We've been pretty busy here at Stage 3 as of late. We've added a ton of new F150 performance parts and accessories to the site over the last couple of months, with many more to come right on time for tax return season (funny how that works!). For those of you a budget, or who aren't getting a lot of love from Uncle Sam this spring, we have a few F150 accessories that give your truck a great look, some extra utility, and improved ergonomics and nearly all of them come under $100. While these upgrades may not instantly transform your truck into a fire-breathing, tire-shredding monstrosity, then are a nice touch that can really help complete the look of a fully-built F150 or serve as a springboard for other mods once your modification bug kicks into full swing.
One of the more unique and surprisingly handy upgrades that we've added in the last couple of weeks are these 16" Paracord Grab Handles from our neighbors over at Surprise Straps. These heavy-duty grab handles come with eyelets that allow them to install around your truck's headrest posts in just a few minutes. Each handle is made out of interwoven 550lb, 7-strand paracords that can support the weight of any passenger. The handles each feature over 48 feet of paracord that can easily be unwound and used for emergency situations. The Surprise Strap Paracord Grab Handles come in your choice of color options to match your truck or sense of style.
Next up we have some pretty awesome LED Puddle Lights from Daytime BrightLites. Let's be honest, the stock mirror puddle lights don't really do all that much for you. The weak halogen bulbs trying to shine through the light's diffused lens leaves a lot to be desired. Daytime BrightLites offers two different flavors of LED puddle light, with a pair that put out 380 Lumens of light and a set that throws down a whopping 800 Lumens thanks to a more powerful 5-watt CREE LED. Regardless of output, either option generates much more light than the stockers' 60 Lumens. We went ahead and put a set of the 800s on our 5.0L Project Truck, and the result was incredible.
One of the most popular recent additions to the Stage 3 Motorsports store has been our Raptor-Style Grille Lights for both the 2009 to 2012 F150s and the 2013 to 2014 F150s. These simple, inexpensive kits consist or a bracket, lighting connector and three amber LEDs that give your average F150 some of the mean looks of the SVT Raptors and just look awesome, especially after the sun goes down. The grille lights are very easy to install and fit behind all of the OEM F150 grilles for their corresponding model years, as well as most aftermarket grilles.
We'll be honest, the only real reason we added the Recon LED License Plate/Running light kit to the site was because "somebody" around this joint ended up kicking in one of our stock license plate bulbs on our 2012 5.0L Project Truck while stepping into the bed to grab something or other. Apparently, that's actually a pretty common occurrence for these trucks, and we were pleasantly surprised by the quality by the looks and quality of this kit. Recon's LED license plate LED package has white LEDs for lighting up the plate itself, and red LED running lights that give your truck a great look.
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While some of selection of Boost-Bars lower grille kits are clearly over $100, the selection for the lower-tier F150 submodels just barely squeak by, so we thought we'd include them here. Boost-Bars OE-style lower grille kits absolutely fly off our shelves, and they should, given that the look extremely nice and clean on the 2009 to 2014 F150s. The lower grille opening just looks kind of goofy from the factory, and the Boost-Bars lower grilles fill up that space while perfectly matching your F150 submodel's upper grille.
