Light bar (stealth)

Just curious if anyone has purchased the kit from this company: https://www.tacomalifestyle.com/pro...ight-bar-kit-2005-2015?variant=37582693859506

looks like the Cali raised brackets and accessories with a light bar all in one (as opposed to me sourcing them all separately).

 

You're going through not one, but two middlemen there. CR fabricates the metal hardware and bundles it with Chinese LEDs. TL resells that bundle. I admittedly like their hardware however.

As a rule I stay away from the pretty websites with catchy instabro names. Everything available for the Tacoma can be bought direct from the fabricator. I would do that instead. Buy the brackets from CR, buy the light elsewhere.

 

Switches and wiring from CR also? I like the stock looking switches they sell.

 

I have the Diode Dynamics kit on my 3rd gen.

Super-awesomely bright, but I was disappointed with how flimsy the brackets are. There's a lot of noticeable vibration looking at the light ahead when it's hitting something close.

I wasn't a fan of the "wiring harness" either. Loose connections on the relay, and wasn't customized in length or anything for a Tacoma. I ended up cutting it up and only using a few parts of it.

 

They don't make the switches and I'm not sure who they are sourcing from. There are a couple of Chinese factories that make those and there are several brands that sell them under different names. They are most likely the CH4x4 or the Mictuning switch. I have no complaints on them. It really doesn't matter who you buy those from, other than sight differences in cost.

 

@Pinatacoma if you were to do the wiring over again, would you just make the wiring yourself or buy from someone else?

@Rock Lobster thanks for the info, appreciate your help.

Got one of those license plate brackets coming from Acekraut on here, so I’ve got a little time to figure this all out (since I have to do the install outside in the driveway).

 

I reused the 2-pin molded Deutsch connector on the long wire to power the bar. Everything else was chucked into my projects box. Since then I've ordered a kit to work with these, and already have tools for crimping and such.

I went with an aftermarket OEM style switch that fits an opening in the left dash panel.

For anyone comfortable working with crimping, soldering, heat shrink, routing, fusing, etc, I'd say do it yourself.

Otherwise you end up coiling up a bundle of extra wire length and stuffing it somewhere. Plus the direct connection to the battery with an inline fuse is a hacky and tacky way to go. Mine is like that for now but I'll be putting a heavier supply wire to an auxiliary fuse & relay box as a more permanent solution.