Light Setups and Discussion

krazykarpenter said:
Got 2 500FF's, never had any problems covers on or off. They are wired into the high beams (thanks to Dan for the help) and controlled by a switch inside so they are not always coming on with high beams, just when I want them to. 1/4inch aluminum hung off the front beam with 5.5inch bolts, barley any "dancing".

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I'm totally stealing this idea! I have a set of 500FF's to mount and I was thinking of building a custom bracket much more elaborate than this.... but I just thought to myself...... "Why"? This looks so simplistic and effective. I think I need to get thicker stock, but I really love this idea! Thanks for posting these pics!

 
that's the same setup I have, no bounce at all and simple to do!

I don't have a detailed picture, but here is what it looks like.

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Nice Ray. Does yours have pre-drilled holes in the bumper frame like the 06/07's have? That's the nice thing about my setup... I do not have to drill... just need to get 6" bolts (which I already have). I'm hoping to possibly do this next weekend! I think what I will do is paint the aluminum and clear it so that it is rustproof.

 
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I also put some rubber washers on the top and bottom of the bolts that go through the beam to abosrb some of the vibrations and so they don't clank or anything.

 
I finished cutting my flatiron the other night, and I got all my holes drilled in them as well. I just need to mount to the car and wire at this point. I'll try and take pics tonight and post what's done so far. My car is going into the bodyshop though Monday, and I don't think I'll have time to wire them over the weekend... so this will have to wait a bit before they are actually on and running unfortunately.

Update/Edit for pics: (Made from 1/8" flatiron aluminum stock. Sandwiched two pieces together, drilled, and ready for mounting). Seems to be quite sturdy, but won't really tell how much it's going to "dance" until I mount them. If they do dance too much, I'll go to a heavier steel stock. The strips were cut into 12" lengths. I bought a 48" piece, so it worked out perfectly... however my pieces are slightly off... no biggie to me though... its more function over looks. I don't even think I'm giong to paint them to be honest. It's not that important to me.

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2 Questions to Ray and KrazyKarpenter.

1) What was the length of your mount? I made mine 12" but that actually seems to stick the light out too far from the bumper... so I'm thinking of shaving an inch or so off.

2) Do you have issues with the mount pivoting? Since it is only bolted down by one hole/bolt, do you find them moving on you and not staying straight?

I tried doing a mock setup today, but my back still isn't good enough for bending/squatting/laying right now. Not to mention it's pretty cold out. I'll have to wait a bit longer before mounting them up.

 
Chris said:
It's Maine winter... cold is a bad excuse
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I normally wouldn't have a problem with this Chris, but I just got back to work (2nd week this past week) from 2 herniated discs and a pinched nerve. Been dealing with this since before Thanksgiving. I do not want to be on the ground, twisting, bending etc and throw my back out when I'm just starting to feel normal again! I could feel myself tensing up when I was out there from the cold so I did the right thing and came back inside. I'd throw out all of my progress made from PT, epidural injections, etc. Not worth it to me.

 
Ya I don't blame you for not wanting to lay on your back and work on stuff! Yikes, that sounds painful!

Bending over the engine bay is the worst. That pisses my back off even.

 
Yeah, that was starting to do it too Chris. It's because you most likely aren't bending your knees, but using them more as a fulcrum on the bumper... and that puts a lot of strain on your lower back. I was doing that too, and had to force myself to bend my knees. That completely changes the way your hips relate to your back and takes the pressure off... but I really need to start feeling 100% before I go out and work on things. It really does suck though, because I want to get these projects rolling since the winter hasn't really "arrived".

 
scubiecraig said:
2 Questions to Ray and KrazyKarpenter.

1) What was the length of your mount? I made mine 12" but that actually seems to stick the light out too far from the bumper... so I'm thinking of shaving an inch or so off.

2) Do you have issues with the mount pivoting? Since it is only bolted down by one hole/bolt, do you find them moving on you and not staying straight?

I tried doing a mock setup today, but my back still isn't good enough for bending/squatting/laying right now. Not to mention it's pretty cold out. I'll have to wait a bit longer before mounting them up.
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1.) As for the length, I would have to measure them. I cut the 48inch piece in half and drilled the first hole in the back and then mounted that to the car, and held the light up to where I wanted it and marked for the second hole and left about an inch in front of the hole as not to weaking the aluminum, my guess is it is about 10inchs, as the lights are only about 1/2-3/4iinches from the front of the car. **NOTE: I have about 3 washers between the bumper beam and the aluminum; otherwise the bracket hits and puts a lot of pressure on the front molding, so it needed to be dropped down a bit.

2.) I don't have a problem with them pivoting, the bumper beam is steel so just crank the bolts down and they will be fine.

If you have any other questions let me know.

 
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Thanks man. I didn't have any washers underneath the beam except a lockwasher. That makes sense though because I was noticing it was rubbing against the plastic of the bumper too. So, I'll put some extra washers down there and that should take care of it. I do think I'm going to shorten up the brackets a bit... mine sticks out about an inch too far for my liking.

 
I do not have issues with pivoting either. IDK how long my mounts were, but it sounds like krazykarpenter has your back there!

 
Im gonna have to do that ^

Mine are on a peice of truck bed coated angle iron I bolted to where the plate mounted. Too much dancing for my liking

 
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