5th Gen Explorer With LED Light Bar

[expoman55]

Thanks guys but I am looking for something across the windshield or roof.. Thought perhaps it may make it look menacing and be awesome for driving in the snow and lousy weather..

 

[peterk9]

Thanks guys but I am looking for something across the windshield or roof.. Thought perhaps it may make it look menacing and be awesome for driving in the snow and lousy weather..

From experience I can say that the more light you produce in a snow storm the worse the visibility will be. In a storm like that I always use low beams to cut down on seeing "a wall of white".

Peter

 

[alexleblanc]

I've got one of these 20" Black oak light bars on my Side by Side and I'm very happy with it so I decided to add one to the Explorer. I mounted in the lower grille area, right on the inner bumper and wires the trigger on the relay to the high beams - its really the only time I use them anyways on deserted roads so its convenient. I have the Rigid ones on my truck setup the same way.

 

[NickyB]

Appreciate the idea on having the light trigger with the hi beams. Never thought to do that, makes a lot of sense to hook up a relay instead of getting through the fire wall. Looks great!

 

[Forddealz]

I've got one of these 20" Black oak light bars on my Side by Side and I'm very happy with it so I decided to add one to the Explorer. I mounted in the lower grille area, right on the inner bumper and wires the trigger on the relay to the high beams - its really the only time I use them anyways on deserted roads so its convenient. I have the Rigid ones on my truck setup the same way.

The more dirtier it is the better it looks especially in this color.

 

[alexleblanc]

Appreciate the idea on having the light trigger with the hi beams. Never thought to do that, makes a lot of sense to hook up a relay instead of getting through the fire wall. Looks great!

I do this on everything I add a light bar to, makes it easy to use and easy to install.

The more dirtier it is the better it looks especially in this color.

Excuse the dirtiness, we just had a week of freezing rain with power outages that are still on going in parts of the province. It's clean now or at least as much as our winter roads allow!

 

[Magnetic619]

Looks great! Any photos with the lights on?

 

[alexleblanc]

Looks great! Any photos with the lights on?

no, but here's the same lightbar on my Kawasaki Mule, the yellow in the center is from the halogen headlights BTW.

 

[aztecexplorer]

Nice! would you say this method is better for lighting than lets say a two light system mounted to my roof basket?

I really like the light bar and where you placed it, just trying to decide if I put lights up or low like you did.

 

[champco]

Nice install. I suppose it can be pointed further out from the front of the truck. What is the output and is there a brand you like??

 

[removed]

Would you happen to have photos of the install? I have been wanting to do this to my PI since I don't have fog lights.

 

[alexleblanc]

hi guys, no extra photo's of the install sadly. I'm bad at documenting a build!

On the placement, higher is always better for more spread however I did not want these on my roof and that lower grille area was an easy install. I'm about 95% happy with the performance - I like the 20000 Lumen package with the combo beam spread.

 

[removed]

hi guys, no extra photo's of the install sadly. I'm bad at documenting a build!

On the placement, higher is always better for more spread however I did not want these on my roof and that lower grille area was an easy install. I'm about 95% happy with the performance - I like the 20000 Lumen package with the combo beam spread.

But where does it attach to? What did you use to secure it? A bracket or something? I just don't see how it was attached. Did you have to take off the front bumper?

 

[alexleblanc]

But where does it attach to? What did you use to secure it? A bracket or something? I just don't see how it was attached. Did you have to take off the front bumper?

I drilled two holes into the inner bumper structure, I had make sure there was nothing on the other side of it before hand.
The lower grilled is only snapped in with a handful of clips so it pops right out, running the wiring harness for the lights down there is easy as well, overall the install only took about 45 minutes or so.

 

[alexleblanc]

Nice install. I suppose it can be pointed further out from the front of the truck. What is the output and is there a brand you like??

I've run Rigid LED on my previous two trucks and have been very happy with around 6000-7000 Lumens with their driving beam pattern (similar to Black oak's Combo beam) but their pricing has continued to rize so I thought I would give someone else a try, Black oak came well recommended online and they are about 1/3 the price of the Rigid products. I started out with a 10" 11000 lumen unit on my Kawasaki and I was so impressed that I bought a 20" for the front, put the 10" on the back.

When it came time for the Explorer I decided for overkill and went with the 20" again, but the 10" unit their sell is a very good performer and would satisfy most people.

 

[removed]

hi guys, no extra photo's of the install sadly. I'm bad at documenting a build!

On the placement, higher is always better for more spread however I did not want these on my roof and that lower grille area was an easy install. I'm about 95% happy with the performance - I like the 20000 Lumen package with the combo beam spread.

I drilled two holes into the inner bumper structure, I had make sure there was nothing on the other side of it before hand.
The lower grilled is only snapped in with a handful of clips so it pops right out, running the wiring harness for the lights down there is easy as well, overall the install only took about 45 minutes or so.

Did you use the manufacturer brackets it came with? Will you post a video or pictures of how to pop that lower grille? Sorry for all the questions - im very interested in putting one right there. Love how discrete it looks!

 

[alexleblanc]

Did you use the manufacturer brackets it came with? Will you post a video or pictures of how to pop that lower grille? Sorry for all the questions - im very interested in putting one right there. Love how discrete it looks!

it came with two arms, one for each side and it adjustable, all you need to do is drill two holes. I don't want to pop the lower grille out again unless I have to as I don't want to weaken the clips any by multiple removals.

brackets look like this:

 

[removed]

it came with two arms, one for each side and it adjustable, all you need to do is drill two holes. I don't want to pop the lower grille out again unless I have to as I don't want to weaken the clips any by multiple removals.

brackets look like this:

No problem, totally understand. Where did you learn to take that grille off? And did you just use the screws it came with or different ones to make it fit?

 

[alexleblanc]

No problem, totally understand. Where did you learn to take that grille off? And did you just use the screws it came with or different ones to make it fit?

I inspected how it was made using a small mirror to see the backside and figured it out that way. I used part of the hardware but I drilled the two holes and treaded them to simply bolt up the bar's brackets.

 

[removed]

Okay, first step for me will be to remove the grill and just order the thing to see if it fits. ONE MORE QUESTION! Did you drill it into the bumber cover or is it the metal bumper? Don't have the car in front of me to go look. Its at the dealership.