cloth seats or highly optioned Pro trim is what I am looking at for a daily commute truck.

As for the rear lighting, instead of modding to mimic a higher trim, I"d opt for a LED light bar to illuminate the rear when I go in reverse. The reverse lighting on most vehicles really sucks - they don't light up the rear enough to see what you are driving back into....

cooled seats, LIFE CHANGER! South Texas here and I've turned on the heated seat feature maybe two times a year. I use the AC seats almost everyday.

I ended up not getting a Jeep Gladiator bc I didn't want to sweat my a$$ off, Katzkin at the time couldn't confirm a cooling seat option for their seat covers on the Gladiator so I grabbed a Kia Stinger GT2 instead. Now I can finally fill my truck need with the Lightning.

 

[metroshot]

cooled seats, LIFE CHANGER! South Texas here and I've turned on the heated seat feature maybe two times a year. I use the AC seats almost everyday.

I ended up not getting a Jeep Gladiator bc I didn't want to sweat my a$$ off, Katzkin at the time couldn't confirm a cooling seat option for their seat covers on the Gladiator so I grabbed a Kia Stinger GT2 instead. Now I can finally fill my truck need with the Lightning.

Yes, cooling ventilated seats is a huge help - I had it on my leather seating Land Rover Discovery - the ventilated seat feature was mostly used 300 days out of the year.

Unfortunately, Land Rover is not very reliable and was in the service dept for half the time I had her and sold her off....

 

[HtownHog]

Yes, cooling ventilated seats is a huge help - I had it on my leather seating Land Rover Discovery - the ventilated seat feature was mostly used 300 days out of the year.

Unfortunately, Land Rover is not very reliable and was in the service dept for half the time I had her and sold her off....

had a boss that traded in his Land Rover Discovery for an Aston Martin DB9. Always joked with him he went from the least reliable manufacturer to the second least reliable. Tried to convince him to keep both since odds would be one of them would be in the shop on any given day.

 

[corradoborg]

Although I can afford the higher trims, the leather trim really turns me off due to the heat I live in most of the year.
After driving decades with leather, I am just tired of burning my a$$ off everytime I get in.
Even in mid November, yesterday the temps reached near 100 degrees!

Thus a base SR XLT w/ cloth seats or highly optioned Pro trim is what I am looking at for a daily commute truck.

As for the rear lighting, instead of modding to mimic a higher trim, I"d opt for a LED light bar to illuminate the rear when I go in reverse. The reverse lighting on most vehicles really sucks - they don't light up the rear enough to see what you are driving back into....

The Lariat/Platinum tailgate has its reverse lights integral to the light bar, near the center. Unfortunately, it appears that swapping the Pro/XLT tailgate for a Lariat/Platinum one won't be easy or affordable. It requires swapping out the taillights, too. They are shaped to fit the tailgate so are also trim-specific. But the taillight units house the blind spot system, which has to be configured/calibrated in forscan. Basically, it opens up a whole can o' worms just to upgrade the tailgate. Not worth it just to get the light bar, IMHO.

I too am opting for an XLT Premium to avoid leather seating. In my case its an animal welfare consideration. I don't eat or wear animals - I'm not going to sit on them either. I prefer the smaller screen and physical HVAC controls of the lower trim levels as well. I can live without the tailgate light bar, which also seems to me like an awful lot of fragile plastic on the most work-used part of the truck.

 

[jefro]

Looks like apples and oranges to me.

Wonder if the Plate is really a real plate FMC 001?

 

[gwrace14651]

I will also be going with an XLT premium with extended battery. I don't like leather and prefer the smaller 12 inch display to that 15 inch portrait tablet that sticks above the dash. For the price of the Platinum you could buy 2 of the Pros. That is a huge price delta for a few upgrades. And as we all know purchasing any motor vehicle is a poor investment that only depreciates. You gain nothing in HP or torque from any of the other trims with the extended battery.

 

[rdr854]

I will also be going with an XLT premium with extended battery. I don't like leather and prefer the smaller 12 inch display to that 15 inch portrait tablet that sticks above the dash. For the price of the Platinum you could buy 2 of the Pros. That is a huge price delta for a few upgrades. And as we all know purchasing any motor vehicle is a poor investment that only depreciates. You gain nothing in HP or torque from any of the other trims with the extended battery.

Ditto!

 

[REDHORSECA]

Watch from 0:38 to the 2 minute mark, to see more about the Lariat and above, tailgate and the tail lights with the secondary reverse lights with tailgate down.

 

[F150ROD]

Just wanted to bump this up as Ive seen a couple of threads where members think the XLT will be getting the led across the tailgate.

 

[Walle1jm]

I was looking at XLT w/ 312A - anyone notice it says “included“ for Tailgate – Power with Unique Rear Signature Lighting, although the computer generated image does not update to show the light bar.

Hard to think it’s an option typo? Or maybe it is. Do we think XLT 312A gets the signature rear light bar on the tailgate? If so that would be a nice development.

As of today on the build and price tool if you start with an XLT base and scroll down and choose Tailgate - Power with Unique Rear Signature Lighting, it asks you to accept 312A package. So this makes me think it does?

 

[DadBald]

Yes, you're not the first to notice that. I don't believe anybody knows for sure. Fantastic that Ford is asking us to spend $64,000-74,000 for that trim without even knowing what the heck we're actually ordering. I'd hope for that money it is included, but based on their track record it's probably safer to assume it's not included, and be happy later if it is. What an all-around cluster.

Sponsored