1st gen led light bar ideas

I know this is very old but I am looking at good places to put my single row light bars and I have seen this photo on google and always wondered what these lights are just above the bumper and below the lights. Those are really cool DTR lights and I have always wondered what those are.

Any one still have the lisence plate and two little 7 inch single row bars by the plates? If so ideas would be very helpful.

 

Led bolts. Superbrightleds.com has them as well as oznium.com, for quality ones. I used cheap eBay ones and they suck. EBay sellers call them "eagle eye leds". But I dont recommend them. The azodized coating fades, the lenses call off, and are hit or miss with them lasting long or burning out...

Ive tried Super brights', and they are ok, but arent coated inside and arent very bright for dtrls or signals(as in actual daytime use). Mine function as turn signals btw.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...als-misc-led-dtrls-bolt-leds-write-up.349058/
Good luck.

 

Ahh didn't realize those were turn signals... That sounds like a really cool idea, I will look into that.

 

My beastly bar just arrived in the mail. Yeah yeah cheapo Chinese Amazon one. I’m just going to mount it to the roof rack’s Yakima bar. Tried using the nilight brackets but those are useless. They ar unable to maintain grip and just rotate towards the weight.
I’m getting some welding and cutting done next week so I’ll have him fab up something to clamp onto my 1” Yakima rack bars.

 

Gonna put these on the sides of the license plate, in the little gap on stock bumper, going to be a tight fit but will look good when done

 

Quick question, has anyone done anything to seal the spot where the wires enter the housing on the lights? I was considering using the silicone gasket maker material used in the engine. Just the little cheap tube from oreily auto. My lights have a rubber grommet with a short sleeve there, but it doesn’t look watertight or dust tight. Could just use some caulking, but that stuff can become pretty inflexible (for the cheaper ones). Any ideas? Put gasket material down and heat shrink some wiring material over it?

 

Been curious to see more output shots of these too. I think I saw they have penta rows now. And all of these claiming to have a shit ton of lumens and wattage. Ha. Curious what they actually put out tho.

 

I got the nilight 9” round cheapo one that claims 11400 lumens. I believe it. It’s bright. But it claims 96watts x2 lights so it should be like 12amp draw. It popped a 25a fuse. Which makes me sketched out about the wires it came with (16ga). Will probably need to upgrade that but the wires don’t get warm or anything. I’ll post some pics of the new lights when I get a chance.

 

Not sure of your specific lights, but if the lights weren't designed to be water tight form the beginning, where the wire goes in probably won't be the only place where water can get in (seams, etc...).

That said, I would HOPE that any automotive light would be rated for external use, and would therefore be fine with dust/water. But then again, that's one of the reasons you have $50 bars and $500 bars...

 

My light bar runs across the top of my roof like most do. I really want to get something different as it seems every damn truck has them nowadays

 

Bumperrrrrr

 

While every bro/poser truck has roof bars, they really do offer the best light. The higher the light, the fewer shadows you get, and the farther you can see ahead of you. Bumper lights end up wasting a bunch of light by illuminating the ground right where the driver can’t see it, anyway, but are (sometimes) legal (or semi-legal) for road use.

Roof lightbars have their disadvantages, like wind noise, mpgs, and bros think it makes them look hardcore, but... they do offer the best light, at least for off roading. Usually illegal for on-road use, too.

 

Mhmm lights, if you angle the roof one right you can either eliminate wind noise or reduce it. I get no noise from mine and still get plenty off light going out far

 

@Sperrunner Is there a lot of glare on your front windshield with the light on? I always thought it would be better to install the light bar near the center region of the roof, to keep the light from shining into the cab and creating glare.

 

No i have no glare really. When it gets dark ill try to take a photo. As long as the bar is positioned right you dont get Any of those problems. Its when guys just slap them up there is when i get issues

 

See i have no light really bouncing back into my cab, all 3 lights are on. Because thats how i have it wired

 

The darker the hood the lesser the glare. I have a white hood and a 5D 42” and it’s obnoxious after about 20 minutes on a night ride.

 

Yeah i get no glare, I could drive all night with it on. It also on how you have it angle. To low and it will be hitting your hood more. I saw a tundra with a bar yesterday and it was pointing like almost strait down. He probably get hella glare. Or its not even hooked up. Looked like a bro truck

 

Hahaha. I’ve seen bars with no wire leading into the weather strip. Total fashion over function. Makes me sick. Anyway, yeah I played with angles on mine and got it as good as it’s gunna get but the white hood and the 5D are a bad combo. Almost too bright.

 

I also hate when guys use theose flat mounts that come with light bar kits and screw strait into the roof