Fawnbuster
Well-Known Member
Thanks! Yes that one is quite pricey.
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Fawnbuster
Well-Known Member
great write up! i understand why you went with a larger light, i am with you, i want the output but looks also. my only question is - did the original small light that you only installed one of, did that one have a bracket that bolted in easily? i am hesitant to epoxy mine in, i would prefer a bolt in style that wont break the bank. the ones in your link are out of stock. that site does have a black version of rough country that not bad price wise but cant advise if it fitsI figured I'd post this up here since I haven't actually seen anyone do this yet. Inspired by the SEMA rendering, I decided I wanted to put LEDs in the small slits in the bumper. I'm still not 100% sure why those are there anyways, my guess would be for some air flow during snow ingestion. In any case, I was prepared to give up that air flow to fill the space, but as it turns out, I still have plenty of air flow remaining.
I started this journey hoping I could slide something in from the front and have it be an easy-peasy add on, so I got the smallest LED bar I could find, measuring in at 1'' tall and 7'' long. Well, it turns out that the clearance is only 7/8'', so I had to go in from the back, and the hole through the insert is about 3/4''... So I had to tear out the insert. That was far from easy, though I don't think I did it the most straight forward way possible. There are 2 bolts and a locking tab that hold it in place. Removing the lower part of the bumper (4 10mm bolts, 5 push pins, and 8 hard-to-disengage clips) easily reveals the locking tab, and provides "access" to the inboard bolt. On my FX4, I had to remove the skid plate (4 15mm bolts) to gain access to the outboard bolt. Take the outboard bolt (10mm) out first. I HIGHLY recommend using an open box wrench for the inboard bolt. For some reason, my 10mm wrenches all seemed to wander off, so I was left using some flat reversible ratcheting gear wrench, you know the kind that if you put it on one way it ratchets tight, and the other way, it ratchets loose... And I managed to get my wrench stuck on the bolt - there's not quite enough clearance between the bumper and the bolt to get the bolt completely off, thus the recommendation for the open wrench (at least then you can maximize the space for the bolt). I spent over an hour messing with the J clip and prying the bolt before I finally got it off. The other side only took like 5 minutes to pry it and get it angled correctly since it didn't have a wrench in the way.
Once the insert was out, there's a ton more space in the cut out. Which is good because I was not satisfied with the performance the 7'' LED provided. It just didn't seem like it provided a ton of additional lighting, and while it looked cool on the truck, I actually wanted a functional light - I do quite a bit of late night driving in sparsely populated areas (unless we're counting wild life), and want to make use of better lighting.
7'' LED placed in the bumper.
Trial of 7'' LED with the headlights on.
Trial with 7'' LED (just the left one). Just the LED on.
But with the knowledge that I had more space to work with, I turned my attention back to amazon and ended up picking up a pair of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FXCHDFG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They are 10'', which is a bit longer than the opening (which is around 9''), and are 1.2'' tall, but that means that the light portion is about 1''. Overall, it is just about perfect for a recessed mounting.
With the skid plate off still, and the inserts removed, I couldn't find anything to use to attach the LED brackets to, so I decided to just try out JB Weld. So after test fitting it, I found the best orientation was to remove the bolt and JB weld the bracket directly to the backside of the bumper. I swapped the orientation of the outboard bracket, such that it was longer but didn't protrude forward as much, sanded the surfaces to rough up for a better JB bond, and then gently placed them and held the first one in place for about twenty minutes of so... before my hand started to numb and there was no indication of the JB hardening. Soo... I scrounged around my garage for something to hold the lights in place, and came across the flexible reusable twist tie type things my mother in law bought me for Christmas a couple years ago (which work great on electrical cords btw). I managed to wrap two around either edge, behind the light and then out through the slit in the bumper to hold the light in position with pressure. Turns out these were the perfect tool for the job, as it also allowed me to adjust both lights and stand back and make sure they're symmetrical. And it held them in place not only while it dried, but overnight while it hardened.
The result:
Finished product with 10'' LED bar - the camera struggles with the light, it's not actually that bright/tall looking IRL.
Finished product with 10'' LED - daytime picture, which is much more representative of how it looks at night too, the camera can just handle the light a bit better during the day.
Finished product with 10'' LED turned off. Well, mostly finished, the twist ties are still holding it in place.
Finished product with 10'' LED - Just the LED turned on.
khyros
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #18
So I was confident on 2 things that I didn't want to do. 1) remove the bumper - I've seen how they put these on at the factory, and I'm confident that I'll never be able to get it back level and looking right, and 2) drill into anything that would be visible.
That second one really limited my options as there's basically nothing that I could see in that area that would allow me to attach to. Though over the past year, I've given some additional thought to the task, and might redo it (One joint keeps vibrating free, even though the other 3 have been fine since day one).
What I'm thinking is to remove that plastic insert, and dramatically cut it up, but install the light to the plastic insert, and then re-install that into the bumper. If you go this route, pretty much any light should work, since you'd be able to cut to fit. Looking at the Rough Country ones (which weren't available when I did my install) it looks like they use the mounting points for the plastic inserts themselves.
Sorry that it's not the answer you wanted, but hopefully it helps guide your decision.
Fawnbuster
Well-Known Member
No need to be sorry, I was looking for honest input and you provided just that. Shame they don't have a way of using spring loaded catches to push the wire in thru the hole, connect the wires and then snap the light into place. Before I make a purchase I will set down in front of the truck and look it over to see if they may have overlooked something. No doubt that the light makers wanted an attractive and cost effective solution that they didn't have to have a housing engineered to fit more precise.
I wonder if either stiff gauge aluminum bent to fit would work, with a vinyl washer between it and steel to stop corrosion. Or maybe some kydex cut or bent to fit. I have 8- 12"x12" sheets enroute to me now so I can make a few items, including a cell phone holder.
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