Where is the best place to mount an LED light bar?
600mm wide bar, spot flood combo.
Both for open road driving and well formed 4x4 tracks
The vehicle that's getting the light bar:
Attachment 197378
Printable View
Where is the best place to mount an LED light bar?
600mm wide bar, spot flood combo.
Both for open road driving and well formed 4x4 tracks
The vehicle that's getting the light bar:
Attachment 197378
I’ve got mine, ranger, mounted on the top of the bull bar, used thread inserts into the bar. Mine is hooked up to the dip switch,with an interior isolating switch.
Around town I can just normal hi beam.
However this is illegal, they are not allowed to work on the dip switch. Must have a seperate switch all together.
if you go roof...it will have to be way back so doesnt hit bonnet so bugger all use up close...personally just above the number plate would be best option unless you can put it on bonnet out of line of sight and not interfere with air intake...the flat below/infront of suzuki badge probably best of all.
Either right up the front on the bumpers or go right back the bar on your tray, might loose a bit of light but you won't get glare off the bonnet. Easy to mount there as well
Slight aside, I saw a truck the other day with 2 smaller bars mounted diagonally (forming a v pointing at the centre of the front of the truck) across the roof to give a lot more light out the sides
Run mine on top of winch bar it’s a good spot to have it as far as providing good light and no reflections off anything which often happens if they’re mounted on top of a bull bar or the roof etc but the downfall is it gets real dirty and this affects how much light it throws out so need to get out and give it a wipe sometimes
Attachment 197380
Couple of different ways to look at this.
Firstly if you need extra illumination then take a look at the maximum lumens you can get out of your existing headlights. There are some aftermarket kits available to seriously boost full beam power. Do you have to be careful of any rules that might apply.
If you are travelling gravel roads frequently and simply mount a light bar onto the plastic bumper then you will end up flogging out the holes and having problems. I have seen a plastic bumper ute that didn’t have a bullbar, with a decent sized light bar fitted using a simple frame running along the underside (inside) the bumper. Such that the mounting bolts were pulling up onto the metal frame and not onto the plastic. I don’t know how long it lasted.
You really do not want the lightbar to be the front-most part of the vehicle. This is to be avoided at all costs!
In the absence of any bar work on the front of the vehicle, which would solve your problem in a heartbeat, I would fit a single Rhino rack type bar on the roof and fit the light bar on that. I don’t know what roof rack mounting options there are on the Suzuki but usually it’s pretty straightforward.
Whatever you do It must be capable of dealing with vibration which is always more than you think.
As a single light it's a work light not driving light so has some difference in rules for switch, a pair of lights is easier in terms of rules for switch
I have a cunning plan around that. Possibly throwing a couple of wee 3" flood lights on the top bar of the tray. On a fire truck we call them letterbox lights, if I go down that road they would be wired as work lights. Easier to keep it legal that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by 223nut
That would be the ticket. Just need to find a steel bumper/bull bar haha.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst
Some valuable information there thank you!Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyblown
Good point with dealing with the vibration, the bumper is pretty soft plastic so would need some reinforcing if I mounted it there.
Will do a couple of trials with mounting high and on the bumper so see where will work the best and fabricate something from there.
you could do worse than try it next to your flashing light already there...if it high enough to shine down without hitting bonet you will get best angle of light and will throw further.... its a balancing act,to get maximum throw without getting relections to destroy its good. you will already know where the flasher throws (my beakons on sower truck on roof hit inside of the sunshade,luckily not enough to be a pain but enough to know its on) its light to and if it hits bonnet.
Yup the beacon is mounted high enough there is no light spill on the bonnet. I'm glad the switch for it has an indicator light, makes it easier to tell if it's going or not from inside.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
just be bloody careful what bar you buy, most are crap.
trust me i repair the damn things on and off as some as you know
Fitted mind behind the plastic grille. Seperate switch on the dash, all legal with WOF over the last 2 years since fitted. Waterproof led bar - though can't remember the brand. Seems to be surviving river crossings with no water ingress that i have seen. Like mentioned above, light bars have a habit of reflecting off the bonnett if you don't set them up correctly.
