Super Ultimate 3rd Brake Light Build

I noticed the key fob issue as well. Was there a particular reason why this is the case?

I believe he abandoned the idea as the original connector was molded to the 3rd brake light housing and would be difficult to make. Could be wrong though.

 

There is another thread on this. Seems to be a grounding issue. I haven't done the fix yet but if you run a separate ground apparently solves the problem.

 

it doesn’t complete solve it, but it does help. I did it, and have a better keyfob range (when you click the button), what I didn’t test when everything was apart was the touch door handle. That is completely inoperable for me at present (when bed lights are on). The keyfob receiver is drivers side roof next to shark fin (above the headliner). I’ve got some other ideas to play with, but waiting on parts at present.

 

@MESO hey, just saw you and your truck in a YouTube interview with George. That thing looks pretty sick man not gonna lie. Glad everything is going well for ya man. Love the custom... roof rack lights? Idk if I'd call it a light bar but it looks great. More importantly, did I catch a prototype hex9? Super excited about that one. Keep being awesome man, hope you had fun at sema

 

I was the one who solved that
I posted that same info in here a few pages back

 

Do you think if you use a tap screw in the metal behind the light and wire to that it would a sufficient ground, or does it need to go to another wired ground?

 

I suggested using the same ground as the sunroof or power window If you have one. Or you could go to any location of a large enough existing bolt

the idea is you want a good ground
Not just any ground
So you want thicker metal
You want direct metal on metal contact
And you want the bolt to be solid as well

so maybe look at your cab personally and decide what fits your vehicle best

just don’t ground on the same ground as the antenna

 

After having added an additional ground and using it for several weeks now, I can say that the issue is better but the fob/door handle still occasionally has issues.

 

I’ve had an email with Baja Designs and the frequency the LEDs run at is 300Hz, according to anything I can find on the net, the keyfob is 433MHz. So that’s not adding up. I’ve ordered some ferrite coils of type 61 that may reduce noise for the 433MHz range, but now I have doubts that will work. If I get time I’ll pull out some equipment I have to measure any noise / frequency given off by the LEDs and see what that comes back with.
At present I’m not using factory wire for positive, but I have combined a better negative to the factory wire, I’ll disconnect the factory wires completely in my next tests, since all the brake / cargo light wires are run in the same loom as the keyfob receiver wires. I just want to have a bunch of options ready to try before pulling it all apart again.
BTW, my keyfob range is ok(ish), kinda hit n miss, but touch lock barley works, maybe 1 in 10 times.
Keyfob range was fine when I had it all apart, and only seem to go bad once I buttoned everything up, so the very close proximity to the keyfob receiver probably has a lot to do with the interference.

 

I'm having the key fob issues as well. BD4 Cam here. Issues arose immediately after install and have persisted for the past few months. I havent had a chance to pull everything apart and troubleshoot, but there seems to be an issue somewhere along the line.

 

Appreciate your detective work over there. Keep us posted with any results. I sure hope we can get to the bottom of this. The most irritating thing of all, is my door sensor is essentially inop. To compound the issue, I can stand directly adjacent to the drivers door, and hit the key fob unlock button 5 or 6 times before anything will happen. There has been times where it took 30 seconds or so just to get the truck unlocked

 

i wonder if any of the MT trucks have installed one of these lights and gotten fob connection issues... anyone by chance?

I've been overhauling my garage shop getting ready to wire these in. the lights are ready and i have 10ga braided for a new ground to the chassis. but maybe I'll still have issues?

 

@mutely I asked my pops about any ideas. He said maybe it's a load issue, where the truck is being confused with a different load than expected. This might be something worth looking into.

 

I appreciate the collective troubleshooting for this! I wasn't aware until a few people mentioned it. So odd, as it seems hit and miss. Almost like each truck has a mind of it's own.

in other news, my Plug and play connectors are done and molded!

 

Very nice. I should have waited before I snipped those wires.....

 

Like you and I discussed before
Adding a better ground to the BD brake light is honestly all that’s needed.

Keeping all the wiring setup exactly how it is and then adding a secondary ground would be best but everyone’s various levels of lazy is what will decide what they do.


This problem is not a problem
It has been solved
And the remedy has been used and proven in the other thread.

I am seriously not getting how this is still a conversation in this thread... do we need to sticky it in the original post???


These people telling us from their own repairs that better grounding works, as for the level of grounding done by each individual, The gage of wire and quality of grounding location, as well as cleaning the paint or other contaminants away from the grounding location are going to be important.

y’all wanna really truly and completely solve the problem?

I gotchu

pull your light
Attach a new ground cable to your bundle.
Run dat bishhh down the back wall along the pillar
Down to the floor and through one of the rubber grommets in the floor for drainage and then run the wire directly to the frame of the truck
Then attach that bish with a nice sexy fat assss bolt or whatever fastener you like best.
As someone who has an absolute ass load of Baja designs lights all over my damn truck
If this was solely and RF interference then all the light bars on my truck would cause massive problems as I have (3) 30” bars
(4) squadron pros
(4) S2 pros
And (8) rock lights under the truck as well as the (5) in the 3rd brake light
As well as (4) more rock lights inside the cab under the dash and back seats for floor lighting

LITERALLY none of them cause any problems with my key fob or my doors

Because I took my time
And grounded everything
Additionally
There is a difference in automotive wiring when it comes to grounding to the battery or to the frame as well as grounding to thin/thick sheet metal or to thick plate steel like the frame.



also
I’m not telling you guys to pull the light back off the truck from the outside

just pull your clothing hooks your grab handles and your plastic pillar covers just enough to give you space to lower the BACK only of the headliner

it’s really not that hard
Takes around 10 minute with hand tools/trim tools


@MESO my bad on the giant rant haha

glad you’re back from sema safe and sound!!

 

score!

 

Wish we had a window for when these connectors go on sale so I can start or schedule my MESO 3rd brake light install.

 

Worth the wait.

 

I've done this and it did not completely solve the issue.

The additional ground seemed to help with the frequency with which this issue happens but this issue still happens.