Light Bar And Mounting

Hey, any of you intermediates installed a 52" light bar on your rig? If so, where did you put it and where did you get your mounting brackets. I'd like to install mine on the top/front of the window frame but I really don't want to drill new holes for it. On my rig, I have two bolts about an inch apart about 3/4 way up on each side of the window frame, that appear to do/attach nothing. If I could find or fab a bracket that could use those bolts as a mount, that would be perfect.

Also, if you are interested... I purchased my 52" light bar off of Amazon for like $40 bucks. I know, laugh away, but I just got it in and this thing is very heavy and sturdy in nature. It looks like it is really well made and several hundred people have purchased and reviewed it positive on Amazon. I like good stuff, but I ain't paying $1500 bucks for a friggin light. This looked like a good way to try one out without breaking the bank. It's listed on Amazon as a WowNice Light Bar.

https://www.amazon.com/WoneNice-Dri...&qid=1468678508&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=wownice

At that price, you could blow one up every year for the next 20 years and not spend as much as some do on a light bar. Some of the folks, like me, were skeptical on whether it would be water tight... so they opened the case and put some clear RTV to ensure a water tight seal. That's probably what I'll do too. But this unit looks like it has some nice LED modules and it is heavy and not cheap feeling at all. Check it out.

-Troy

 

So you want to mount this above the windshield? I kinda wonder what the reasoning for lights above the windshield is. If I were thinking about auxiliary lights, that would not be my first choice.

Just wondering ... trying not to seem negative.

 

No not a negative comment at all. I just assumed being up higher would give me more options for aiming it at different levels in front of the Jeep. It has both a flood and spotlight capabilities. Also, up high it is probably less likely to get covered in mud making it ineffective or damaged by rocks/road debris while on the highway. A lot of folks put lights up on top of the windshield, and they even make custom mounts now that cover the entire windshield frame and mount to the hinge points, but those won't work on mine. The bar comes with a nice metal swivel mounts, but I'd have to hard mount it and drill holes. Also, if I mount it up top, i have to be mindful of the lip where the top attaches.

You had a 73 Tim, where would you put a 52" LED light bar if you were inclined?

-Troy

 

Years ago I wanted lights on my Samurai. We went out at night and temporally wired them and played with placement. it was interesting to see how much the terrain changed with placement. When they were down low, the holes in the road looked much deeper. When mounted up higher, the light shined down into the holes and the road looked much flatter. I thought the lower placement would give me a better chance of driving more slowly at night. So I went with lower.

another thing about the high placement I did not like is the light really lit up the front of the Sammy. The hood was brighter than during the day. It seemed distracting. When the lights were on the front, my focus was on the road, not so much on the hood.

As far as the original question, without drilling holes, I don't see any way to attach it. My vented windshield had plenty of holes to attach stuff to but not any of the intermediate or later windshields.

 

What lights do you have now? Have you bought the light bar?

 

your are probably going to have to make your own brackets and drill holes. most of the premade bolt on brackets i have seen normally bolt to the windshield hinge and run up alonge the frame. i dont think the wrangler brackets would work on a cj. the desert racing guys have been running their lights up high for decades so there has to be a good reason for it. probably not so much for low speed rock crawling as it is when they are going over 100mph in the desert at night.

 

Yeah, kind of figured I'd be welding up something, but just wanted make sure you guys hadn't found something out there that would fit/bolt on. I have searched quite a bit and come up nada. Maybe I could fab something and offer it as a product for sale.

Yeah, Tim, I already have the 52" light bar on the work bench. I have no other auxiliary lights on my Jeep at present.

-Troy

 

Check your local laws before you commit. Some states have a height limit.

Wasn't there a Jeep Liberty model that couldn't be sold in WV because of the light bar up top? Or something like that....

Edit: relevant thread - Jeep model is illegal in West Virginia?

 

Keep in mind the desert racers use the top lights as spots not floods. They are using them to see waaaayyyyy out in front to see upcoming obstacles. The ones mounted lower, as on the fronts may be a combination of floods and spots. At least to the racers I've discussed it with. They said, and It is the same as my personal experience, is anything on top that isn't a dedicated spot gives reflection issues on the front of the vehicle in the dark as said above.
The legality aspect mentioned is also something to consider. Some areas require off road type lights covered when driven on the street. Others cannot be mounted above a certain height.

 

They are using them to see waaaayyyyy out in front to see upcoming obstacles.

With that in mind, how do these perform, have you seen how they look at night? I used to run 4 KC dayliters, mounted on the bumper, (I also found that I got too much reflective light off the hood when mounted on the roof, maybe a darker color wouldn't be that bad)

Jay

 

I'm still thinking on how I'm going to mount it. I'll probably end up fabbing something that utilizes the 2 bolts, that do nothing, on each side of my window frame. My Jeep is flat black, so I think mounting up top shouldn't create any weird or distracting reflections off the hood.

-Troy

 

The specs on this thing say 10 - 30 volts, I wonder if it was hooked up to 24V if it would be brighter? maybe not much but any increase might be worth the $20 additional bucks for a 12-24V step up converter.

Jay