Anyone got light bars/pods/etc?

[Skipper]

I searched for a while to find a good mount set-up for my light bar. I didn't want to mess with the grill and I didn't want to mount on bumper cause its a silly place for a light bar....more on that below. I ended up installing a backrack (Canadian made). These things are sweet for light mounts. I put my 20" Black Oak bar on the top and since the pic was taken I've installed 2 Black Oak pods on the flat bar facing backwards. The beauty of having the light bar up high on the rack - as opposed to having it on the bumper or in the grill - is that it throws light into the ditches and sides of road better. Especially for those in cold climates where you get snow banks in winter. My bar throws light right over the snowbanks so I can see the dang moose/deer coming.

I can post pics of the reverse light pods installed if anyone interested. Btw - I know Rigid is top-notch, but Black Oak LED is one of the best and reasonably priced IMO. I wasted money on several cheaper bars and nothing compares to these. I had this bar on my 03 Dakota. I missed a turn one night on an icy road and smoked a guardrail. The bar snapped off and was thrown like 50ft into the bush. Check out the broken mounts on the bumper in the pic of the Dakota. I dug through the snow, found it without a scratch on it and it works perfect. Amazing this light bar survived that collision. However, I learned my lesson and its why I don't mount light bars on bumpers....

 

[REBEL 2.0]

I searched for a while to find a good mount set-up for my light bar. I didn't want to mess with the grill and I didn't want to mount on bumper cause its a silly place for a light bar....more on that below. I ended up installing a backrack (Canadian made). These things are sweet for light mounts. I put my 20" Black Oak bar on the top and since the pic was taken I've installed 2 Black Oak pods on the flat bar facing backwards. The beauty of having the light bar up high on the rack - as opposed to having it on the bumper or in the grill - is that it throws light into the ditches and sides of road better. Especially for those in cold climates where you get snow banks in winter. My bar throws light right over the snowbanks so I can see the dang moose/deer coming.

I can post pics of the reverse light pods installed if anyone interested. Btw - I know Rigid is top-notch, but Black Oak LED is one of the best and reasonably priced IMO. I wasted money on several cheaper bars and nothing compares to these. I had this bar on my 03 Dakota. I missed a turn one night on an icy road and smoked a guardrail. The bar snapped off and was thrown like 50ft into the bush. Check out the broken mounts on the bumper in the pic of the Dakota. I dug through the snow, found it without a scratch on it and it works perfect. Amazing this light bar survived that collision. However, I learned my lesson and its why I don't mount light bars on bumpers....

Sorry about your Dakota, I beat mine to death using it like a 3/4 ton on the farm R.I.P. Hey do you loose much light from reflection off your roof or hood ? It’s hard to get light hi enough to shine into the ditches. I built windshield brackets and mounted pods but they reflect quite a bit on black hood. Here we dodge moose,deer and elk on a 13 mile trip to town!

 

[Skipper]

Yeah Dakota did me well until the crash....it is actually still running. I had the front end rebuilt with another one from a junk yard. I still use her to plow snow with a little snowbear plow on it....almost 300K. It still goes on the odd fishing and hunting trip, but the exhaust manifold gasket is gone so she sounds loud as hell. LOL. My wife wont ride in it anymore.

As far as reflection goes, I don't notice much light loss. The light mainly beams across the roof surface in a straight line and is up high enough to hit ditches for sure. The bar sits about 2 inches higher than the roof so the backrack design is perfect....I know they make them specifically for each truck so the engineers got the height right. The only thing it does is leave a bit of a shadow directly in front, but your main headlights and fog lights fill that shadow in. Pic of last road kill moose I picked on hwy....a transport hit the head and the whole body was mint. In the freezer she went

 

[REBEL 2.0]

Yeah Dakota did me well until the crash....it is actually still running. I had the front end rebuilt with another one from a junk yard. I still use her to plow snow with a little snowbear plow on it....almost 300K. It still goes on the odd fishing and hunting trip, but the exhaust manifold gasket is gone so she sounds loud as hell. LOL. My wife wont ride in it anymore.

