question for people with lights on their roof.

How did you all mount your offroad lights on your roof? I want to put 4 on mine but not sure if i should use the factory roof rack or build my own light bar or what. If possible pictures of your light setups would be good thanks for your time everybody!

Mike

 

[410Fortune]

Mike,

I got 2ea 5x7 KC daylighters mounted up there.

I used the front bar of my Yakima rack to mount them, your stock luggage rack should provide plenty of support.

I prefer the Yakima rack because it has round tubes, this allows me to tilt my lights back (facing straight up) when I am not using them, so they dont get hit by rocks, or parking garge ceilings. Also the Yakima tubes are great for running the wires, drill two holes and fish the wires through, very clean install.

I drilled a hole in my roof, about 5/8" dia, above the pass side side view mirror for the wires, ran the wires (3, 1 ea +, common ground) up the winshield pillar, under the headliner and right to the base of the rack.
I used a rubber grommet to fill the hole with a bunch of clear silicoln to make sure. About once a year I strip off the old silicoln and re-do it just to keep water out.

It works GREAT this way.
2 5x7's with fog lenses make TONS of light. The headlights/driving lights do a good job of getting whats in front of me, so I tend to aim these KC's slightly left and slightly right, giving me a full 180 array of light, it;s like daylight!

It takes some getting used to them on the roof, they will light up your hood and anything in front oif you like dust/fog makes it a little weird.

I prefer the way I mount5ed my lights because they are not in a fixed position, by loosening a simple wing nut I can aim them up/down or left/right, even backwards if I wanted too.........plus there is still plenty of room up there for 4 snowboards..........

 

[Kadarom Douhrek]

Hmm, turn them around backwards, put a sheet of plywood on the rack and instant stage.

Dance baby, dance!

 

[blueXPLO']

I have an actual roof rack on my explo', however i have seen it done with the factory roof rack sliding rails. All you should have to do is find a good set of lights, a decent kit should provide everything u need..maybe get some extra wire to splice if u need to run longer lengths to put things where u want them. Then drill holes wherever you choose to place the lights on these rails, mount them with the hardware, and cover the wires in electrical tape. What i did as far as hiding them to make them clean is run the wire the length of the actual channel the rack slides in then run it through the back hatch and behind the trim inside(it gives enough to slide wires in and hide them) then decide where u want the switches mounted...dash is most preferable then ground it out somewhere on and interior screw or bolt..i definately would not drill holes in my roof though..

 

[SplashMan]

I have mine mounted on my stock cross-member and they work great. I don't get hardly any shaking and I have only had to adjust them twice in 3 years. I drilled a hole to run my wires through, but I would just run them along the roof and in through the back hatch if I was doing it now. Here is a link where you can buy a nice KC light bar...
KC Light Bar
and here is a pic of how mine look...

 

[Hokie]

Hey Splash.. i guess with those lights you can't fit in any garages?

 

[taxx]

Best pic I got.

round explorer procomp lights with 100 watt bulb upgrades mounted directly to the rail of my yakima load warrior roof rack. And yes I still fit in my garage with the lights and 35" tires, but I do have an 8' door...

 

[AlaskanJack]

Here's a couple shots of mine mounted on brushguard and Stealth light bar

 

[SplashMan]

Originally posted by HokieBert
Hey Splash.. i guess with those lights you can't fit in any garages?

Some I can and some I can't... i only have a 3" B/L, so mine isn't real high. I can get far enough in to work on the engine and change oil though.

 

[DirtDemon85]

FONT=century gothic]I have an '01 Sport and i want to install a light bar, i do have a roof rack, but i also have a sun roof, should i put the lights behind the sunroof or right over the damn thing, there is the fact that any drilling could damage the sunroof, but i think it looks kind of week all the way behind the sunroof, Any Ideas, or opinions welcomed![/FONT]

 

[swak6287]

for those of u with 4 or more lights, how is the wiring done? i have 4 and no wires. can someopne one guide me on wht i need, pretty pls? a diagram would be great. i think making it from scratch is better then buying a 25 dollar kit.

 

[94ZebraRanger]

I also have my 6x9 KCs on my yakama rack bar. I just went to the bike sop an got another set of adapters and used a piece of 1/4 in steel to make extentions. no problems. I should also be able to mount the Cepek C-1000s in the middle. and still have room on the outside for other accessories.

Tim

 

[SplashMan]

Originally posted by 94ZebraRanger
I also have my 6x9 KCs on my yakama rack bar. I just went to the bike sop an got another set of adapters and used a piece of 1/4 in steel to make extentions. no problems. I should also be able to mount the Cepek C-1000s in the middle. and still have room on the outside for other accessories.

Tim

Well, I drilled a hole through my roof, but I don't recommend that. I do have the two outer lights wired together on a switch and the two inner ones wired together on a switch. All of the grounds run off the same line too. If you run a ground wire and a power wire back to the rear hatch then you can route the wire along the roof rack and you won't be able to see them.

 

[taxx]

Ya run them through the hatch. Also you can do it with a kit or without. Decide how you want them to come on. All four of mine are on one switch others such as splash have them on seperate. I would highly recomend running them to a relay. This way you can use any switch you want and run small wire to and from the switch and keep the large wire in the rear. I have 4 gauge coming from my battery to the jack storage hatch in the rear at a power distro box. My amps and my lights all then come off this. Lights are on a relay controlled by the switch and powered by the distro box. Fuse everything. To gauge the wire to run up to the top you need to determine the max amperage you will be pulling.

I = P/V (amps = power/voltage) power is the sum of the lights for example I have 100 watt bulbs x 4 = 400 watts divided by 12 to be on the safe side or 13 to be closer to what it will really be = about 33 amps. I matched this up with 8 gauge wire. for tips on wire size look at the chart here:
http://www.majorleagueduning.com/tech/techstuff/WireGauge.htm

not the greatest but a good judge.

I know this is a lot of info and overkill for most apps but I like to do things right the first time. once you decide what route you want to go I can answer any questions or draw a picture of what I have.... just let me know.

 

[AlaskanJack]

My wiring runs down the door pillar next to the front window and intothe grommet that the wires for the door switches. It then routes under dash to switches and through firewall. It is wrapped with blue flexy wire wrap and looks real clean.

It was this way when I got vehicle so I never bothered with it. I am adding 2 more lights when I change my bumper to an offroad one.

You can kinda see the blue coming off the Stealth light bar on the left and dissappear in this pic

Well it looks ok now that I look at a closer pic I found.

 

[swak6287]

the red wire sticking out from the bottom of the light to the nut, is that your ground for one of the light??

 

[AlaskanJack]

Like I said it was on when I bought it and haven't even messed with them.