Auxiliary/spot/driving light mounting

[andypalmer]

I am looking to fit 2 above bumper lights to wire in to high beam, I am happy with the wiring side of things but I am not sure how to mount the lights themselves. I have fitted 2 lights under the bumper, just below the licence plate but the bumper was plastic there and where I was considering mounting the new ones, on the flat tray in front of the grille (99 model), has metal underneath the plastic. I don't really want a bull bar and I can't find any small A bars for the X in the UK so it looks like a choice between drill (and hope it goes through the metal) into the top of the bumper or try to find some kind of bracket to fix behind the bumper. Any suggestions or comments are welcome.

 

[gijoecam]

Been there, done that. Looks and works great!!

Had to make up some spacers at work due to the tight clearance on the grille. Didn't realize that would be an issue until I had the holes drilled.

They work awesome. However, in my experience mounting auxiliary lights, they need to be mounted at least as high as the headlights to be useful. The higher-up the better!

Also, there are a couple of bull-bar manufacturers out there... I've seen the pics.

 

[aldive]

I didn't actually mount the lights directly to the bumper, but rather close.

Take a look at http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1921826&posted=1#post1921826

 

[andypalmer]

Thanks guys, I don't think aldive's suggestion will work as we have long, 1 line licence plates in the UK which wouldn't fit on that holder. How easy/hard is it to drill through the metal under the bumper? Would slimmer lights have eliminated the clearance issue, I had noticed there isn't a lot of space in front of the grill.

 

[gijoecam]

A set of KC Slimlites may have helped with the clearance issue I experienced, but I wanted the extra light offered by the 150-watt sealed-beam Daylighters and, therefore, had to accommodate the extra depth of the housing. The spacers I used I had to make at work... they're stainless, so no rust, and I replaced the factory anodized bolts with some stainless carriage bolts for the same reason.

As for drilling through the bumper, it's no more difficult than any other piece of steel. A good sharp drill bit is essential. I used a 1/8" pilot hole, then followed it with a 1/2" bit. It wasn't tough at all.

-Joe

 

[andypalmer]

Thanks all, I'll have a think about my options. I know a guy who may be able to rig up a bracket from one of the existing bolts, if not I'll give drilling the bumper a go.

 

[Donner]

They have a special order number... they gotta have European brackets...

http://www.carr.com/store/carrlightwings.asp


http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/7539.cfm Adaptable?

 

[Donner]

One more...

http://www.minicarparts.net/Parts/M3075.cfm

 

[andypalmer]

Our plates over here have to be 524mm x 112mm and all those holders appear to be for squarer plates unfortunately and I dread to think how much the mini bar would cost to ship. Thanks anyway.