Another underhood light install

After reading that other big thread I knew I needed to do this. Picked up a set of KC Cyclones last week and got into this project today. First, I'll say there isn't one way to do this. Off the shelf these kits leave a lot to be desired mainly because if you mount the lights straight to the hood, they will be pointing as much at you as down into the engine bay.

One earlier poster made and is providing to members some custom brackets that aim the lights better. Pretty darned good solution. But I wanted to place my lights in whole a different position. I decided to mount them high towards the front of the hood where the sheet metal has a bit of a curve. I made some custom 3D printed wedges to get the lights aimed at the angle I wanted. So, the light shines down and back and not so much into my eyes.

This setup uses the pin switch to control the lights normally, but there is also a toggle switch in series that I can use to turn it off manually if I want to leave the hood open for a long time and don't want to drain the battery.

Notes:

1. Some of the wires in the Cyclone kit were too short to get to this position and had to be extended. Easy enough to solder these up.

2. If you already have a remote start or alarm system pin switch you can use that and not install another. Just put a diode in the line from the remote start system to isolate it from the light circuit that will have 12V when the hood is closed.

Edit: here is the 3D wedge I made for this: Toyota Tacoma KC Cyclone hood light mount by raylo32 - Thingiverse


Some pics: