SOLVED (not really, I'm just dumb): RCI roof rack light bar mount

I have an RCI roof rack, and the front panel is designed around a 40 inch light bar. I have a Diode Dynamics 42 inch bar. The brackets I bought from RCI cause the bar to touch the front panel and not tighten up all the way. Wound up using the bracket from Diode but it sits really high up and whistles, trying to bring it down a little more flush with the rack. Any ideas for brackets?

 

You might try RCI directly, they have their own light bar mounting brackets.

 

That's the mount I bought and it doesn't work

 

Ugh, obviously I cant read today.

I just ordered the RCI rack and bracket so I'm keen to see how this plays out.

 

No worries! If you go with a 40 inch bar it would be perfect. I wanted Diode though and they only have the 42.

Just a tip though, using the RCI bracket, make sure to add a little washer. The screws were bottoming out in the channel and not tightening all the way

 

Thanks for the tip! I have an old IGGY 40 LED bar that needs to make its way up there at some point.

 

Yessir!

 

any more info on this? I have DD for all of my other lighting and would like to stick with them if possible. is the issue that the bar is too wide/tall for the cutout, or that it is too far forward? would making the cutout in the fairing wider but the same depth or deeper but the same width help?

 

Cut out on the RCI rack isn't wide enough for the bar. If you could raise the light bar a little it would work. I haven't fucked with it at all since install although I need to get it sorted

 

any pictures of the bar where it is installed now? I'm thinking I may try to make the cutout a bit bigger to fit if its not way off

 

Used the DD brackets that came with the bar but it sits really high and whistles like crazy. Not a fan so want to find a better solution but haven't had the time. It wouldn't be a ton of cutting to make room on that front panel and I'm still entertaining that idea myself

 

I think that may be the route I take, thank you

 

I installed a 41” light bar yesterday and it fits nicely. Here’s how I mounted the brackets.

 

why does the RCI light bar sit above the fairing, and the Prinsu for example sits flush and inset on the fairing? This seems like a design flaw IMO. Oh to give my .02, OP you are having issues mounting a 42” light bar into a fairing that was designed to house a 40" light bar? Buy a light bar around the rack system, not the other way around.

 

Yeah, im not sure why RCI designed it like that. I installed a 41” bar and it looks like it should be able to fit a 42” one easily. Even though the light bar sits higher than the fairing, I don’t hear any wind noises.

 

RCI doesn't use a piece of 80/20 to mount the fairing, so the light bar has to mount to the first cross bar.

 

i see that…not a fan at all. Ymmv

 

When I initially installed this light bar I did it with what little free time I had middle of fire season, it was hot and I was short on time so admittedly I rushed through it. I didn't take the time to look at the issue I was having getting the bar to sit in the cut out properly.

My crew and I just got back from a two week assignment for fire in East Texas, and going on mandatory days off I knew I could free up some time to finally solve this issue. I pull up to the porch, take one look at how I'm going to make this work, and instantly felt like a silly goose.

Picture one is the 42" Diode Dynamics light bar installed with RCI brackets, done right.

Picture two is the front roof rack bar's new location, each bolt straddling the gap between two slots. Before, I had both in the front and it sat too close to the front panel, causing a lack of room.

Picture 3 shows what kind of space you have with the bar sitting a little further back.

Test drive in wind yielded zero whistiling, which previously would have been obnoxiously loud.

 

I'm still not keen on the bar being up above the rack. I like having the ability to sit something up there that is bigger than the rack and not having the light bar in the way. I may end up custom fabing some brackets and trimming the fairing to have it sit down flush

 

With these RCI brackets you can probably just flip them so the bend is down, trim the fairing, and it be low enough for what you're trying to accomplish