Rally Innovations light bar!

Ok guys and (a few)gals.. I was at Rally Innovations today in Anaheim, CA. They are big in the Subaru, Mitsubishi, Rally light bar market and I met the owner who is a friend of a friend. I was interested in coming up with a light bar for the 2012 Tacoma. I just felt that the changes Avid made to their light bar didn’t really accent the different lines that are present in the ‘12s. I showed him my idea (really bad drawing) and he said it was feasible and we’d get started soon. I told him there might be some interest on TW for these things and he said he’d be willing to mass produce, but he’d need to know before he made mine so he can keep the measurements for future production runs. Otherwise he’d only be making mine as a favor and leaving it as that. So below are a few pics... let me know what you guys think…




Here’s a Rally Innovations light bar being used to win the London, UK to Cape Town, South Africa 2012 World Cup Rally:





Here’s my (bad) draw up:



Design options/considerations: The bars would be made out of essentially the same 1 ¾ inch steel tubing as the Avid light bar. We were talking about different concerns he had, such as the bar being top heavy and creating vibration at higher speeds, or just being unstable (he makes them for rally cars, his products are SOLID because of the environment they will be introduced to). He suggested adding/integrating a skid plate such as the one in the top picture of the Subaru or this one below to stabilize it a little bit. But we also have to figure out a way to fit it (without his fab’ed skid plate) so that the TRD skid plate will still fit as I’m sure plenty of you will want to keep your beloved skid plates (even though I’ll tell you now his skid plates are A LOT more solid than the TRD skid plates).


Oh, and Here’s a Hilux taking part in the World Rally Cup.. it took 2nd overall (it has nothing to do with this, just thought I’d throw that in there):



His price point was $450 powder coated. A little steep as Avid’s are $325 (unpainted finish), but I think these would look better (my opinion) with the 2012’s. Also, he is new to Tacomas and is unsure if this is going to be a limited run if at all (it might just be me). He did say that price would drop to $400 if I could get more than 10 people interested. I personally think I might be able to drop it down some more if there’s significant interest in it. He also ships anywhere, as demonstrated when he sold his light bar to the guy from the UK ($400 in shipping costs alone!). So I guess I’m looking for suggestions, interest/talk, maybe a better photoshopped pic?? Let me know if you’re in guys! Is it just gonna be me with this bad ass light bar? Or do you guys want in on this bad-assery? Can anyone say tax refund?!?!

So I’m gonna start a list and hopefully its not a lonely one…
1) LT1

 

Ok, I know its a little early for a bump.. but I just wanna make sure I catch the evening crew...

 

Sub'd to see what comes of this. Sounds/Looks very cool, keep us updated even if its just for your truck.
Is it going to be square tubing with sharp angles, or round tubing with smooth curves?

 

Thanks for your interest.. I'm thinking round tubing with smooth curves, similar to the avid light bar... What's your thoughts? I'm trying to get some ideas too, cause nothing has been mocked up yet... we'll see where this thing ends up...

 

While the sharp corners look cool and add to the lines of the bumper, i think they might be a bit too much. I like how the design brings out the grill, and being that the corners on the grill are rounded i think the light bar should keep the style going.
I vote for round tubing

EDIT: Now im looking at the fog light housing and those corners look more "squared" out with sharper edges...Tough choice lol.
Cant go wrong with either one.

 

And powder coating!

 

Thats the thing.. I feel like the "squared" housing of the fog lights really get accented with this design.. if you look at them side-by-side, you see that if you accent the angles a little some, it really makes it quite a bit more aggressive..

Here's a pic side-by-side.. err.. on on top of the other...?


I sure wish I didn't have such a dorky looking photochop of it, but I'm not exactly talented when it comes to photoshop..

 

Morning bump...

 

bump.

 

Is it only for 2012s?

 

Well, the thing is, it's gonna be mocked up for a 2012, and seeing as the lines are very different, it might not jive with a pre '12. I mean, we could always ultimately see if it'll fit a pre '12... who knows, it might actually look good

 

bump.

 

I'd have to have quite a bit of interest for my guy at Rally Innovations to actually put time into it.. and at this time it looks like I'm the only one that really wants to spend on this thing.. I think it's gonna be a great product, but I think it'll take off more after 1) people see an actual product on a truck, and 2) the number of 2012 owners on TW grows. Until then, it looks like lonely 'ol me is gonna gonna have this bad ass light bar..

 

Bump...

 

bump.. I think this light bar idea will probably take off after I have them installed on my truck.. It seems right now, no one is interested... maybe just not enough pics, hopefully I'll be able to get something on here to show you guys.

 

damn.. this sure isn't taking off like I hoped it would.. Oh well, I guess we'll see after the finished product is out.

 

I was gunna say you should make it first then show it to people and what would really be cool of you could make it strong enough to we're you can use a hilift up front for when you get stuck and need to lift the from