As far as reflection goes, I don't notice much light loss. The light mainly beams across the roof surface in a straight line and is up high enough to hit ditches for sure. The bar sits about 2 inches higher than the roof so the backrack design is perfect....I know they make them specifically for each truck so the engineers got the height right. The only thing it does is leave a bit of a shadow directly in front, but your main headlights and fog lights fill that shadow in. Pic of last road kill moose I picked on hwy....a transport hit the head and the whole body was mint. In the freezer she went

Thx. Waste not want not. Did you have the bar and rails on your Dakota since new, have not seen them in a long time! Cool

 

[ramButz]

Because of the active shutters it didn’t give me many options on the grill. Couldn’t cut a big lightbar into the grill. I opted to use some stainless zip ties to hold onto the outside of the grill. I figured if I didn’t like it after living with it for a while I could remove it super easy without having cut anything. I also put two 7” lights mounted on a license plate bracket/bull bar. For the rear I mounted the same 20” lightbar under my rear hitch, also using steel zips. Ran harnesses and switches. Pics below. Specs in my signature.

"patsy"thats a great idea .im taking my truck in next week for that i will show the installer this

i really did like you said

 

[ramButz]

Because of the active shutters it didn’t give me many options on the grill. Couldn’t cut a big lightbar into the grill. I opted to use some stainless zip ties to hold onto the outside of the grill. I figured if I didn’t like it after living with it for a while I could remove it super easy without having cut anything. I also put two 7” lights mounted on a license plate bracket/bull bar. For the rear I mounted the same 20” lightbar under my rear hitch, also using steel zips. Ran harnesses and switches. Pics below. Specs in my signature.

have your started messing with your front sensors?my did.it got so bad i had to take them off till i get to the dealership for a "Diagnostic" test let you know how it turns out!

 

[Patsy1099]

have your started messing with your front sensors?my did.it got so bad i had to take them off till i get to the dealership for a "Diagnostic" test let you know how it turns out!

I’ve been having trouble with my front and rear sensors but unrelated to the lights. I had the issue before the lights. I just got the truck back yesterday and they supposed replaced/adjusted some sensors, replaced the module for rear brake assist, and did some software update. It’s only been a day so I’m not sure if it’s fixed yet.

Did your lights cause the sensors to go off as soon as you installed them? Is it sporadic? If it’s the lights I would think it should be constant, since they either see the lights as an obstruction or they don’t?

 

[ramButz]

I’ve been having trouble with my front and rear sensors but unrelated to the lights. I had the issue before the lights. I just got the truck back yesterday and they supposed replaced/adjusted some sensors, replaced the module for rear brake assist, and did some software update. It’s only been a day so I’m not sure if it’s fixed yet.

Did your lights cause the sensors to go off as soon as you installed them? Is it sporadic? If it’s the lights I would think it should be constant, since they either see the lights as an obstruction or they don’t?

hey that might be whats wrong with my also.as for the "warning light"it just happen.IMHO i think it is just bad timing.its not the first time that happen

 

[Patsy1099]

hey that might be whats wrong with my also.as for the "warning light"it just happen.IMHO i think it is just bad timing.its not the first time that happen

That’s what happened to me. Of course the mechanics thought it was the lights, which I don’t blame them for thinking that. I explained that I had this problem intermittently before the lights were installed and it’s only gotten worse. The other message I would get a lot was “wipe sensor”, for both the front and rear. That would have nothing to do with an instruction. That message seems to have gone away since the weather warmed up. Maybe it was temperature related?? Anyway I’m not even clear on what they did exactly. Readjusted the sensors. Played with the wires. Replaced a module in the rear. Updated “software”. So I will drive it for a while and see what happens. Fingers crossed.

 

[ramButz]

That’s what happened to me. Of course the mechanics thought it was the lights, which I don’t blame them for thinking that. I explained that I had this problem intermittently before the lights were installed and it’s only gotten worse. The other message I would get a lot was “wipe sensor”, for both the front and rear. That would have nothing to do with an instruction. That message seems to have gone away since the weather warmed up. Maybe it was temperature related?? Anyway I’m not even clear on what they did exactly. Readjusted the sensors. Played with the wires. Replaced a module in the rear. Updated “software”. So I will drive it for a while and see what happens. Fingers crossed.

"WipeSensor"???.......YEA!!!!!! it seems to be a pattern.any time those sensor start to go "Haywire".that little message seems to appear.getting it tended to next week

 

[Blee2221]

My lights and controller installed in my truck.

 

[NorthCountryEvo]

Finally had time to put mine in!

