Ditch/Hood Light Bracket - Ultimate Guide & Poll (Pictures)

Hi,

I kept everything on

https://youtu.be/6nWmIKTCtkY

 

Ahhhh.... I see we have differences. Im doing the cowl/engine bay rago mounts on a second gen. I cant seem to get the corner peices back in, and the rago video is unclear

 

You have to trim the cowl. I did this with the Cali-Raised mounts. Its the main reason why most prefer the hood mounts. I like the body mounts as its tucked far over out of sight from the drivers seat. Trimming the cowl was easy with a sharp razor blade.

 

https://caliraisedled.com/collectio...ts/05-2015-toyota-tacoma-ditch-light-brackets

Our 2nd and 3rd Low profile mounts require no drilling or cutting now

 

I went with Rago

 

After a ton of research I decided on the Rago brackets. They sit just in front of the pillars and out of view. The others seem to sit more in front of the lower corner of the winshield and from what I've researched they are in obvious view from inside the cab. Not a big deal to some but I like outward positioning and not always seeing them in the corners of my eyes

 

I've got CBI brackets, I just moved my NMO vhf antenna from a fender mount to a 3" flat ss bracket added to the driver side ditch light. This moved the antenna out from in front of the light, to tucked in beside the lamp. No more reflected glare, no more chipping the hood paint.

 

Looking for some advice here. Thinking about ordering the cali raised ditch lights and brackets. I want to start with the ditch lights and eventually get a LED bar. What is the best way to wire this? Cali Raised sells the wiring harness, but is there anything else I should be aware of, knowing that I will later want to wire on a second LED fixture?

Thanks to the OP for the good thread. It was helpful to see who all sells these and which are the most popular.

 

Use their harness and oem style switch. The switch that comes w the harness is just a simple button unless you're ok with that. I ran a 2nd harness along w the ditch light harness so its "prewired" for a future roof led bar.

 

Just installed a rago set of brackets and very impressed with them. Used to have a set of cali raised with the side shooters and not impressed compared to the Ragos. What impressed me with the Ragos are the packaging and how each mount is separated in the package. What helps with this is that it does not allow scratching of the powdercoat. The Cali raised I had where scratched when I got them. I can’t speak of the new brackets they are selling now, as the ones I was using was when the side shooters they were selling was released.

Needless to say, the additional cost is worth it.

 

Lately I've been considering some ditch lights, or a ditch light on one side. I'm wanting something low profile, and a small light that isn't too intrusive.

 

Go with these brackets
https://caliraisedled.com/collectio...ts/05-2015-toyota-tacoma-ditch-light-brackets

and with these lights
https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/S2-Sport-LED-Light-Black.asp

 

@xguntherc I just installed the Rago Ditch brackets with the Baja S2 sports and they look really low profile. The @CaliRaisedLed brackets will get the job done faster though without having to trim the cowl.

 

Does anyone know if either the Cbi or Cali brackets with lights interfere with the Arb snorkel?

 

My 1st gen has clearance issues with the CBI and Safari Snorkel but I got it worked out...

 

Good thread with some good info in here. Im wondering how you guys are running your wires from the light down under the hood and into the engine bay?

Specifically around the hinge area. Any got any pictures of that?

 

I just ran mine down along the brackets/hinges just ziptied in a few places. I had access to wire loom, so i ran the wires for the right side light through that, and snaked it trough the hood. Crappy pics, but they'll give the concept:

 

Cool cool. And you can close the hood without pinching the wires anywhere?

 

Yep. Loom helps keep them protected too.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ3Nt5EmkS0&frags=pl,wn

At 7:37 a customer of ours is explaining how he did the wiring.