My New Roof Rail Mounted Light Bar

[boebr1]

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So, I took some old angle steel (bed frame) out of a cabin in the mountains, I assume it is from the 1950's, maybe older. anyway, one edge is longer than the other, which made it a perfect candidate.
Measured it all out, used a drill press to bore out the holes for five 6 1/2" round lights from walmart, and the 4 holes for two muffler clamps to mount it to the roof rails. Then I welded on the CB antenna mount, and painted the whole thing with spray can liquid bed liner from Walmart.
Once I get all the lights on it, I may discover I need to reinforce it to keep it from wobbling, but we shall see. Als, at current, I am just running power through one switch on the dashboard. once I have more than 2 lights up there, I will wire in a solenoid, still use one switch, but have all the lights powered by the solenoid under the hood so I won't melt the switch, or cause other possible interior problems.

 

[boebr1]

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Here is the one 100w light in action, 8/10 of a mile into an old train tunnel. The bright light above is from it....

 

[Robsama]

You have a Renegade, right? So, you have 4 white lights already on the front of your Jeep. Wouldn't 5 roof mounted lights render your vehicle illegal?

All I'm gonna say... as a truck driver.... The law on headlights is 55w for low, and 65 for high... u come up behind us truckers with those 80w lights, be prepared to be blinded in your mirrors as you pass us at the very least, and at the most, reported to the police for illegal headlights... yeah, you can see better, but everyone coming toward you or in front of you will be blinded, thus raising your risk of being involved in an accident with blinded oncoming traffic... stay stock... it's the law!
ALSO.... Your Fog lights are not to be over 55watts either since they are on with your low beams, and by law... you are allowed no more than 4 white lights on at the front of your vehicle at one time
r

 

[SurfGuitar141]

Not all Renegade's came with a roof mounted light bar. I had the choice between two Renny's when I bought mine new, I choose the one I have because I didn't want the light bar as it would have interfeared with my ability to carry my 10' 4" surfboard on the racks.

by law... you are allowed no more than 4 white lights on at the front of your vehicle at one time

I believe that law applies differently between states, however there is no real need for excess lighting on the hiway, unlit back country roads are another matter, but out on the hiway with oncoming traffic or other vehicles ahead of you, and you're just being an ******** if you run those overhead lights.

 

[Robsama]

Surf - I wasn't referring to the stock light bar. My Renny didn't come with it either. I was referring to his home made light bar capable of holding "five 6 1/2" round lights from walmart"

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

The OEM Rennie light bar would be illegal too.

The only thing illegal about it is using the lights on the road.

 

[JeepOwner07]

yep had my choice between two as well, one was what i have now the renegade without light bar but with sunroof, and the other had lightbar with no sunroof, i figured that it would be easier to install a light bar than a sun roof.

 

[Clyde Frog]

By "on your vehicle at one time" I believe he means having the lights actually on and throwing light. I think you can have as many lights as you want (at least in Mass anyways) as long as no more than 4 are producing light while you're operating on a road.

 

[kj924]

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Here is the one 100w light in action, 8/10 of a mile into an old train tunnel. The bright light above is from it....

Is that an ice stalactite?

 

[KJ zGal]

In NY it's illegal to have the light bar on while driving on the roads, but I've heard you can get away with them in extreme situations, i.e. weather or other low visibility scenarios. Of course, if no one's around and there's a herd of deer threatening to run across the road a few hundred feet in front of you, it's nice to be able to watch them a bit more closely via bright lights =P In some states, though, it's illegal to even have the light bar uncovered on the road.

 

[boebr1]

yes... it would be highly illegal for me to drive around with 9 white lights blaring away, especially with 5 (100w-150w) of them at that height... In montana we can have all the lights mounted we want, don't even have to keep the extra ones covered like you do in some states... but don't dare run (turn them on) them on even the county dirt roads, only back trails. So, I'm completely legal for my state. If I go on a road trip out of state, I will make covers for them to play it safe.

 

[boebr1]

Yes, it's a huge ice stalagtite, about 3 or 4 of them... around january it's pretty much one giant one

 

[kb0nly]

Yep here in midwestern states the laws say "no more than four forward facing clear uncovered lights" not including the fog lights though, so you can have more than that just need to have the covers on. Which is why even the Rene OEM lightbar has covers for the lights.

 

[AMPlibby06]

I'm pretty sure that in NY the law is that you can have any amount of lights uncovered as long as they are under the level of the headlights. I'm think you can legally run them too, but that they must be used as brights (away from on-coming traffic). Anything above the headlights must be covered and turned off when on the road. I'm pretty sure.

When I bought my lightbar off ebay, they forgot to include 3 of my covers so I wrote an email complaining that my lightbar would be illegal without them and that they cost $20 each from the dealer. So, they sent me a $60 check

 

[Boiler]

What is the typical interstate law for lights, tinting, etc? I had always assumed that ohio police wouldn't give me crap about tint or lights with no covers if I had Indiana plates. If you are legal and plated in one state, can they make you scrape off your tint in another state?

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

Ohio doesn't give a ****

 

[tommudd]

TBJ is right Ohio doesn't care at all
Now running aircraft landing lights down a two lane at 3 in the morning will get you pulled over ( only to see WTH kind of lights you have)
West Virginia can be strick, when the Libertys came out they could not even sell the Renegade with the light bar on it in that state. Not sure if it has changed or not. We used to go down into WV all of the time with our lights on roll bars ( covered of course ) and they never said anything but....

 

[04 Silver Renegade]

In New York (At least in NYC), It is illegal to have the lightbar's caps off even if the lights aren't on. I've already gotten pulled over for that ](*,)

 

[kb0nly]

What is the typical interstate law for lights, tinting, etc? I had always assumed that ohio police wouldn't give me crap about tint or lights with no covers if I had Indiana plates. If you are legal and plated in one state, can they make you scrape off your tint in another state?

Depends on the state... I know state troopers here in MN write tickets for tint levels all the time on out of state licensed vehicles, doesn't matter where it is from. Basically you can go home with the ticket and then contest it in court because its legal in your state, if its legal in your state, but the way the laws are written up you MUST follow the rules for the state in which you are traveling, regardless of legality in your home state. So its a gray area and just depends on how bored the officer is sometimes... lol

I know a few units around here carry tint meters so they can check the level of tint.

 

[boebr1]

North Dakota made me take the tint off my Kenworth... I did it in Colorado, Had a mechanic sign the fix-it ticket, then I mailed it back to ND... I didn't have to pay a fine because I had a student driving when we got pulled over for the tint.