Dig your setup, and honestly I hadn't planned on adding any light bars, but after seeing your pictures of the light bar behind the lower grille I got really interested. My '19 rebel doesn't have the parking sensors, so i'm not sure if it's any different, but did you have a plastic "cover" of sorts behind that lower grille? How/ what did you use to mount that lower light bar? Run into any issues?

Looking at my truck and that "cover" it doesn't seem to have much purpose or necessity, not does it look difficult to remove, so i'm probably going to try and take it off tomorrow to see if there would be any issues and if everything goes as planned I'll probably have a light bar ordered by the end of the day.

 

[RamRebelSteel]

Dig your setup, and honestly I hadn't planned on adding any light bars, but after seeing your pictures of the light bar behind the lower grille I got really interested. My '19 rebel doesn't have the parking sensors, so i'm not sure if it's any different, but did you have a plastic "cover" of sorts behind that lower grille? How/ what did you use to mount that lower light bar? Run into any issues?

Looking at my truck and that "cover" it doesn't seem to have much purpose or necessity, not does it look difficult to remove, so i'm probably going to try and take it off tomorrow to see if there would be any issues and if everything goes as planned I'll probably have a light bar ordered by the end of the day.

Yours should be the same and yes it had a plastic cover and it comes off easy. No tools needed. The biggest double row led bar is going to be a 32". All you need is some steel 1/8 sheet metal, a drill and some nuts and bolts to attach the light bar to the steel peice behind the lower grill

 

[NorthCountryEvo]

Yours should be the same and yes it had a plastic cover and it comes off easy. No tools needed. The biggest double row led bar is going to be a 32". All you need is some steel 1/8 sheet metal, a drill and some nuts and bolts to attach the light bar to the steel peice behind the lower grill

Thanks for the response!
No tools needed? I only did a quick look yesterday, but it seemed like there was 6+ nuts holding that plastic piece in place on the top and some clips on the underside.

EDIT: Okay, nevermind on that plastic piece, I just went outside and pulled it off, haha. Appreciate all the help!

 

[RamRebelSteel]

Thanks for the response!
No tools needed? I only did a quick look yesterday, but it seemed like there was 6+ nuts holding that plastic piece in place on the top and some clips on the underside.

EDIT: Okay, nevermind on that plastic piece, I just went outside and pulled it off, haha. Appreciate all the help!

Yea i thought the nuts were part of it lol till I started wiggling the plastic around and saw it's not. Now comes the fun part...creativity

 

[NorthCountryEvo]

So, for anyone interested, I installed a 30" curved rough country light bar behind the lower grille this last weekend. Overall, very simple, just had to fabricate some simple mounts, but what is most impressive to me is that the curve on the light bar is nearly perfect... and I mean nearly identical to the curve of the front bumper and that grille, so much so that I have it mounted flush behind that grille with only some 1/4" adhesive foam in between the bar and the grille. Looks super clean and inconspicuous, especially if you aren't a fan of having every day visible light bars.

 

[dorskh]

So, for anyone interested, I installed a 30" curved rough country light bar behind the lower grille this last weekend. Overall, very simple, just had to fabricate some simple mounts, but what is most impressive to me is that the curve on the light bar is nearly perfect... and I mean nearly identical to the curve of the front bumper and that grille, so much so that I have it mounted flush behind that grille with only some 1/4" adhesive foam in between the bar and the grille. Looks super clean and inconspicuous, especially if you aren't a fan of having every day visible light bars.

What did you do for brackets to mount it back there? Any pictures? I need to install mine asap

 

[TruckDriver]

bumper image

Hey sir that's a nice license plate light bar- happen to have other angles of photos? I have the same set of cubes and am debating that mount location; I suppose it helps add some padding to the nose in case anyone backs up more than they need to

 

[NorthCountryEvo]

What did you do for brackets to mount it back there? Any pictures? I need to install mine asap

I'll try and get some pictures, as I don't have any right now. At the very least I can get some pictures from the outside shortly, but getting underneath to get pics of how I mounted it will be difficult since i'm at work.

For the mounts I used some 1/8th in aluminum to make a "shelf" of sorts to mount the lightbar onto, and then extended it off of some of the framework underneath with some stainless steel "L" brackets.

 

[NorthCountryEvo]

interesting

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, right?