Talk about your vehicle and vehicle upgrades here. Anza Borrego Off Road
New lights for Christmas
hikerdmb Posts: 423
12/31/2010
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I got some new auxillary lights for the DesertTJ and recruited my brother to help me do the install (honestly he did almost ALL of the work). I got one pair of 130 watt KC Daylighters to mount on the outer part of the front bumber. I installed a grommet on an existing hole in the fender to run the wiring into the engine compartment from these two lights.
I also got a pair of 130 watt KC Slimlights for my mirror relocation/ windshield bracket mounts. These are the long distance pencil beam style lights. Probably a bit over kill for the distance they shine compared with the speed of my jeep but I was worried about glare off the hood. In a test of these coming up the hill to my house there was no glare problem so I think I got the correct lights for this mounting location. We were able to lift the cowling below the windshield and run the lights down into the engine compartment.
The install took a little over 3 hours but I am quite happy with how it turned out. We used some 3/8" Split Flex Tubing to protect the wiring that was not protected in the KC wiring harness that came with the lights. You can see some of the new flex tube running along the upper part of the firewall leading to the battery.
We found an existing entry to get the wiring through the firewall and into the passenger area of the jeep.
I had to take off the center of the dash to get access to the spot where we would run the wires to the switches. We used an old coat hanger to fish the wiring through the firewall and then into the dash location for the switches.
Here is a close up of the finished switches.
And finally here are a couple pics taken in my driveway of the finished project. Notice the clean jeep. Hopefully it won't stay this way for too long.
And one pic of how it looked before the lights were installed, in the desert with a bit of dirt on it. This is at the top of the Diablo Drop Off.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
12/31/2010
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Pretty sweet looking..do you actually drive off road much at night though??
-- http://www.sefcik.com http://www.darensefcik.com http://www.carrizogorge.com
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hikerdmb Posts: 423
12/31/2010
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Only a few times in the past with the jeep but now I will. In my younger days I had a Nissan PU with a couple of lights on the front and they came in handy many many times. Leaving on a Friday night just got a lot easier for sure without having to worry about finding a place in the dark.
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1366
1/8/2011
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Those look great David. Nice professional job. On a side note what tires are you running on your jeep? Bob
-- https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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hikerdmb Posts: 423
1/9/2011
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Thanks Bob. Used the lights Friday and Saturday night this weekend. I will post a TR later.
The tires are Pro Comp 33 X 12.50 X 15.
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1366
1/10/2011
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Nice. Look forward to reading your trip report.
I have 15" rims also. Went with 10.5" wide BFG MTs to give the Land Cruiser that utilitarian/military look
-- https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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