42in light bar

[aaronjmartin]

Just installed a 42 inch light bar directly to my roof rsils (tried to avoid drilling into the car as much as possible) worked out great and theyre very sturdy.
Fabricated the mounts myself for about $6 at home depot. The Light bar- "42 inch curved led Quad row light bar by Autofeel" about $70, but it is very bright and im impressed by what you get with the price.
If anyone is interested in seeing how i made the mounts let me know.

 

[okiestate_gal]

Yes! Pics please!

Have been seriously considering the same myself. What's the trick on wiring - i.e. how do you get it inside the vehicle?

 

[JasonJ]

Hmm.

My feelings about light bars and their placement has been expressed previously.

That being said, I'd love to see your custom fab work on the mounting brackets!

 

[Myke]

Yes! Pics please!

Have been seriously considering the same myself. What's the trick on wiring - i.e. how do you get it inside the vehicle?

You can tuck the wires into the gap on the side of the windshield and run them down under the wiper cowl into the engine bay for power. Then you can run the switch into the cab by locating the rubber plug in the firewall above the pedals. It will have some wires running through it. You can push the wire through their.

 

[aaronjmartin]

You must be registered for see images attach

So its pretty simple used some conduit hangers, and a small 1in x 2in metal plate, with 3 holes i drilled out. Lools pretty bad for now but thats what i got in one day.

 

[aaronjmartin]

2 holes*

 

[tommudd]

Hmm.

My feelings about light bars and their placement has been expressed previously.

I tried to be a fan of LED roof mounted bars
One trip on a dusty road did me in, plus the cheap ones are..........................:favorites68:

But for looks well you're good to go

 

[sleepyjim]

Good job and if you enjoy them great, others may not, up to them. Thanks for sharing and showing how you mounted it.

Jim

 

[JasonJ]

I tried to be a fan of LED roof mounted bars
One trip on a dusty road did me in, plus the cheap ones are..........................:favorites68:

But for looks well you're good to go

Agreed.. you're basically just putting a few dozen shallow depth reflector LED flashlights on your vehicle... those reflector depths are rarely deep enough nor smooth enough (the orange peel appearance will disperse light in more of a flood-fashion) to actually project the light output the way that they should.

Sure they look bright as hell when you stare at them, and they do put light on the road... just arguably not as well as bumper or front-of-the-vehicle-mounted lights.

In some states, having them at all is illegal, as each LED in a light bar (there are usually 12-60 of them) counts as one(1) individual offroad light.. and you are restricted from having more than a set number, usually 8 or so. Not everywhere, but there are places.

They do look cool though. Nice work OP on the brackets, sitting a bit further back than you probably want for a light bar; a lot of light is likely hitting the roof instead of going forward and down onto the road- but it'll do.

 

[sota]

Wonder if you could mount it at the rear. might make an interesting choice for a backup flood light for when I'm doing plowing duties.

 

[tommudd]

Wonder if you could mount it at the rear. might make an interesting choice for a backup flood light for when I'm doing plowing duties.

Little wider at the rear but certainly could for sure. Would do OK as reverse lights for snow plowing, closer to the rear etc

 

[Charlesthe2nd]

Illuminating the night is an important part of offroading and adventure travel. Good to have a light bar, and like JasonJ said, bad when it's mounted improperly. You'll get a lot of light coming out of the bar, but the usable light is something else. I think the main issue you'll have will be the amount of light flare off the hood, which is terrible on the eyes at night.

Little wider at the rear but certainly could for sure. Would do OK as reverse lights for snow plowing, closer to the rear etc

That'd be one hell of a reverse light! I have a 6 LED light bar mounted to my license plate, activated via reverse. It illuminates the surroundings perfectly and really comes in handy when the conditions are poor. You'd be sending cars off the road with the people thinking they're driving into a UFO :happy175:

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[JasonJ]

Illuminating the night is an important part of offroading and adventure travel. Good to have a light bar, and like JasonJ said, bad when it's mounted improperly. You'll get a lot of light coming out of the bar, but the usable light is something else. I think the main issue you'll have will be the amount of light flare off the hood, which is terrible on the eyes at night.




That'd be one hell of a reverse light! I have a 6 LED light bar mounted to my license plate, activated via reverse. It illuminates the surroundings perfectly and really comes in handy when the conditions are poor. You'd be sending cars off the road with the people thinking they're driving into a UFO :happy175:

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Nice! I may have to do something similar, even if my plate is not in the center. Might still work out good, as the factory backup lamps are pathetic (aren't they on almost all vehicles though?).

 

[Charlesthe2nd]

Nice! I may have to do something similar, even if my plate is not in the center. Might still work out good, as the factory backup lamps are pathetic (aren't they on almost all vehicles though?).

Installing that light bar was a solid upgrade and has made my life a lot easier. I actually just put a new one on with the new license plate as the old one (3years) was starting to lose LEDs. $20 well spent. The great thing about this light is that the holes match the license plate holes almost perfectly, but you'll have to drill out a 3/8th hole for the wiring.

Here is a link to the light bar.

 

[aaronjmartin]

Yea that's why i put the light bar on the roof rails. Its far enough back that im not getting any light reflecting off the hood.

 

[JasonJ]

Yea that's why i put the light bar on the roof rails. Its far enough back that im not getting any light reflecting off the hood.

True, but you are losing some onto the roof of the vehicle.

If I were to do an LED light bar, I'd put it in front of the grille, where my dual Hella 500ff's are now, and then put the round, long-distance lights up top. That way I get maximum light output right in front of the vehicle via the light bar, and can shine down the road, above the roof and hood with the old school round lights.

 

[Aceofspades]

The one I got was operated by a key fob. Does amber and white. Does some flashy patterns for plowing etc. never use em but the amber is nice No need to bring wires inside. The only issue is the glare off the hood. Im actually putting the same set up on the 03 shortly

 

[tommudd]

Have two pods mounted in my bumper , one on each side in the rear
Front, down low is the best and good ones, not the cheap ones from overseas , roof mounted is great for malls though I've heard

 

[Myke]

Wonder if you could mount it at the rear. might make an interesting choice for a backup flood light for when I'm doing plowing duties.

You certainly can. I would suggest a 3 pole switch connected to the relay for on/off/on with reverse lights.

Other ideas for reverse lights besides a bigger bar. If you have a hitch the make a mount the goes around the receiver opening for the cube lights. Another option is flush mount pods in the bumper.

 

[Charlesthe2nd]

good ones, not the cheap ones from overseas

:happy175::happy175:roof mounted is great for malls though I've heard:happy175::happy175::happy175:

Solid ideas Myke. Hadn't ever thought about one in the hitch, it'd be really easy to do, and removable.

I'm going to be putting on a new front bumper when WickedBruce gets his new one all finished up. It's RL, and I'm not sure if he'll include the lights that are on it or not. If not, or if they're thrashed, then it'll be time to get some new ones. What are you running Tom? The made in USA brands would be my preference if I can afford them.