Covert Traffic Arrow - Dodge Ram

John Hearne

Member
May 27, 2010
346
Pontotoc County, MS
I"m working on an unmarked 2017 Dodge Ram that will be used for traffic enforcement. I'm trying to keep the back of the vehicle fairly covert and was thinking about this:

Mount 8 SOS MPowers in the gap between the bumper and tail gate and then drive them with the appropriate flasher.

Has anyone stuck lights in that gap and how did it work out. Would there be enough light coming out to make it worthwhile?
 

CHIEFOPS

Member
Jan 24, 2011
1,532
NYC
Still not a viable position for a traffic arrow, too low, will be blocked from view by every vehicle except the 1 vehicle immediately behind your truck.
Just because many of today's generation of warning lights will fit almost anywhere doesn't mean they will provide an effective warning signal mounted anywhere.
 

buddek09

Member
Aug 15, 2012
339
US, Ohio
I'm actually working on a 2017 Ram 2500 right now that is an unmarked unit for a police department right now. I agree it's too low if you will use it as a traffic advisor. Get a light stick for the rear window instead, you need lighting up higher but you should be able to fit the MPower down there. I put 4 Feniex T3's on the one I'm working on and a Fusion 600 in the rear window. If you put lights between the tailgate and bumper it will be a bit of a pain but you will need to get them all the way down against the lip on the bottom of the panel or else the tailgate will hit them when someone tries to open it. I attached a picture showing one of the T3's. If I would of mounted it a little higher the tailgate would have hit them.
 

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Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
In agreement with others. Tailgate traffic directors are no good. Put a Feniex 600 or 800 sized light inside the rear window at the top (headliner) not the bottom (bedrail).

Feniex T3s will fit below the gate and are perfect for warning directly behind you. I did a 2016 1500 for a guy and put 8 T3s in and they work great.
 

John Hearne

Member
May 27, 2010
346
Pontotoc County, MS
Right now, I'm trying to keep some distance between the traffic director and the primary warning lights. Primary warning (red/blue) is going to be a split 8 head NForce. I'm running a split to push the module as far to the edge of the vehicle as possible. If the vehicle comes without rear window tint, I plant to stick them at the top of the back glass. If it comes with tint, then I'm looking at a headache rack mount.

Vehicle would primarily run a two-lane road with a posted speed limit of 50 mph so approaching vehicles should have a bit more time to see it and I'm not worried about multi-lanes for the most part.

I'm specifically looking at MPowers because they are so thin. I already ran by the Dodge dealer (vehicle not in yet) and made sure they'd clear with the tail gate open.

The only other alternative I'm thinking of, that would maintain the separation between the TA and primary warning lights is to mount them on the bottom of the tail gate as a series of surface mounts. I'm trying to avoid that from the covert perspective.
 

RyanZ71

Member
Jun 14, 2011
1,001
Denver, Colorado
Do you really even need a traffic director on a 2-lane road? Unless you are running a DOT large sized board, I feel that most people think of those silly little yellow lights as just that, silly little yellow lights and nothing else.
 
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Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
Stack the warning and arrow bars in the rear window....Need the arrow? Turn off the rear warning and vice versa. Running both at the same time only confuses motorists regardless of light placement. Too much light trying to compete for motorists attention.

If you're set on separation but still want both on at the same time then stack the warning and arrow bars in the rear window and do pair of r/b hideaway in the reverse housings, or pair of heads on rear license plate or between gate/bumper. Then only use those if running the arrow.

Putting an arrow near the bumper area makes it completely ineffective. Motorists won't be able to see it until they're up on you, doesn't allow them time to react and slow down or get over.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Get a Feneix dual warning traffic bar... problem solved add end flasers that are separate if needed
 
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buddek09

Member
Aug 15, 2012
339
US, Ohio
I agree with Sparky, you either need to stack the rear warning and traffic advisor bars or go dual color for the rear window. If you go dual color then do as Jarred suggested and add a module on each end so you still have some upper rear red and blue while the traffic advisor is on.
 

rettoded

Member
Aug 12, 2011
90
Berks County,PA
So I have been digging through the forums and through youtube, as I know I have seen this done before on a Dodge Ram. After driving myself crazy for several days, I FINALLY FOUND THE VIDEO I WAS LOOKING FOR!!!!


And a night time video:


This was a custom created traffic adviser, and I was not able to get much further information from an archive of one of the old boards.

I did find the photobucket with more pictures here.

I was also able to find and updated example of this truck on this version of the forums. However, it appears the tailgate traffic adviser was removed. The thread is also almost 7 years old, and the member usdemt has not been on since 2012.
 
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