Building the light bar was only part of getting the lights mounted. In this chapter I’ll actually get to adding wire and protecting them from rocks.
In the wiring diagram post, I mentioned that I would be making the lights a switched negative system (with a constant positive) as long as the lights weren’t grounded through their attachment points. A quick check with the multimeter showed continuity between the mounting bolt and the negative wire on the middle spot light, but not the two outside lights. This could be easily fixed by disassembling the light.
In the above pic you can see a red wire and a black wire on the removed light. The red wire is untouched, but the black wire has been altered. It used to connect to the small tang at the bottom of the plastic light body, which grounded the light through the mounting bolts. This wire was removed and a bullet connector was put in its place, which allows the light to be removed from the body. You can also see the two wires fished up through the body with their corresponding connectors. Now the ground is isolated.
Since the other two lights are already isolated, it’s just a matter of adding wire. The connections are soldered, heat shrinked, and covered with split wire loom for protection and aesthetics. This is then secured to the light with riveted nylon p-clips.
When all the wires reach the end of the light bar, they are joined with the big 8-gauge wire that will connect to the car. It can be tricky to solder big wires, but I found a little trick that really helps. Temporarily securing the wires together with a small piece of galvanized wire keeps things together while soldering, then the wire can be removed and the connection is solid.
A micro-torch (rather than a soldering iron) really helps when soldering big wire.
Positive and negative connections are done and heat-shrunk, and the wires secured with zip ties and p-clamps.
The last thing to do is to add the big Anderson connector to the wires, but that should be done with the lights mounted on the car to ensure the wire length is correct.
While they were still on the bench I added some rock chip protection. I had some knock-off 3M protective film (or clear bra) left over from another project, so I cut some circles out of it the size of the lenses.
The middle light had some slightly raised lettering on it, requiring the film to be cut out around it.
The lenses were thoroughly cleaned and heated slightly with a hair dryer. When adding this film, a lubricant is needed to allow it to float over the surface being covered. I like to use foaming glass cleaner, but others use an alcohol/water or soap/water solution. A quick spray to the lens gets it set up, and the backing is peeled from the film.
The glass cleaner helps you float the film to the exact spot you want it, and is then pressed out the sides with your hands. You need to press out as much of the cleaner as you can, then heat the whole thing up with the hair dryer while pressing down the edges. The slightly convex nature of most light lenses makes it a bit tricky to avoid creases, but with heat and patience it can be done.
There are a few little spots in the film, but really you can barely tell it’s there, and it gives the lights a layer of protection.
With the lights protected, all that remains is to mount them on the car and finish the wire connections.
In the wiring diagram post, I mentioned that I would be making the lights a switched negative system (with a constant positive) as long as the lights weren’t grounded through their attachment points. A quick check with the multimeter showed continuity between the mounting bolt and the negative wire on the middle spot light, but not the two outside lights. This could be easily fixed by disassembling the light.
In the above pic you can see a red wire and a black wire on the removed light. The red wire is untouched, but the black wire has been altered. It used to connect to the small tang at the bottom of the plastic light body, which grounded the light through the mounting bolts. This wire was removed and a bullet connector was put in its place, which allows the light to be removed from the body. You can also see the two wires fished up through the body with their corresponding connectors. Now the ground is isolated.
Since the other two lights are already isolated, it’s just a matter of adding wire. The connections are soldered, heat shrinked, and covered with split wire loom for protection and aesthetics. This is then secured to the light with riveted nylon p-clips.
When all the wires reach the end of the light bar, they are joined with the big 8-gauge wire that will connect to the car. It can be tricky to solder big wires, but I found a little trick that really helps. Temporarily securing the wires together with a small piece of galvanized wire keeps things together while soldering, then the wire can be removed and the connection is solid.
A micro-torch (rather than a soldering iron) really helps when soldering big wire.
Positive and negative connections are done and heat-shrunk, and the wires secured with zip ties and p-clamps.
The last thing to do is to add the big Anderson connector to the wires, but that should be done with the lights mounted on the car to ensure the wire length is correct.
While they were still on the bench I added some rock chip protection. I had some knock-off 3M protective film (or clear bra) left over from another project, so I cut some circles out of it the size of the lenses.
The middle light had some slightly raised lettering on it, requiring the film to be cut out around it.
The lenses were thoroughly cleaned and heated slightly with a hair dryer. When adding this film, a lubricant is needed to allow it to float over the surface being covered. I like to use foaming glass cleaner, but others use an alcohol/water or soap/water solution. A quick spray to the lens gets it set up, and the backing is peeled from the film.
The glass cleaner helps you float the film to the exact spot you want it, and is then pressed out the sides with your hands. You need to press out as much of the cleaner as you can, then heat the whole thing up with the hair dryer while pressing down the edges. The slightly convex nature of most light lenses makes it a bit tricky to avoid creases, but with heat and patience it can be done.
There are a few little spots in the film, but really you can barely tell it’s there, and it gives the lights a layer of protection.
With the lights protected, all that remains is to mount them on the car and finish the wire connections.
- mounting the fog lights
- building the removable light bar
- wiring part 1: new bulbs in OEM foglight switches
- wiring part 2: the plan (wiring diagrams)
- wiring part 3: switches (more diagrams)
- wiring part 4: parts and pieces
- wiring part 5: under the dashboard
- wiring part 6: fuse and relay box
- wiring part 7: prepping the lights
- wiring part 8: final connections
- wiring part 9: aiming the lights
- wiring part 10: updates and fixes
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