I have a 2002 F150 XLT 4X4 Super Crew. I was looking into adding some off road lighting. There are few options to doing this, like adding lights to my bull bar on the front of my vehicle, adding roll bar in the bed with a light rack on that, or by adding a KC roof mouth light rack. Ive considered all of those possibilities, but I was looking into something different.

This is where I would need your suggestions, comments and so on. I was looking into buying the Jeep Liberty Mopar light bar that is on the Jeep Liberty renegades. I know this is mopar and it goes against being a Ford, but the styling is real cool and it would look nice on my truck. What do you guys think??

 

the liberty is alot narrower than your truck. it would look goofy. the curves of the roof are also going to be a problem. it won't line up.

 

How many lights you looking to put on there? You only really need two and I would mount them on the bumper. People who put more then two lights on are usually for show or they really need them because they are high speed offroading at night ie. Baja racing.

 

I would either get a set of roll bars or show bars and then mount lights on those. Don't forget about that bull bar though. It will complement a good pair of KC daylighters.

 

jessfactor is right, it would look goofy. Totally different size than your truck, scrap idea!

 

I have tried putting KC daylighters on my bull bar and it says it fits 6" lights but the 6" lights I bought are like 6" 1/4 or something and they don't fit. I haven't been able to find any good 5" lights to fit my bull bar.

I was trying to look for an original idea for lights on the top. A roll bar is nice but I find it common and I don't like the light racks that I have found for my truck.

Parks911, which showbars are you referring to?

 

I have found that off road lights work best on the front bumper. I had some KC's on the roof of my Bronco, up near the front of the roof, and when it rains, the lights just light up the falling rain in front of the windshield and are usless. When it's very dusty, they light up the dust in front of the windshield and are of little use. On a clear night, they work ok, but there is still a glare off the hood that you dont get when the lights are mounted in the front. The one thing they do best is give an excellent view of the hood at night.

I suppose if you mounted them back by the back of the cab, the cab would cast a shadow over the hood and at least the glare would be gone. My friend has a dune buggy with lights on the front beam and another pair on the windshield uprights. When it is very dusty, he turns off the windshield pair so he can see through the dust. I've heard other buggy drivers saying similar things about thier lights mounted in that position. On my buggy I put them on the front bumper and they worked great. The ones I had on the front bumper of the Bronco worked great too, much better than the headlights.

As for running multiple pairs of lights, it takes alot of juice to run them and not drain your battery. I got stuck a few miles from anywhere one night when I went 4 wheeling in the Bronco after having installed 2 pairs of high-watt KC's and running them both at the same time, then stopping. It was a looong walk to the nearest highway...

 

If you've got patience and some talent, why not modify the grille and mount them at each side of it...flush with your front end? Just be careful not to place them behind the bull bar. Done well, this looks like it might be stock, yet it isn't, and puts the lights at the level of your headlamps, so the field of vision feels normal but brighter to the driver instead of being a harsh, un-natural change in the way shadows are cast, etc. More 'comfy', so to speak, and definitely less common.

Just my .02

John

 

What do you mean by mounting it to each side of the grille? Like have the lights basically mounted to the grill on each side?

 

Show bars are very identicle to roll bars.

They do not have the strength or mounting points that roll bars have but they look good none the less. Most show bars are chrome plated.

 

I mean modify the grille so that the face of the lights is flush with the face of the grille...sink them in, so to speak. You will probably have to be real creative to get them mounted in place. Making it look good means choosing lights that will work WITH the trucks styling rather than against it...unless you don't care about asthetics- then just grab a saw and a pair of 7" lights and go for it.


John

 

Togaduke,


I just did a quickie photo-edit to show you the general idea I meant. See it at:
http://www.javelinamx.com/temp/F150-edit.jpg

John