Flush mounted Side Lights

Stanza had them too. In my younger and dumber days we wired my friend’s to be always on with the parking lamps.

We were dumb, dumb kids.

 

Thanks for all of the feedback. This thread seams to have trifurcated:

1: Flush mounted side lights (Baja Designs Zone 7 - which was the point of my original post):

The answer seams to be that nobody has done Baja Designs S2 side lights that are flush mounted below the A pillar at 90° like I was asking about. I've also learned that flush mounted side lights would
"diminish the re-sale value of my truck" and that "I'm the only person who likes this mod".

As far as the re-sale value of my truck is concerned: I think that ship sailed with the custom front and rear bumpers, 5.29 gears, body mount relocation, and other mods. But this is a good a point which might give someone pause.

As far as being the only person who likes this mod: I didn't know I liked the idea that much in the first place (I was just asking if anyone had done it). But I appreciate that that some members of this forum can speak for everyone else with such authority. Also a point which might give someone pause.

For now, I'm content with my magnet mounted side lights & don't see a strong reason to do Baja Designs flush mounted S2's in the 90° A pillar location. Mostly this is because I think my existing side lights are bright enough for use when I'm camping but also I think the Baja Designs flush mounted S2's will work better from a higher position above the top of my ARE Z-series truck cap, which is my next project...

2: Automated control of Cornering lights:

Interesting topic in it's own right. I'll incorporate these ideas if I can. This really deserves its own thread.

3: My 9-switch center console mount:

I don't think I needed to "invent lights to fill the panel" these are standard light locations as the Baja Designs Light Zones map explains. But my 9 switch panel does make it possible to control the left and right sides independently. And I can easily see on my panel what lights are on at any given time, even if they were switched on from the switches in the bed. So I don't know what is wrong with that.

 

I decided to at least make some improvements on my original magnetic side light mounts:
1: Lower profile
2: Stronger magnets
3: better angle (sideways not slightly upward)
4: Black PETG instead of painted PLA plastic

Here's the original mount (left) and new mount (right)




The lower profile is mostly removing the rubber spacer on the original

$33 MICTUNING C2 Curved White LED Rock Lights - 4 Pods Underglow Lights Compatible for Car Truck Offroad ATV UTV Boat

MICTUNING C2 Curved rock lights



Using 4 10mm magnets instead of 2 with a magnetic strip results in a stronger mount. But I was only using magnets I had on hand and want to try 16mm magnets on the next iteration.





It's a minor change for a minor improvement.

I was not satisfied with this effort so I kept working...

Then I realized I could really shrink the size of the mount if I made it conform to the Mictuning LED rather than using the mount I had made for the Baja Designs S2 lighs.



and I might as well double the number of magnets so the LED mount simply does not move once attached.



So from this



to this

 

These sidelights have been really useful this past year. Especially when setting up camp at night or when buttoning down everything before going to bed. They are just bright enough to extend the light from my rock lights to the immediate area surrounding my truck. But I wanted lights that were brighter & so I made a new mount that can accommodate Baja Designs S2 Sport flood lights that I wanted in the first place.

Recall that originally, I wanted to mount the Baja Designs S2 Sport flood lights by cutting into the body of my Tacoma to make them truly recessed, but I was dissuaded to cut into the side of my truck by members of this forum who said I would be diminishing the resale value of my truck.

So I started looking at how to mount the Baja Designs S2 Sport flood lights without cutting into the side of my truck. And I determined that I could mount them in a way that would allow air to cool them and only be about 1/3 larger than my existing lights based on Mictuning rock lights but would more than 3X brighter.

The design process looks something like this:


Which leads to bad ideas like this:


And so on...

Which leads to this:


And eventually to something like this:


Where you can see how the mount allows air to pass behind the S2 light.

Here you can see the holes on the back side for the magnets that secure the mount to the body:


Which leads to a part that has 3D printed material that is required to support overhanging features:


This is the step where the supporting material required for overhanging features needs to be removed:


Once all of the extra plastic is removed, the final part is revealed:


And the finished part looks like this:




So from this:


To this:


But not quite this (which would require cutting into the body):



So I don't have the lowest profile possible but it is super bright compared to my old side lights.

 

Hey Switch,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts/journey on this. I appreciate your efforts particularly in building the custom mounts/brackets.

You have taken some of the feedback you got here quite gracefully; kudos to you! Sorry folks haven’t really responded to your efforts here.

Your 9 panel switchboard is a great idea. I have generally added lighting (via headache rack or otherwise) to achieve some of the coverage, particularly for work or activities around the vehicle, but have rarely dedicated switches to a particular side of the vehicle (though I wish I did). Your 9-panel lit switchboard really fixes that and also uses that stupid space well. I’ll have to be a bit more investigative with wiring/connector options going forward. I have an auxbeam switchboard at present in my Tacoma and am using some of the factory blank slots as well.

I’m not much of a flush-mount guy on the vehicle itself (but certainly have done so in headache racks or trailers, etc. in the past) but some other concerns I’ve generally had that led me away from that route in body panels include weakening of panels, additional exposure to vibration (reducing how secure it might be) or torque on the panels from the additional weight, potential for misalignment, irreversible-ness of the decision, and the increased exposure to rust. The mag mount you have is a great solution, and likely allows you to keep exploring where the best position is.


On the subject of auxiliary turning lights; ambulances in my area (from a particular large healthcare agency) have a very large white LED panel on each front quarter in a similar position to Switch’s above lights that light up when their turn signals are activated.

(Sorry for resurrecting an older thread)

Cheers,

Chris

 

FYI those mictuning lights are trash. I used them for less then a year before each led started to die off and then they started holding water.
Nice work on the 3D prints, the look and location isn’t my style tho. If you want more usable light put a led in the mirror is another great option as you can fold the mirror forward and backwards to redirect the light.

 

Tcody, those look sweet. Is that just fully installed in the mirror? What sort of bracketry in there? Any impacts to mirror function (like the motor for the glass etc?)
Thanks,

Chris

 

Fully mounted in the mirror. No loss of any functions heated mirrors still work and mirror has full powered rotation. Custom bracket made to fit the depth I wanted. Additionally each light can be activated individually via switches i 3D printed in the shifter.