Attachment 197404
I would be trying it up on the roof. mounted right up front by the top of the windscreen.
Make a simple panel steel shade to keep any light off the bonnet.
Best spot I reckon. the lower it is, the more it cast shadows over bumps etc, which is a pain in the arse.
I have just had one fitted yesterday. fitted on nudge bar so semi easy decision
I was recommended Stedi brand, they come with wire harness and switch. Stedi have piggy back plugs for different utes as well. Also different switches to fit factory holes.
Also good warranty
ive played around with many different positions over the years and i prefer them high as possible. mounted top front of the bonnet or roof mounted are my preferences. I rather like to have a 100%spot beam and if you want floods have these as seperate lights mounted low on the from bull bar etc...
Attachment 197665
I set this one up between my bullbar posts and has worked really well . It’s the third stedi lightbar I’ve had any they’ve all been bloody good. I found it’s best to get their wiring kit and then redo the wiring with better/thicker wire and heat shrink . The previous model hilus was in the same place and the 03 non turbo has one in same place but is susceptible to vibrations from the motor if not mounted well , I used tractor tube under the brackets to help with the vibration.
Genuine question and not being smart, why do you think the wiring needs upgrading? Surely the guys at stedi have figured out all that sort of thing? Almost defeats the purpose of buying their wiring kit apart from connectors etc
Their wiring kit is pretty average but it provides all the connectors and is quick to install and get working. Their products are very reasonably priced and you’ll see how flimsy the wiring kit is if you order one.
I had a light bar mounted in the grille on a Ranger
Worked really well and easy to fit
Still have the bracket and light if someone keen on it
Attachment 199302
How do you run the cable for the guys who mount them on the front roofrack above the front doors?
For those too young to have seen this the first time around.....
Ended up just bolting it on the bonnet. In front of the fake air scoop on 12mm rubber to help give some vibration isolation.
Attachment 201752
Light bar well protected on bullbars,really lights up the river beds.Only runs on high beam on main head lights.Can be independently switched off from main lights,switch on dash.Took my son n law and i about a hour to fit.Attachment 202383
I thought on the roof was illegal to use on the road.
I have mine mounted on the roof, separate switch, WOF passed as a work light. WOF centre told me its illegal to use them on open road.
Right enough, mine is 200w, so I pick up road signs at 2km and white lines out to 1km.
Figure of speech - yes illegal for road use hence switch is fitted seperate from car lights. Led bars and spot lights and are for 'off road' use not highway use otherwise you will blind the hell out of other drivers far worst than high beam setting. Though saying that, no doubt some people are using there led's on roads when they shouldn't. The whole purpose of fitting them is for greater visibility for off road to see what obstacles are in front of you that your normal head lights can't see.
I believe you can run 2 individual spot (driving) lights activated by your high beam however you cannot run a lightbar using the same method. At least thats what the WOF guys said. A light bar is apparently considered a work light.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunteast
Unless you run two lightbars side by side - as apparently the definition in the rules is that there must be two light units spaced similarly to get the tick. Similarly to fog lights - must be two, one each side blah blah. Apparently difference between fog and driving is that fog are only to be used when conditions dictate as fog lights can't be wired into the high beam circuit as they won't operate in fog where you are meant to be on dip only...
The other gotcha is apparently multi-element light units like LED's can't be retrofitted unless they are an approved OEM part - although I have not heard of anyone getting pinged for the headlight bulb replacement chip-on-board LED's if they are set right.
I've done away with the light bar, 2 spots for distance when off road with 1 pointing up a bit and the other down
Can actually see up the hill your driving up not just the bottom of it. Also another pair of "spreading lights" pointing off to the sides so you can see round the corner before you hit it (also come in handy when looking for animals on the sides of the roads)
