Stowable 40" Light Bar Setup

[Riptonite]

Since we cover a fair amount of mile bombing around the woods of Vermont, I wanted more light up front. And by more, I mean height, width and reach.

I liked what some folks did with mounting a wide light bar in front of a stock crossbar because it addressed the vehicle attachment challenge, offers the possibility of easy removal and keeps the whole thing relatively low profile for aero, using the roof rack and bling purposes. After measuring the vehicle, I determined that I was looking for a single row bar no more than 40" wide.

Checking around the net, I found conflicting reviews of whether "high end" light bars (Rigid, Baja Designs, Diode Dynamics, etc.) threw a significantly better beam than cheap (<$200) ones. So I ordered a Rough Country 40" single row bar and a Baja Designs 40" ONX6 with the wide+driving combo beam figuring that one would go back. Long story somewhat shortened: the Rough Country bar threw a decent amount of light, but evenly everywhere so that far/center objects didn't get noticeably brighter and glare off near objects made visibility worse overall.

On the other hand, the ONX6 had less vertical scatter in close and spread the beam well with a very intense peak near the middle. It throws a truly crazy amount of light. Pics show high beams versus light bar on.

The brackets included with the ONX6 only work for mounting on or under a surface, not in front. I first tried an adapter to hang them from but by the time I got the height right, that looked kludgy and the bar jittered driving over bumps. So I made a set of stainless brackets to get them at the right height, sufficiently stiff and with some vertical beam adjustment range.

I routed wiring along the A-pillar and roof panel gaps and to an open circuit on my Trigger4+ remote control relays.

The resulting assembly is relatively heavy, but just barely fits in the frunk so I added a set of 3/8" U-bolts with fender washers to the back frunk wall so it clips in to the frunk just like the roof. There is still space for a full width of grocery bags. I made a dirt/ice cover for the exposed connector on the roof out of a spare mating connector.

It now goes on or off in about a minute and is always with us either for the illumination or to strap items to the roof.

I hope this inspires your projects and good luck with them!

Sponsored

 

[Iamuwere]

Well done.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

That IS inspiring. Nice design.

 

[citizen]

Great mods!!! Love the storage in the frunk.

 

[Chewy734]

Love this mod! Nice work!

 

[WhidbeyIsland]

Very clean install, I like the low profile. Can you provide any pics of the custom SS brackets that you made?

 

[beyondgravity]

Since we cover a fair amount of mile bombing around the woods of Vermont, I wanted more light up front. And by more, I mean height, width and reach.

I liked what some folks did with mounting a wide light bar in front of a stock crossbar because it addressed the vehicle attachment challenge, offers the possibility of easy removal and keeps the whole thing relatively low profile for aero, using the roof rack and bling purposes. After measuring the vehicle, I determined that I was looking for a single row bar no more than 40" wide.

Checking around the net, I found conflicting reviews of whether "high end" light bars (Rigid, Baja Designs, Diode Dynamics, etc.) threw a significantly better beam than cheap (<$200) ones. So I ordered a Rough Country 40" single row bar and a Baja Designs 40" ONX6 with the wide+driving combo beam figuring that one would go back. Long story somewhat shortened: the Rough Country bar threw a decent amount of light, but evenly everywhere so that far/center objects didn't get noticeably brighter and glare off near objects made visibility worse overall.

On the other hand, the ONX6 had less vertical scatter in close and spread the beam well with a very intense peak near the middle. It throws a truly crazy amount of light. Pics show high beams versus light bar on.

The brackets included with the ONX6 only work for mounting on or under a surface, not in front. I first tried an adapter to hang them from but by the time I got the height right, that looked kludgy and the bar jittered driving over bumps. So I made a set of stainless brackets to get them at the right height, sufficiently stiff and with some vertical beam adjustment range.

I routed wiring along the A-pillar and roof panel gaps and to an open circuit on my Trigger4+ remote control relays.

