Mounting 12" led bar to (1st gen) hood. Tell me what you think!

Well, I can't decide if I like how this 12" xpr looks on the hood... I think I officially have too many damned lights now, lmao.. But I just can't help myself! But this will officially be the last light I buy for the front end. Also have a couple more lights going back in the turn signal areas..

So.. I had multiple mounting options with mounts I bought, plus the two options it came with.. Decided to try em all out and see what looked best. And to see if I can get away with not drilling. I utilized some antenna fender lip mounts for my other smaller Amber hood lights on the sides, and was hoping I could get more of those and not have to drill. They basically wrap around the lip of the hood, with some set screws underneath that clamp the mount down. But I went ahead and ordered some other mounts as they were cheap, and thought theyd look nice. I Iike how they look on jeeps anyways. But seem a little out of place on the yota. It may just be the fact I have too many lights and it's now just one too many. Ha. But at certain angles/placement, it looks badass! So I wanna get some opinions and see what y'all think. As far as which mounting option looks best.. Or if they all look like shit and that I DO in fact have too many lights, or not. Ha.

First i purchased some really long mounts that jeeps use for small bars like 10-12 inch bars. Was just way too long and bulky. Did not take pics of those. As soon as I put them up there, I knew they were too big. Also got mounts for a 20" bar for jeeps, as they are shorter and less bulky. Plus the little flush mount type legs that the bar came with I tested as well.

The 20" brackets look great. But still look a little bit too bulky, especially from the side. But look awesome from the front. I tried it in multiple spots on the hood. Such as closer to the windshield, or farther out, down towards the center of the hood. As well as going all the way back to the lip of the hood by windshield. Also tried different heights for the bar. Sitting just a tad above the hood, like no higher than an inch above hood, looked the best.

The little leg mounts it came with look pretty good too. But used some spacers to raise it up as it didn't look good sitting flush directly against the hood, as that's how they're designed. They don't lift the bar up at all. It sits flat against the surface.


So here's the 20" brackets with the bar raised up pretty high. Did not like this look myself. Way too high.






And here's the 20" brackets with the bar just being mounted lower.(liking this look the best)









And here's the little leg mounts that came with it. Like like these too. Less bulky. But no cool angles. And using the spacers to raise it looks kinda odd. I could probly utilize or make something else to make it appear cleaner. I just don't know...






Or.. I thought about removing the led cannons on the ditch light brackets. Think that might look a little better. And remove that "clutter" vibe I'm gettin having too many lights in the same general area. Do NOT want to remove the smaller lights already on the hood ends, btw.

Or.. If it looks good and just say fuck it and leave them ALL how they are, including this new 12" hood mounted!? Let me know what your thoughts are. Looking forward to getting this done because I'm so close to having my lights finally finished and set up just how I want

 

been looking at a lot of these threads about led light bars and was wondering if you had any instal pics of the lower valence bar? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

Nice looking truck. I miss my 2002. I like the 12'' lower mount but like it even better without the 12" light.

 

Yeah I need to make a write-up on how I did mine. But here's a few pics. Basically cut out the two middle tabs on valence. Made a bracket that bolts on to the outside two tabs, and mounted the bar on that. This method only works for these slim single rows. Pretty much a perfect fit for the vision x evo prime clones. Its like 21" from tab to tab. The bar is 20" exactly end to end. So I just used a couple spacers. It may work for larger double rows. But it would have to sit back farther flush with the back of opening. And not sure how the stability would be. Mine sits inside the opening so the bumper supports the front end.. There was another member that copied my method, but he extended that bracket back all the way to the radiator support and bolted the back to it. Doing it that way would probably work with any bar. Again using some spacers unless it's exactly 21".

 

thanks!! definately what i needed to see ordered me one the other day and its a 20 in light bar glad i got a sinlge row haha BTW i really dig your truck man looks great!! and thanks again!!

 

Thanks man If you want more pics I've got them laying around. Pretty easy though. Just be careful drilling/cutting the plastic. For the tabs I just used a razor knife. Cuts through pretty easy with a fresh razor blade. Tried a Dremel before on my last valence and that's too scary. Plus heats it and melts as you cut. Won't ever use a Dremel on that again. Also, depending on how you mount it, it may end up being wobbly. The new one I just swapped out kinda is. I'm either gonna reinforce it with additional mounts, or just make a new bracket and extend it back to the radiator support. I'm also debating on selling my 20 and getting a 30. And that might require making a piece of angle iron across the crash bars. Which would also work for 20's too I'd imagine. But requires taking off the bumper for that.

 

Honestly it looked retarded on the hood...nothing I hate more than that.

Who makes the ditch light brackets ? Those look sweet

 

See, I thought it looked funny too... I really thought it would look good. But after placing it up there just to see how it would look, I couldn't quite place what was wrong. Thought it was just placement. But it may just be "too much". Not sure itd look good no matter what I did.

But now I'll have a light and brackets with nowhere to put em. Ha. I'm out of spots! I really love this little 12" bar. And want to use it. Sigh. Guess I could sell it to a jeep owner. For more than I paid. Heh. I'm sure someone would snag it up.

Ditch light brackets are cbi. They're nice. Could've been gusseted on the underside. A little shaky with the cannons. I WAS debating on removing those.

 

Mount it on the bed or use it as an additional backup light.

 

based on looks alone I wouldn't do it. I think it looks terrible. Plus I think you have enough light up front already.

 

How do the ditch brackets mount ? To the hood bolts?

 

Yep. Kinda a bitch. You gotta tweak and pull the fender to get them in. And trim the plastic on ends of air vent. The instructions can be found on their site. They make it seem easy. Wasn't terrible. But I had trouble with trying to pull the fender lip up enough. I think I missed a step involving the fender enough, but got it without unbolting too much. Just taking out the upper fender bolts and carefully prying the fender up and out worked.

 

Or does he?

 

Sigh I crack myself up.
Still on the fence about what to do. I agree it looks kinda dumb, at certain angles. But hell, I might try it anyways with my no drill method, and roll with it for a while. That way it can be taken off easily. Will update when I get it installed. Maybe I'll think of a better use or placement. Already have plans for rear lighting so not gonna use the 12 back there..

 

I can't quite find the words to describe how bad that looks. And not "cool" bad, like "wow thats BAAAAAAD!

more like, "i have blood in my urine" bad.

 

Lmao. Point taken.. But.. Come on now.. It ain't THAT bad. Sheesh. I'll admit I have an obsession, and there is a limit I need to take. And this was it. I'm just messing around with stuff. Experimenting with different setups and overal beam output. This light really has no purpose other than aesthetics. And apparently the verdict is in. Lol.

 

I like the way this one looks the best

 

Nah. Mine are all wired in series with high beams. Use em every night. Glare on hood isn't a concern for me. As I have a black truck. Plus a windshield tint strip which helps a ton. My hood now has clear coat failure, and it's a little more glare because it lights up white, but still not a bid deal. Doesn't bother me at all. The 12" being mounted on hood wouldn't really affect anything more. But anyways, I can't think of a good way to mount this without it looking retarded. Maybe if I didn't have the other hood lights and the cannons it might look good. But not taking all those off just to add this one. So yeah, gonna sell it I think. I may just replace some of my other bars with these xpr clones and get rid of my evo prime clones all together. Doubt it though. I love the evo primes output.

If anyone hasn't seen it yet, here's one of my best shots.