Building a light bar :)

damn... this has to be the coolest thing ever! i got a thule rack on my taco. damn i need to do this... to bad college does take up alot of time. I know what im making myself for Christmas!

 

i think there are a couple members running something similar to this http://www.jcwhitney.com/low-profile-light-bar/p2016969.jcwx

it's a universal fit though, so by making your own, you can probably make it look a little cleaner and fit oyur vehicle just how you want it. it'll also be a lit cheaper.
and yeah, for the output you get (especially with HIDs), you can't beat the price on those lights.
i've had one of the sets for nearly 4 years, and there is no rust on the mount, no cracks in the lense or plastic housing....they're a very durable light.

 

aint that the truth...i had to stare at all of the materials sitting in the corner my living room for 3 weeks before we got a 3 day weekend where i had time to build it

how are you liking your thule? mine's been to hell and back many times, and just keeps on taking abuse

 

Were do the wires go?? Does it come with good switches? How's the wind noise

 

the lights come with switches, but they aren't the best. they'll work, but the light in the switch tends to burn out pretty wuickly. it comes with wires and an in-line fuse, but you'll need to lengthen the wires. depending on how/where you mount the rack, you can run wires through the tapped holes for the factory rack. but if you use those holes to bolt the rack to the roof, you'll need to drill new holes in the little channel under the weather stripping. i know that doesn't sound good, but it's really not a big deal. i couldn't fit all of my wires through the factory holes so i had to drill new ones. even before i siliconed up the holes, i had zero leaking problems when it rained....and we get some good rain in FL.

as for where they go, mine go through the roof, run along the roofline to the a-pillar, down the a-pillar, and to the switch/relay/battery from there

when i first got my thule rack, it whistled a lot, so i got the little fairing thing...that took care of the whistling. there is obviously a little noise, but i got used to it/my muffler is much louder than the rack

 

how do you guide the wires once you put it threw the hole? down the pilar..yea my aero 2525 wil cover up the noise haha

 

two bolts that hold the handle to the a-pillar, also hold the cover itsself up. so take those out and the a-pillar is cake. to get the wires from the hole to the pillar, all you have to do is un-tuck the head liner along the edge by the weather stripping near the door. once you see how it's done, it's extremely easy.

 

then itll come out under the hood? sweet thanks for your help!

 

you may be able to do it that way, but the a-pillar ends right above the switches to the left of the steering wheel. i found it easier to run the wires down there and through the stock hole in the firewall

 

I want to try and buy the material some time this week and probably start it during thanks giving or something like that. My thule is pretty good. makes some wind noise but thats about it. its hit a couple of trees and other stuff while on the trail but other than that its good.

 

about how much money total did u spend building this rack? another pic of my truck

 

^ Great question!

 

i'm at work right now, but i'll count everything up this evening and report back.

 

alright, i think i got everything

tube bender $35
3/4'' conduit (40 feet) $16
hardware for rack $15
hardware to secure to roofrack $15
primer (2 cans) $8
black paint(2 cans) $8

Total: $97

note: the hardware costs can be lower, but i always use grade 8 stuff just because it's readily availible, doesn't rust at all compared to zinc/nickle plated grade 5, and only costs a little more for the extra strength.

olther tools i used but already had and therefore didn't include in the cost were:

4.5 inch grinder
hack saw/sawzall
ball-peen hammer (32 oz.)
drill with bits sized ocordingly to the hardware i used

and if anyone is wondering abotu the lights, there are 3 sets total. the front 4 are 5.5inchs in diamiter if i remember correctly. withe the HID upgrade, the total per set (2 lights) comes to about $80. so $160 total for the forward facing lights. the rear facing ones can be any old generic light. i want to say i paid $40 for them as well, but that was a while ago, so i'm not sure. if i were to gues, i'd say that the wires and connectors i used for the hole thing cost somewhere around $30

so total for the rack materials, pipe bender, all lights, and nessesary wiring to go with it is somewhere around the $300 mark. not too bad imo

 

Any insight on how to mount? i have no roof rack, no preexisting holes, the roof is just straight clean metal, I'd prefer not to drill into the roof but I will if need be, any suggestions?

 

Great job. That came out really clean.

 

Thanks 06!


Jay, i drew up a little design for another member on here on how to potentially mount something like this withough an existing roof rack. if you have that black weatherstripping running the length of your roof, there should be holes under it that you can use. if not, you can use this same method but drill your own.
if neither of those options is doable, your only option is do buy some sort of clamp on rack, in which case, i'd go with yakima or thule. the cheap ones just don't hold up as well, and i've seen them tear appart door seals, whereas my thule has been on for 3 years and there is no damage whatsoever.

here's the drawing

 

nce job man!!

 

looks great! can you get any night pics with all the lights on the rack lit up? thanks

 

Thanks Colin, I did see this and planned on using it if there was no other option, but I'd rather drill into the roof and keep it secure. So I guess I will use this method, thanks a bunch man, I will make sure I credit you/post some pics when I'm done.