LED Light bar questions

[Chaitanya D]

6 hours ago, Christian Andras said:

Thanks for this suggestion!!! Where would I find that kind of shop?? I saw (I think) @Chaitanya had one of those...

I did the rexin cover with velcro straps in Sharjah - some seat cover shop for 25 AED. Have wound a rope over the rexin cover which kind of diffuses the air, sound is less and like a whistle or whoosh. But it will be audible as you speed up especially over 80 kmph.

PC- @Thomas Varghese

I have kind of got used to this . The noise will further reduce (hopefully) if you can block the small gap between the roof and the light bar.

[Chaitanya D]

Has anyone tried if it is possible to mount a led bar in the FJ hood where there is a plastic insert as in the green arrows below pic (probably only cosmetic)

It would be a nice concealed way (without the sound effects of a roof mounted led bar) to attach your lights on a FJ if anyone is interested . 

@Niki Patel, @Christian Andras, @Ashok chaturvedi, @Ale Vallecchi, @topgear, @marks, @Heisem.., @Junaid120120, @Ahab Shamaa  @Pmaraziti  @Pierre de Maigret.and other FJ owners .

 

 

[Ale Vallecchi]

1 minute ago, Chaitanya D said:

Has anyone tried if it is possible to mount a led bar in the FJ hood where there is a plastic insert as in the green arrows below pic (probably only cosmetic)

It would be a nice concealed way (without the sound effects of a roof mounted led) to attach your lights on a FJ if anyone is interested . 

@Niki Patel, @Christian Andras, @Ashok chaturvedi, @Ale Vallecchi, @topgear, @marks, @Heisem.., @Junaid120120, @Ahab Shamaa , ..and other FJ owners .

 

 

@Chaitanya D I have been mulling the question of where to, eventually (you know I am slow on mods), attach a set of night lights on the FJ. The most advised solutions I have been given (particularly one from a garage which deals a great deal with FJs) is (in order of preference):

1) to mount two circular shaped lights inside/behind the radiator grill (with the Toyota sign), to the side of it;

2) have a light bar mounted externally (on a specially made metal bracket) on the top of the bumper;

3) mount a light bar inside the lower grill (moving the plate up) - may get damaged by hits on bumps;

Other solutions, require to have a special metal bumper made, on which front lights of any kind (round or bars) can be easily mounted.

Still thinking about it (while I specialize in torrid daytime drives) 😅

[Thomas Varghese]

When all of you are pondering over where to fix the extra lights on their cars I'm confused where to mount these extra headlights on my XTERRA. Its huge.  All 4 of them are arriving this Friday and I have not made up my mind where to fix them. They have 100/90 watt high beam/low beam and I'm pretty sure they will light up the night like the sun. I don't even know if the stock alternator can cope with such high amperage. 

[Thomas Varghese]

I don't want to mount them very high up in the roof top as it may blind others in front of me. Moreover it may hit loose or low installations in the roof when I park the car in basements. If I mount it in the front of the front grille it may reduce air flow to the radiator. Moreover fixing in the front will require more stronger brackets as these lights are heavy and will start to vibrate if its mounted on a weak bracket. The only good thing about these lights are they cost me only 40 AED a piece (160 AED for all 4 lights) including the bulbs and wiring harness and I have used them before when young and I know they are super bright. 

[Chaitanya D]

7 minutes ago, Pmaraziti said:

Don't compromise air intake in the engine, although FJ is hard to overheat. If I recall that grille is functional, so I'd not place anything there as any air flowing , for little it is, it's always better

Totally agree on this point especially,  with some personal experience after installing a winch on stock bumper (on my xterra)  which slightly alters/blocks the air flow.

Even this small block or alteration tends to keep your engine less cooled , not that it over heats all the time but definitely affects the airflow.

[Lawrence_Chehimi]

24 minutes ago, Thomas Varghese said:

I don't want to mount them very high up in the roof top as it may blind others in front of me. Moreover it may hit loose or low installations in the roof when I park the car in basements. If I mount it in the front of the front grille it may reduce air flow to the radiator. Moreover fixing in the front will require more stronger brackets as these lights are heavy and will start to vibrate if its mounted on a weak bracket. The only good thing about these lights are they cost me only 40 AED a piece (160 AED for all 4 lights) including the bulbs and wiring harness and I have used them before when young and I know they are super bright. 

@Thomas Vargheseas you mentioned, the problem with these halogen lights is their  size and current draw. A 100W halogen bulb will give you around 1000-1400 lumens, where as a very small LED light like a Baja squadron sport will give you around 3200 lumens at 25W, and their size is smaller than the installed OEM fog lights.. But they aren't cheap. You can also get a small 10" LED Bar from Baja that will give you 12000 lumens.. Not sure about other brands but I know that Baja designs are one of the best.

Edited April 19, 2021 by Lawrence_Chehimi

[Thomas Varghese]

6 minutes ago, Lawrence_Chehimi said:

@Thomas Vargheseas you mentioned, the problem with these halogen lights is their  size and current draw. A 100W halogen bulb will give you around 1000-1400 lumens, where as a very small LED light like a Baja squadron sport will give you around 3200 lumens at 25W, and their size is smaller than the installed OEM fog lights.. But they aren't cheap. You can also get a small 10" LED Bar from Baja that will give you 12000 lumens.. Not sure about other brands but I know that Baja designs are one of the best.

@Lawrence_Chehimi thanks for the advice and I totally agree. However spending a lot of money on something which I cannot use everyday on regular roads is not what I will do. For me getting some light from 160 AED lights plus the installation costs is much better than getting few more Lumens at 10 times that money. Who knows these lights will fall down when riding the dunes regularly. To tell you the truth my stock headlights are throwing much light with newly installed LED Bulbs and I am very satisfied with their performance at night in the desert. I bought these lights in case of emergency requirements and hopefully they will give the car a mean look. That is the whole idea. 

[Ashok chaturvedi]

1 hour ago, Chaitanya D said:

Has anyone tried if it is possible to mount a led bar in the FJ hood where there is a plastic insert as in the green arrows below pic (probably only cosmetic)

It would be a nice concealed way (without the sound effects of a roof mounted led bar) to attach your lights on a FJ if anyone is interested . 

@Niki Patel, @Christian Andras, @Ashok chaturvedi, @Ale Vallecchi, @topgear, @marks, @Heisem.., @Junaid120120, @Ahab Shamaa  @Pmaraziti  @Pierre de Maigret.and other FJ owners .

 

 

@Chaitanya D sir please send me the contact of garage... the wind sound is really irritating. I made a mistake to install it at top head (mast) and the eminent garage guy never told me the problem or the alternate sites.

[Varun Mehndiratta]

1 hour ago, Chaitanya D said:

Totally agree on this point especially,  with some personal experience after installing a winch on stock bumper (on my xterra)  which slightly alters/blocks the air flow.

Even this small block or alteration tends to keep your engine less cooled , not that it over heats all the time but definitely affects the airflow.

Hi @Chaitanya D that's why I suggested you to switch to Jeep when you switch...🙂

100 easy fixes for anything like this in Jeep.