Idea for LED bar placement.

[AnthonyZ28]

I'm looking into getting some type of led bar lighting from Olympus of road. But I'm having trouble on were it place it/them. I really don't want to spend more than 250$ on this. Here's a pic of the current setup.

 

[zachandandy]

Here's how I did mine, 32" 180W light bar.

With your winch in the way, I'd mount the bar to the header panel just above the grill. If you put it in the grill, airflow may be an issue. If you put it on the roof rack, glare of the hood woulp be horrible.

 

[CobraMarty]

I want to see more on your hidden winch. Could you start a new thread with tons of pics? How did you bolt it in? from the bottom? How much did you have to cut away from the stock frame cross member? How did you get the lever to the front? 'clocked' the end of the winch? What winch did you use? Do you think that it could fit with a stock bumper and bolt on front hitch?

 

[raneil]

Placing it up high will produce a better light pattern. I'd consider incorporating it into your roof rack. That's what I did with my reverse light bar, and I'm very pleased with the results.

Run the wires right through a hole in the roof. I've had good luck so far with one of these (I bought it here for less). But it's only been installed for a few weeks, and only tested at the car wash so far -- no rainstorms yet.

 

[AnthonyZ28]

Gahhh, I need lighting like that for these back roads... Will the glare really be that bad up top?

 

[raneil]

Gahhh, I need lighting like that for these back roads... Will the glare really be that bad up top?

What glare are you referring to?

 

[AnthonyZ28]

I've seen a few setups with the monster 40' ones up top. Since money's an issue right now, how about I get one 17' for now, and when I get more saved, i get another and space them equally up top? Only if the glare isnt bad.

 

[AnthonyZ28]

What glare are you referring to?

The glare on the hood, as one of the other posts stated.

 

[raneil]

The glare on the hood, as one of the other posts stated.

Oh. Must have missed that. Sorry.

Honestly, I haven't mounted lights up high on the front in years. But after my recent experience with the rear light bar, i just might. I think the key is to aim the lights so that they don't shine down on the hood but hit the ground out in front of the vehicle -- perhaps even out past the reach of your head lights.

Best thing might be to simply experiment once you get your light bar. Wire it up temporarily with leads long enough that you can move it around to different potential mounting locations to see which produces the results you prefer. That's what I did with mine on the rear.

 

[AnthonyZ28]

I'll see. I'll probably just order a 17' bar and mess around with it until I find something that works.

 

[xjwisconsin]

I've been kicking around painting the two raised panels on my hood with rustoleum flat back Bedliner to reduce glare. Might be an option for you if you are dead set on going to the roof. Also I would check your local laws. I know around here the police are not fond of catching you running around the street with lit roof lights.

 

[zachandandy]

It wouldn't be legal to drive anywhere on the street with a 32" lightbar lit.

 

[RockTracXJ]

I've had a variety of lights on my roof and have never had problems with hood glare.

 

[themauler]

I know around here the police are not fond of catching you running around the street with lit roof lights.

Thats why you post them down low. BTW one 6" on each side :scottm:

 

[AnthonyZ28]

I wasn't planning on driving on the street with this.. I'm using it for spotlighting wildlife and driving on gravel roads late at night so I can see deer, hogs, and etc.

 

[RockTracXJ]

Given that you have the lights on your bumper, it seems you have forward illumination taken care of. And unless the wildlife you're trying to see is hanging out on the road, you're going to need to see to the sides. I've found this setup works well, two floods and two diffused, pointed outish:

 

[AnthonyZ28]

Given that you have the lights on your bumper, it seems you have forward illumination taken care of. And unless the wildlife you're trying to see is hanging out on the road, you're going to need to see to the sides. I've found this setup works well, two floods and two diffused, pointed outish:

Instead of the bar, I might look into some lights for the roof rack, similar to the piaa lights on the bumper. The roof rack already has mounting points for lights up there. Just for ease of installation.

 

[RockTracXJ]

I've had fog lights up there, driving lights, and now these flood lights. I didn't like the fog and driving beam pattern for up there, I found I really wanted something that barfed light everywhere, hence the floods.

 

[AnthonyZ28]

That's pretty much what i'm looking for. I can't quite see your setup right now, the schools server blocked the site that hosted your picture.

 

[alex22]

Placing it up high will produce a better light pattern. I'd consider incorporating it into your roof rack. That's what I did with my reverse light bar, and I'm very pleased with the results.

Run the wires right through a hole in the roof. I've had good luck so far with one of these (I bought it here for less). But it's only been installed for a few weeks, and only tested at the car wash so far -- no rainstorms yet.

Nice, that's one of the many, many things on my list to do.

Here's my brother's light mounted on my jeep, working on his jeep. Its the 52" Vision X, hood glare was never an issue for me.