Show your behind the grill lighting set ups.

I am looking to put some additional lighting behind my grill. I'm in a 2018 OR MT with a pro grill. I am open to going back to the OEM grill if it allows much more room for mounting or less obstruction. I am wanting to leave the slot under the grill open for a possible @Mobtown recovery bar in the future. I just got a set of amber flood pods from Black Oak to get me started. I'll be adding a set of amber spots and probably a 20" white combo bar in the future. I think this will give be a pretty well rounded lighting setup. I am going to be running a light controller at some point also so I can run them as conditions dictate. I have seen the SDHQ setup and am leaning that way at the moment. I'm just wondering if there are any other options for multiple light mounts behind the grill. If anyone is running a combo of pods and bars like this feel free to post up pics of your mounting set ups as well as pics in use.

 

I like that receiver! Did you have it custom built?

 

No real good ones....

 

@Unchained 5150 that is almost enough to make me want to go back to a more open grill. The TSS sensor is kind of a pain to work around.

 

This is going to be the next step in my lighting upgrade. This is the Black Oak amber flood at about 5 feet. The beam definitely opens up further out into a good flood when I shined it around the yard. I tried to upload a video comparing it to the fogs but it has the wrong extension. The color is a spot on match for the kc hilites amber fog with similar brightness. FYI, I assumed they were sold as pairs but are actually come as singles with a nice harness.

 

This is one of my favorite mods.

 

I got my first big step in my lighting upgrade done today, a pair of Black Oak 12w amber floods. The wiring is just going to be on there for a couple of months until I upgrade to a light controller but Black Oak does seem to do a nice job with the universal harness. I'm actually surprised how well the install went. The hardest part was pulling wire through the grommet. I ended up using a piece of romex for a fish.I just mounted them on the back of the "valence" on the bottom of the grill surround. I think I'll end up Modifying a SDHQ setup down the road but it'll do for now. I'll start dropping some pics in case anyone wants to follow this up.

I was looking under the hood for a spot to mount from but there is almost no metal fittings to work with however there is a stamped cross member that runs right behind the back of the grill. Its pretty flimsy but it has a couple of holes in it I thought I could use to beef up the plastic a bit. I ended up making 2 aluminum washers from 3/4" strap and using a self drilling screw and a couple of rubber stoppers to carry some of the load.
All installed. I think they were #4 stoppers. They are just a little short and I'll figure out some way to put some some load on them later. The stoppers are both 12" off the centerline so I drilled a couple of 5/16 holes 10" off center 1 1/4" from the back edge and used some fender washers to help spread the load out over a greater are because I hate using plastic to bear weight. The spots I drilled are between two small gussets so its about as strong as a can be where its at. I had to drill out the fender washers on the mount side bc the square part of the carriage bolts were longer than the supplied ones. Also I used shorter carriage bolts than came with the kit bc I wanted as much clearance over the fog light wiring as I could get.
All mounted up and ready to reinstall. I decided to hide the switch in the cubby so I took it out and fitted the switch in the back with a forstner and a file. I drilled a spare hole in case I add another circuit before I get a switch controller.

 

all tucked away and hidden. Next was the wiring. not too difficult but getting through the grommet was tough for a first timer. The harness seems good quality but its definitely one size fits all.

I tucked up the extra wiring as best I could and hooked it up.
Nothing caught fire so that is a bonus.
Amber pods only.

The lights seem to be of great quality and have the ip69 rating so hopefully they last a long time. They are only 12w lamps but they seem to give good light. My next set will be spot pattern and higher wattage, maybe a set of squadrons. I think if I go this route I would like to be able to match my headlights but in amber.

 

The SDHQ behind the grille mounts are great. Easy install, sturdy and offer a ton of options to mount numerous lights. I'm running a Baja Designs 30" S8 and a pair of Squadrons behind the grille.

 

@OffroadAlliance your truck is the one that got me going this route. I've got a pair of KC flex that are the next upgrade.

 

I upgraded my setup today. Made a frame out of perforated angle bar from the homesupply store. Bolted a together and mounted to the back of the aluminum bumper. I didn't get many pics of the install. Getting the mount started was kind of a p.i.t.a. Will add them next post. Right now running a pair of black oak 12w amber fllod pods and a pair of kc dual with much more room. Could probably get in 2 more pods and a 20" lightbar. Here are a couplepics of where I'm at.

 

Got my baja squadron sports mounted a few weeks ago. New to concentrate on my switch pro. Love the Amber's! So easy on the eyes.

 

I ended going back to the stock grill with a black bezel. I didnt want to end up having them void my tss warranty because of a Chinese pro grill. Might end up with one more pair or pods or a 10" lightbar in there.

 

I know this thread is 4 years old but ... OP I'm looking to do something similar this weekend with the perforated angle bars. Do you have a picture of the mounting point on the bumper? I did some eyeballing and didn't see an existing bolt. Did you drill it out or am I blind and missing a mounting point?

 

I mounted them to the back side of the aluminum push bar. I drilled pilot holes and used big self tapping stainless screws. Still holding strong.

 

Here's mine. The bracket was from a group buy here a very long time ago (2014???). The lights are Hella Black Magic. Those horns are gone and replaced with the 4-note GM "train" horns.