Sorry if this is in the wrong place.
I have a 2001 F250 SD that im looking to put some auxiliary lights somewhere in the front, ive seen the tow hook mounts and i personally dont care for them. So i was thinking of alternative places to put some lights. Im looking to use the lights as trail lights just so i have a bit more oomph without replacing the headlights, buying a new bumper or bull bar.
I've noticed that in the stock factory grill for the 01 f250's there a meshed side vent right before the headlights. would there be a possibility of cutting/fabricating a hole or mount there for the lights or is there a specific reason for those?
Would do LED or Halogen square lights

Heres what im talking about:



Grill vents, cut them out for lights?





Close up of grill vent

 

I wouldn't see why you couldn't. I'm not sure what the back of the grill and supports look like on either side of that.

The biggest issue I see to that location would be the mounting of the lights and subsequent light output.

Most likely the lights would be mounted sideways, and unless it's some sort of spot light or pencil beam, the pattern will probably scatter more on the vertical axis than you might have wanted.

 

I went through this very process with a recent installation of running lights. I found that the surfaces on the sides of the vent openings are curved, not flat. The mesh area, while flat is not very sturdy. It would require some sort of backing to support the lights.

I ended up mounting my running lights on the outer ends of the top horizontal bar in the grille. To do so does require removal of the grille, but that is no major deal.

 

I saw some 4-5" LED DRL light strips the other day on Xtralights website, they should fit inside those grill holes...

 

Thanks for the responses guys! theres not too much in the way of support or backing and the point about the light scattering got me thinking of differnt places to mount the lights. Thanks again and ill check those out Luke.

 

I had the same idea on my 2000. I ended up getting some low profile lights and centered them in the grill on each side of the Ford logo. The problem I found in the vent was the lenses were designed to be horizontal, unless you find a square light, which I did not want. I am really satisfied on the light output. Can send you a picture if you want.

 

I have seen a couple of trucks where the owner simply mounted the appropriate length LED bar vertically. It probably took a little trial and error at night to adjust them before drilling to find the best attitude but they looked pretty good aesthetically.

 

pictures people...pictures please.

 

Alright already!

 

Here is my DRL install on a 2002 F-250 XLT

 

Just mount a 32" led bar to the bumper. Plenty of oomph!

 

I know it's not a SD but the way I put a 32" light behind the grill should work. I didn't want it out front, I like it sort of hidden. The down side is that the higher you mount a light the better it will illuminate the ground.






The HIDextra 32" light on the bar

 

Or use three different lights with each centered behind the grill openings.

 

I wanted to get out cheap so I went with air craft landing lights

 

Also not a SD, but a light bar tucked in at the bottom of the Grill is a great location.