Well since I have been a member of FTE I have gained a lot of insight and benefited in many ways from the help of others. Now it' my turn to give something back.

Last week I took the family to the beach to watch the sunset and on the way back (in the dark of course) I realized just how poor the factory headlights on my truck are. I mentioned it to my wife and she agreed!

Needless to say, I soon had a set of auxiliary lights coming (nice find on Craigslist that my bro-in-law picked up on his way to visit us). This is no earth-shaking write-up, but it may help someone.

Before lights installed:





My high tech of showing where I wanted the lights mounted so they would shine through the lower/outer grille openings.





These are the lights I got on CL for only $45 (1/2 the price of new).





With the grille off I checked the lights for fit. Just right.





Then I measured the grille opening.





I then compared that to the area where the light would be mounted.





I then marked where I wanted the hole so the light would be back close to but not touching the radiator.





I then drilled it and mounted the light bracket using a plastic bushing under the bracket so the grille will slide in under the bracket. (You can see my Zoodad mod in the upper right).





I then mounted the light to check for clearance in the back. Just right!





I then slid the grille on and made sure the light was centered in the opening.





I then put a piece of tape on the grille and marked the center of the light.





I then removed the light and marked the back of the grille directly in back so the center-line of the light would be visible when I flipped the grille upside down.





I then removed the grille, flipped it over on the bench and drilled a 1" hole where the light would be mounted.





I then removed the rest of the plastic using side cutters.





And smoothed it up using a razor knife. This is where the grille will slide in around the light bracket mounting bolt.





I then slid the grill in under the light bracket and double checked that I had notched the grille enough to clear the light mounting bolt.





Here it is with both lights installed.





And a side shot showing how the lights sit back inside the grille.




So now it's just a matter of running wires (I ran out of time tonight).

Next is 2004 headlights and turn signals!