Need Advice: Light bar mounted on rooftop

Need some help/ideas/advice on mounting my 30" LED bar on the top of my Taco. I have Thule bike rack up top and thought of mounting on that or straight into the roof. Not quite sure what to do yet. And aside from that, where is everyone, who mounts it up top, running the wires through? That is my biggest concern right now.

I want to make sure I do this the most efficient way. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

 

I ran my wires down back of cab by the third brake light. Went down between cab and bed and came up thru a rubber plug in the floor behind the seats. Hope this helps.

 

I ran the wiring for my 50 in down the column right at the windshield. Might drill a hole later and run it inside the cab. Idk yet

 

But did you actually bolt the bar to the roof? Is your wiring inside the door?

 

Please post a picture of how the Thule roof rack looks on your truck. I would recommend mounting your light bar to the roof rack over drilling into your cab! My friend had a light bar on the roof of his truck, he ran his wires down the side of his windshield. They were almost invisible unless looking closely at the truck.

I will warn you that people with roof light bars have complained about glare on their hoods and I have seen videos of the effect. It seems like it would be distracting. I love the look of the roof mounted bars, but for function, I would mount it somewhere on the front of the truck. Behind grill, behind lower valence, on a front light rack, etc.

 

A 30" light bar will fit in the lower valence of your Tacoma using Rigid brackets. I run a 30" Rigid bar like this and it lights up the desert at night.

I don't see the point of going thru all the hassle to mount a 30" bar on the roof. A 40-50" bar won't normally fit anywhere else except the roof.

 

I will try and get a pic soon and post it here. I haven't began my build posts yet. But I don't have the bumper anymore. I installed a armor tech hybrid bumper on it so the 30" is just a little too big to mount on it and I have 9 1/2" HID lights I am mounting in the hoop in front of the grill. I may just mount it to the roof rack just for experimentation to see if there is a glare and if I can live with it. But I will get a pic on here soon.

 

I didn't get a 40 or 50 because I have bike racks on the roof as well and the 30 fits in between them. I am almost wishing I bought the 20 so it fits better behind the grill. But I have the HID lights, described above, going on the bumper. I may do some fabricating to experiment.

 

I was able to run the wire bundle (2 wires) down the side where the windsheil meets the metal... Theres like a rubber seal or something around the windshield. They wont be a perfect fit, but trust me it will work...

Allyou need to do is grab the wires, run wire sheeting over them so it looks like one clean cord. Then lay down tape over the windshield and the metal column on the outside so you dont make a mess. Lay down BLACK silicon (walmart/lowes) and set your cord through there. Soon as it dries you can put a coat over the sides to make it look like it belongs there.

and so you know using BLACK silicon is removable. It holds extremely well, but if you ever decide to take it off, it should peel off like the caulking in your bathroom.

im too lazy to post picture, but if you want me to i can.

 

This will all depend on WHERE on the roof it is located. I have mine on a light bar rack located right at the back edge of the door opening. This is about 16 inches back from the windshield. I have ZERO glare.

As for wire routing, I ran my wire across the light bar to the driver's door, then behind where the door seal is located on the cab opening for the door and drip rail. Then it goes just under that through a hole I drilled. Once installed I sealed it from the elements. Since it is located underneath the door seal on the cab, then with the door closed there is ZERO water intrusion (even though I still have it sealed anyway) While mine is a 1st gen, the 2nd gen still has the same basic style of door sealing.

 

It hits just a few feet in front of the truck. Since the bars located at the windshield are still blocked from hitting the ground directly in front of the truck by the hood, mine being located 16 inches behind those bars, I still have mine strike just at the front of the hood. So essentially I can light up just as much.

 

Don't know.... but I'm ordering this

Functional and I can haul my kayaks up there.


http://youtu.be/JjFREV4eedo




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Yea I have it bolted to the roof with brackets


You can see the wire running down the windshield ^^^^

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...35328-sell-42-light-bar-roof-rack-mounts.html

 

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