The resulting assembly is relatively heavy, but just barely fits in the frunk so I added a set of 3/8" U-bolts with fender washers to the back frunk wall so it clips in to the frunk just like the roof. There is still space for a full width of grocery bags. I made a dirt/ice cover for the exposed connector on the roof out of a spare mating connector.

It now goes on or off in about a minute and is always with us either for the illumination or to strap items to the roof.

I hope this inspires your projects and good luck with them!

Wow nice job! I wanted to do it; but it looks like Rivian might do it as part of R2. So my lazy ass decided to wait. Let’s see.

 

[IGR]

Very nice setup, it’s good to see more people do light upgrades.
How do you like your floodlights in the back? I purchased the same for my setup but didn’t get a chance to install them yet.

 

[seanocono]

This is awesome. Thanks for sharing. You also have scene lights on the back crossbar? Did you manage to run all that wiring along the roof gaps and down the A-pillar?

 

[RayzorBEV]

Since we cover a fair amount of mile bombing around the woods of Vermont, I wanted more light up front. And by more, I mean height, width and reach.

I liked what some folks did with mounting a wide light bar in front of a stock crossbar because it addressed the vehicle attachment challenge, offers the possibility of easy removal and keeps the whole thing relatively low profile for aero, using the roof rack and bling purposes. After measuring the vehicle, I determined that I was looking for a single row bar no more than 40" wide.

Checking around the net, I found conflicting reviews of whether "high end" light bars (Rigid, Baja Designs, Diode Dynamics, etc.) threw a significantly better beam than cheap (<$200) ones. So I ordered a Rough Country 40" single row bar and a Baja Designs 40" ONX6 with the wide+driving combo beam figuring that one would go back. Long story somewhat shortened: the Rough Country bar threw a decent amount of light, but evenly everywhere so that far/center objects didn't get noticeably brighter and glare off near objects made visibility worse overall.

On the other hand, the ONX6 had less vertical scatter in close and spread the beam well with a very intense peak near the middle. It throws a truly crazy amount of light. Pics show high beams versus light bar on.

The brackets included with the ONX6 only work for mounting on or under a surface, not in front. I first tried an adapter to hang them from but by the time I got the height right, that looked kludgy and the bar jittered driving over bumps. So I made a set of stainless brackets to get them at the right height, sufficiently stiff and with some vertical beam adjustment range.

I routed wiring along the A-pillar and roof panel gaps and to an open circuit on my Trigger4+ remote control relays.

The resulting assembly is relatively heavy, but just barely fits in the frunk so I added a set of 3/8" U-bolts with fender washers to the back frunk wall so it clips in to the frunk just like the roof. There is still space for a full width of grocery bags. I made a dirt/ice cover for the exposed connector on the roof out of a spare mating connector.

It now goes on or off in about a minute and is always with us either for the illumination or to strap items to the roof.

I hope this inspires your projects and good luck with them!

Looks like your finger is hold up that patch of snow on your bumper
Otherwise dope light bars

 

[Rexbo]

@Riptonite mind posting a pic of harness routing?

 

[Riptonite]

Looks like your finger is hold up that patch of snow on your bumper
Otherwise dope light bars

I will hold on to any snow I can!

 

[Riptonite]

Very clean install, I like the low profile. Can you provide any pics of the custom SS brackets that you made?

I used a profile tool across the top of the bar and traced it onto to steel, then carved it out with bandsaw and carbide bur. The rear light bolt hole is slotted for beam adjustment.
I put rubber grommets between brackets and the cross bar to minimize gouges over time and cut down stainless hardware to get the low-profile button head screws to work.

 

[Riptonite]

@Riptonite mind posting a pic of harness routing?

Wiring for both scene lights and bar route up the A pillar and alongside the roof glass. To get it all to fit with sufficient wire gauge, the scene light 16ga wires are in their own heat shrink sleeve and the bar light wires are separate black 12ga. In the pictures, I try to show how the trim attaches and how I routed wires to be out of sight.

 

[neocyn]

This is extremely well done. Thank you for sharing this in detail!

Sponsored