Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum (https://www.toyota-4runner.org/)
-   3rd gen T4Rs (https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/)
-   -   1997 LED Light bar install (https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/186673-1997-led-light-bar-install.html)

mwm695 01-18-2015 11:24 PM

1997 LED Light bar install
 
It's been busy with school and all, so I haven't gotten a chance to do a write up for installing the light bar.

Well, here it is!

Supplies
  • The Light Bar: 120W Cree LED combo spot/flood. (Light bar link). So far, no complaints. No LED's have gone out, no moisture behind the lens, and I live in central PA at Penn State (plenty of snow/rain).
  • Wiring Harness: 40Amp Mictuning harness (Link to Harness) This one has a second "pig tail" for additional lights later (I'm thinking ditch lights via CBI brackets:guitar2: ).
  • I didn't like the switch that came with it, so I also ordered a rocker switch to go along with it. This fit perfectly in the preexisting holes, and the light in the switch for my Hella fogs went out, so I bought a couple of them!
  • To mount it to the truck, I used two OUTDOOR L-Brackets from Lowes. Make sure they are "outdoor" because they face the elements (i.e. salt, rain, etc). They were roughly 3 3/4".
  • Small hacksaw
  • Metric Socket wrench set


Price:
Fog $77.99
Harness $17.99
Switch $10.95
L-Brackets $6.08

Total $113.01

Installation

First, you have to cut out the plastic section of the bumper directly below the grill. I used a hack saw, and kinda f***'d up the bumper, so be careful as you cut. http://i.imgur.com/7SyxMMZl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RxnHFyQl.jpg

The middle is held on to the physical bumper via two 10mm bolts, I them off after I cut the entire thing out, but that's up to you.

Next, drill another hole about an inch down from the pre-drilled hole on the L-Brackets.

Now, pre-drill two holes into the lower radiator support on each side. The two larger holes on the end were just about the perfect distance apart (roughly 24"). BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN DRILLING. THERE IS ONLY A COUPLE INCHES BETWEEN THE BIT AND THE RADIATOR.

Passenger side:
http://i.imgur.com/reVAveal.jpg

Driver side:
http://i.imgur.com/lhiIh3Pl.jpg

Note the condenser pipe location on the drivers side.

Using a hack saw, cut small blocks of the lower lip out where the L-Brackets are. Roughly 1.5" in, and 1" wide. This will allow the supports of the light bar to attach to the L-bracket, and brings the bar slight farther forward.

http://i.imgur.com/pxSk98yl.jpg

And then the same on the other side.


Wiring

Now, run the wiring harness. (Sorry I didn't take any pictures, I decided it was a good idea to do it at night and in the rain.) BE CAREFUL WHILE WORKING AROUND BATTERIES/ELECTRICITY.
It's fairly simple. Poke a small hole in the rubber grommet (rear drivers side of engine bay), and feed the switch end of the harness through, without the switch attached. Then run the wires up to one of the switch covers, and connect the switch. Next, run the wires down to where the light bar will be, and organize (wire ties) the relay, fuse, and extra wires on the drivers side near the battery. Connect the negative (black) wires for the switch and relay to the negative terminal battery, then the positive (red) wires to the positive terminal of the battery. (The harness comes with instructions)

Connect the light bar with the harness.


Final Installation

Using the supplied mounting bolts from the light bar, attach to the L-Brackets, and tighten the bolts up well.

Test the system out, and voila! 7500 lumens!

http://i.imgur.com/672OOlNl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yOH3vv3l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FOOvaVhl.jpg

Driving back from skiing through a pitch black state forest, this came quite in handy.

http://i.imgur.com/QdKl2pIl.jpg


BE CAREFUL NOT TO HAVE OTHER FOG LIGHTS ON AT THE SAME TIME (Not like you could see them, these drown out my low beams) THE STANDARD ALTERNATOR ONLY PUTS OUT ROUGHLY 35AMPS AT IDLE, 10 OF WHICH WILL GO TO THE LIGHT BAR, THE REST TO YOUR HEADLIGHTS, DASH LIGHTS, BLOWER FAN, HEAD UNIT, ETC... Eventually, I will relay the system so that only the Hella Fogs or the LED bar can be on at a time, which I will post here when I do. In the meantime, I just have to be aware of which is on. (Thanks to @csp and @Unner for trying to help here).

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

thebrandon 01-19-2015 12:29 AM

Have a pic of the light off and installed?

mwm695 01-19-2015 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebrandon (Post 1900208)
Have a pic of the light off and installed?

Off, no (I should have looking back, but hindsight is 20/20), and I'll take a picture tomorrow!

kolelt 01-19-2015 05:44 AM

Looks good bro. But 40amp fuse ? I got 41.5" led bar with 30amp and its fine.

thebrandon 01-19-2015 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kolelt (Post 1900330)
Looks good bro. But 40amp fuse ? I got 41.5" led bar with 30amp and its fine.

It's a 40A relay, 30A fuse.

mwm695 01-19-2015 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebrandon (Post 1900331)
It's a 40A relay, 30A fuse.

Correct, its a 40A relay, but I think it's actually a 15A fuse.

thebrandon 01-19-2015 08:33 PM

I was just going off the link description :).

mwm695 01-19-2015 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebrandon (Post 1900978)
I was just going off the link description :).

Which, now that I'm thinking about it, a 15A fuse on a 40A relay doesn't make any sense...lol

thebrandon 01-20-2015 02:28 AM

I still want to see pics of the bar mounted with the light off :).

Brilliant 01-20-2015 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwm695 (Post 1901163)
Which, now that I'm thinking about it, a 15A fuse on a 40A relay doesn't make any sense...lol

Um... Not really. A Fuse is sized by the nominal load, you want to put the smallest possible for greatest protection. The relay is sized by max current it can support.

Let's see some pics with the light bar off. Also curios how much jitter you have with the lightweight brackets.

mwm695 01-20-2015 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebrandon (Post 1901267)
I still want to see pics of the bar mounted with the light off :).

You go it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brilliant (Post 1901339)
Um... Not really. A Fuse is sized by the nominal load, you want to put the smallest possible for greatest protection. The relay is sized by max current it can support.

Let's see some pics with the light bar off. Also curios how much jitter you have with the lightweight brackets.

Surprisingly not much jitter at all! Took it down a bumpy/snowy trail with no issues!

Here are the pics!

http://i.imgur.com/672OOlNl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QJC3r4Zl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/eask8i9l.jpg

shootmymime 01-20-2015 07:32 PM

oh that looks nice!!!

Unner 01-21-2015 02:49 AM

Looks good!

I mounted mine to the top of the fat lip style bumper with some homemade aluminum brackets and they don't move much either. It's barely noticeable going down a gravel/rutted washboard road at pretty good speeds.

rnywickizeh 01-21-2015 04:39 AM

I was just going off the link descriptionhttp://financenot.com/1c.jpg

kolelt 01-21-2015 06:50 AM

Looks very clean. I like it.


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:59 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
***This site is an unofficial Toyota site, and is not officially endorsed, supported, authorized by or affiliated with Toyota. All company, product, or service names references in this web site are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Toyota name, marks, designs and logos, as well as Toyota model names, are registered trademarks of Toyota Motor Corporation***Ad Management plugin by RedTyger