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Broken Third Brake Light

R

Rogue 2500

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Location
Oregon
Well, this sucks! Went to the car wash and there was water all over my back seat. I went straight to my dealer and we looked at it. Noticed my third brake light is broken on the top two corners. It is weird, I don't see how this could happen. I don't do any extreme off roading. I had a canopy put on it about a month after I got it. The canopy is about 3/4" away from the truck. I bought the truck truck in July 2020 and it is a 2020 Laramie CCSB 4x4 with CHMSL.

The dealer does not think RAM will cover it under warranty.

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Wow. That sucks.

In the first and last pictures it looks like you can see some scuff marks on the topper, so assuming Ram doesn't cover it, maybe have a talk with the topper retailer.

I know what I'm going to be inspecting as soon as the sun comes up.
 
The topper hit the light, 3/4" is too close if you do anything other than highway driving. the beds have some movement to them independent of the cab, buddy of mine had a shell on his 2015 1500 and when he took it off-pavement for the first time the shell impacted the cab and left a nice dent on the cab corner. Same thing happened to my Tacoma in Moab. I am sorry this happened, looks like main issue is the camera 3rd brake light just sticks out too far. Id re-visit the topper dealer and show them, it's a design oversight.
 
That really sucks. If that’s where that shell is supposed to set they do, or did make a blank that went in place of the third brake light for upfits that had a box on the back of the truck. I’ll see if I can find a part number. I know it doesn’t replace The CHMSL but might be a cheaper option to keep it from happening again.
 
Eatonpcat said:
Dang, looks like it would take a pretty good whack to cause that damage. How much is a replacement light??
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Dealer said over $600. :( Thing is I don't remember any good whacks.

LateToTheParty said:
Wow. That sucks.

In the first and last pictures it looks like you can see some scuff marks on the topper, so assuming Ram doesn't cover it, maybe have a talk with the topper retailer.

I know what I'm going to be inspecting as soon as the sun comes up.
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I am sure the topper manufacturer will not cover it.

Hstone556 said:
The topper hit the light, 3/4" is too close if you do anything other than highway driving. the beds have some movement to them independent of the cab, buddy of mine had a shell on his 2015 1500 and when he took it off-pavement for the first time the shell impacted the cab and left a nice dent on the cab corner. Same thing happened to my Tacoma in Moab. I am sorry this happened, looks like main issue is the camera 3rd brake light just sticks out too far. Id re-visit the topper dealer and show them, it's a design oversight.
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Thanks, I already have visited the canopy dealer and no luck. I did not think the truck would flex this much to cause this.

Darkone said:
That really sucks. If that’s where that shell is supposed to set they do, or did make a blank that went in place of the third brake light for upfits that had a box on the back of the truck. I’ll see if I can find a part number. I know it doesn’t replace The CHMSL but might be a cheaper option to keep it from happening again.
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I am looking at the non-CHMSL brake light, but I don't think it will work. The CHMSL version looks like it has different bulbs/LEDs.
Darkone said:
68035318AD that’s the cargo lamp delete.
Hopefully they warranty or the shell installer steps up and fixes it for you
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Thanks! I will look into this! It looks like the way to go.
 
LateToTheParty said:
I just took stroll outside and while I didn't take a tape measure with me, I can't even fit my finger between the light and the shell. I'll be ordering that delete plate this afternoon.
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Went to the dealer and 68035318AD shows only fits up to 2018. That does not mean it wont fit, but I decided to get the low profile brake light without the camera. 68298380AA.
 
The cabs haven’t changed from 10-21 so it would’ve worked. But glad you were able to find a replacement. Sucks shell manufacturers don’t account for the extra depth of the CHMSL with the camera.
 
Which shell was that so other folks can be aware of this issue?
There's a good bit of space on my ARE MX 1.5" or so IIRC.

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Gondul said:
Which shell was that so other folks can be aware of this issue?
There's a good bit of space on my ARE MX 1.5" or so IIRC.

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Mine is a Leer 100XR. Its funny because the dealer says this fits a 2019/2020 2500/3500. The Leer web site says no canopy fits. o_O They may have found out there is a problem. I think it would not be a problem without the camera and BLIS in the lamp.
 
I went out an measured and it is just over 1 inch gap on the ARE MX.
ARE said the same thing... nothing will fit. Dealer assured me it would fit... I do see they set the cap as far back as it would go to give the CHMSL as much room as possible.
 
Ok, so I swapped out the broken light for a low profile one. The stock one is Center High Mounted Stop Lamp - Mopar (68367388AB) List $804. The new one is 68412024AA - 2020 Ram 2500 Parts - High Mount Lamp (low profile, no camera). Phillips screw driver is all that is needed other than moving the canopy. I wish I could say it is plug and play, but for me it is not. The light plug is the same type, but the cargo light works and not the brake light. :(

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I’m not familiar with the settings or Alpha Obd, but I’ve read about setting changes being needed when going from the incandescent to the LED CHMSL. Changing those back will probably fix the issue, hopefully someone with some knowledge on it will chime in.
 
Rogue 2500 said:
Ok, so I swapped out the broken light for a low profile one. The stock one is Center High Mounted Stop Lamp - Mopar (68367388AB) List $804. The new one is 68412024AA - 2020 Ram 2500 Parts - High Mount Lamp (low profile, no camera). Phillips screw driver is all that is needed other than moving the canopy. I wish I could say it is plug and play, but for me it is not. The light plug is the same type, but the cargo light works and not the brake light. :(

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Darkone said:
Is that light incandescent, that may be part of the problem. It could be a setting issue in the bcm. Maybe @Jimmy07 will chime in.
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The BCM setting is different for an LED vs no-LED CHMSL, but it won’t matter, especially when going from LED to incandescent. All the setting does is turns off PWM when LED is used. Is there a brake light out message, and have you checked with another bulb?
 
Jimmy07 said:
The BCM setting is different for an LED vs no-LED CHMSL, but it won’t matter, especially when going from LED to incandescent. All the setting does is turns off PWM when LED is used. Is there a brake light out message, and have you checked with another bulb?
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No I have not. It was a brand new light assembly. I know that does not matter. :-) I also need to check on the canopy wiring because the third brake light does not work there either.
 
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