30" Light Bar Install - Easier Than You Might Think

Yeah I am kinda anal about trimming on a new truck. It takes a little bit more of an effort, but to me it was worth it

 

If i am looking at the picture correctly, it shows that the bracket pushes a little bit the plastic outwards.. is that correct?
thank you,

 

yes, it does. The bracket is tight against the airdam

 

I like the idea of not cutting the airdam..
Thanks for information..

 

By mounting the bracket backwards you can only attach to a single frame bolt instead of 2 which didn't seem as sturdy to me. I was considering doing this while installing but decided against it. I was reluctant to cut also but I didn't find it that bad. Up to you how you want to attach but thought you should know.

 

I haven't had any issues with mine yet, still seems to be holding tight and I drive a lot of ruff back roads. Even the state roads where I live are terrible and full of pot holes (gotta love living in upstate NY, all the tax money goes to the city)

 

LOL, you should check out New Orleans.... you know it's bad when the local news does a "Pothole Of The Day" segment.

 

We aren't far off of that here in upstate NY!lol

 

Sorry to quote an old post but do you have a link or part number to the Ellis Mounting brackets you used? Thinking of going this rout on a 32 in Auxbeam light bar. Thanks.

 

Is this the bracket you used? http://www.randyellisdesign.com/16-17-Toyota-Tacoma-LED-Bracket-_p_153.html

 

That is the correct bracket.

 

yes... correct...

 

resisted getting a light bar but just couldn't resist anymore...Auxbeam had one for $39.99 w/ free ship...and I found a 10% of coupon...
https://www.auxbeam.com/70025968

 

Finished up install of ditch lights and a 32" LED Bar. Went with cheap lights but Cali Raised brackets for both. Still waiting on one more switch to finish up the interior; right now I'm just running the switches that came with the mictuning harnesses. A couple of things to add:

In order to get my bar positioned right I needed to cut off more of the air dam than in the tutorial.

I bought two mictuning harnesses (one for ditch lights, one for LED bar). They have different wire colors, and the relay mounting brackets had different sized holes; I needed to drill one of them out a bit to mount to the truck where I wanted it.

Be real careful to try and avoid dropping tools when installing the LED bar bracket in the grille. Dropped tools or bolts tend to get hung up somewhere in the chin of the bumper and can be tough to find again.

Butt connectors =/= parallel connectors. Get butt connectors.

Overall, went relatively smoothly considering the fact that I'm not particularly automotively inclined.

 

Thanks for choosing us for your bracket needs!

 

I got the CaliRaised kit a month or two ago. had the removed air dams sitting..... and i did not like the non metric hardware. SOOO i trimmed the air dams (eh, i know...) BUT i also added a 6mm Nutsert.... makes life sooo much better.

 

Finished the rest of the wiring an install. Went pretty smooth, though I used the wrong splice connector off of the green bed light wire, so it took a while to figure out why the LEDs on my switches weren't working with the headlights. Also had to swap the white and colored wires coming off of the mictuning harness from how they were setup in the wiring diagram, otherwise the switch LEDs had constant power.

I'm happy with the switches, particularly CH4x4's option to make a custom switch (my 30" bar is on the "Make Daylight" switch). I'm not nuts about Cali Offroad's switch plate insert for the OEM-style switches. It feels like the switches should be slightly recessed, so that when pushed they are nearly flush with the switch plate. Instead, since the plate is flat, they "float" a bit. Not a major issue, but if I were to do it all again I might do the 3D printed option. I also did the 3-slot plate so that I could easily drop in another switch with future mods; right now it just has a plain plug.

 

Getting ready to do this mod...also changing out my switch for my fogs (added them cause I have an SR)...using Mictuning switches for both ....Whats the breakdown on how the wires are connected? Hate how my current fog switch is always lighted up. Thanks

 

I wish I would have jotted down how I ended up wiring them, but this is my recollection (for the CH4x4 switches, and Mictuning harness (my two presumably identical harnesses had different-colored wires; go figure):

Black Harness wire to Black Switch wire (ground to ground)
Quick splice connector to bed light green wire (first from left, I believe?) to "Red 2" switch wire (the one they described as tying to headlight/dash light illumination)

The remaining two sets of wires (colored + white from harness, and Red 1 and white from switch) I think I needed to switch from how they were recommended at one point upthread, but I can't remember for sure what the final setup was. After I wired everything up the first time and connected the hot side of the harness and saw I had an always-on LED (even when the truck was on) I left the grounds connected and tried trial-and-error of the other connections until I got things situated the way I wanted. Probably not Safe Wiring 101, but so long as I left the ground in place I wasn't dealing with much current so wasn't super worried.

 

When I installed the Fogs I used a kit like the one I linked to.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WJMLQS...olid=1POBHZESA09GF&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I also used an Add-a-fuse.....The light stays on for the switch when ignition is on....if I connect the button to the bed light switch for power do I need an add-a-fuse at all or am I over thinking this? Thanks