You rock! Thank you. :cheers: Since I only have a 22" bar, I'll need to drill into the center frame rail. I'm crossing my fingers removing my bumper isn't as bad of a task as it seems.
Behind grille light bar complete kits
- Thread starter SATSTRAIL
- Start date
You rock! Thank you. :cheers: Since I only have a 22" bar, I'll need to drill into the center frame rail. I'm crossing my fingers removing my bumper isn't as bad of a task as it seems.
[MENTION=165564]Atlas4R[/MENTION]
It's pretty easy.
My only advice would be, if you're alone, to unclip the fog lights first. Outside of that, it was pretty simple. You do need to pull a lot harder than I thought for the sides.
The write ups I found on the boards really helped.
Also- I grabbed a few half-dollar sized rubber washers to put on the bottom, between the frame and the brackets. Not sure if necessary, but I figured it couldn't hurt.
It's pretty easy.
My only advice would be, if you're alone, to unclip the fog lights first. Outside of that, it was pretty simple. You do need to pull a lot harder than I thought for the sides.
The write ups I found on the boards really helped.
Also- I grabbed a few half-dollar sized rubber washers to put on the bottom, between the frame and the brackets. Not sure if necessary, but I figured it couldn't hurt.
I did the install last night. I briefly documented it on the "What did you do today" thread. The install was super easy. Might've taken me a little longer since I hadn't slept in 36 hours and was dead tired haha.
I ended up using the 9.75" brackets instead of the ones you used. Can you send a picture of how your setup looks? The 2.5" seems like they would've been way too short. I also like the 9.75" bracket in case I want to add an additional light. I was going to buy those washers too but ended up forgetting. I'm curious to see how it will hold up on trails
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What are you using for switches and harness?
aelarson
New member
How do you like the Black Oak LED bar? I've been looking at the company for a while, seems like they make quality light bars for much less than Rigid, Baja, etc.
Thanks!
ayeyothisiskyle
Member
I didnt want to drill into the bumper so I bought the rago hidden bracket mounts from a member here.
Got this idea from someone else. No mount needed. I just drilled directly into the top frame support. More on the install can be found here.
Absolutely love the look! What fogs are those?
2flyfishin
New member
I really like the black oak bar. I bought the 5watt 30" combo and the light output is really nice. I think it has a really nice beam pattern. Is it worth the extra money compared to the ebay lights? Output wise, from the ebay lights I've seen, this bar definitely puts out more light. My big hope with it is to get good longevity out of it being behind the grill. I have seen some of the cheap ebay lights take dumps rather quickly and others of the same bar last a long time so this was really important to me but I didn't want to spend rigid/ baja money so hopefully it lasts. I've used the bar multiple times driving 30+ miles down desert dirt roads at speed (not baja speeds as I'm not a bro lol) and I like it better than my old monster hella's I had before. I personally like mine but that is just me and there are a lot of opinions out there on light bars and I don't think anyone is right or wrong and if you do get one, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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aelarson
New member
Awesome, thanks for the thoughtful response! I don't see many people with them, and there aren't many reviews or videos online, so its great to hear a solid review. I think I'll be getting a couple bars from Black Oak for the money!
2flyfishin
New member
From what I see, the mid range priced light bars aren't very popular. People either drop the money for one of the the big names, Rigid/ visionX/ Baja, or go straight to the cheap Ebay lights like auxbeam etc. I wanted a good bar but didn't want to spend the top name price so I thought I would try the Black Oak light bar out because it was going to be my only auxiliary light. In addition, I liked the 5 watt led option for more output being behind the grill considering the grill will block some of the output. To be honest, if I were mounting lights on a roof rack or ditch lights, I would buy the cheaper Ebay lights and save the money because if they got stolen or went out, they would be easier to replace not being behind the grill. The only side by side comparison I've been able to do was my 30" Black Oak against a 42" auxbeam curved bar mounted on the bumper of a f-250. The guy with the auxbeam said damn, your light bar is a foot shorter than mine and it's still brighter. I told him yes "but" your light bar was only $100 which is a big difference in price. If the Black Oak bar is still going and led's aren't going out 4-5 years from now, then I will be happy with my purchase. If not, I will be saying I should've bought a Rigid or Baja for behind the grill.
Switch illumination question
Just a question for those of you with the Rago Fabrication kit mentioned in this thread that comes with the Toyota factory style switch....
I would like to wire this switch to the factory dash illumination so that it lights up when the headlights are turned on and can also be dimmed with the dimmer switch like the other factory accessory switches. Is that possible with the switch? I did a search regarding the AOB style switches and it seems like they have two leads on the switch, One for power supply and one for dimming on the ground circuit. It appears that the Toyota style switch from Rago fabrication comes with one wire to connect to the factory illumination circuit. Just looking for some direction as to where to tap this wire into to accomplish what I'm after.
My Alldata system at work does not have wiring diagrams for 2016 model year Toyota 4runners. I looked at the 2015 diagrams for the 4runner and they are not very good and I could not seem to find the illumination circuit. Any help from those of you who have installed this switch successfully would be appreciated.
Just a question for those of you with the Rago Fabrication kit mentioned in this thread that comes with the Toyota factory style switch....
I would like to wire this switch to the factory dash illumination so that it lights up when the headlights are turned on and can also be dimmed with the dimmer switch like the other factory accessory switches. Is that possible with the switch? I did a search regarding the AOB style switches and it seems like they have two leads on the switch, One for power supply and one for dimming on the ground circuit. It appears that the Toyota style switch from Rago fabrication comes with one wire to connect to the factory illumination circuit. Just looking for some direction as to where to tap this wire into to accomplish what I'm after.
My Alldata system at work does not have wiring diagrams for 2016 model year Toyota 4runners. I looked at the 2015 diagrams for the 4runner and they are not very good and I could not seem to find the illumination circuit. Any help from those of you who have installed this switch successfully would be appreciated.
2flyfishin
New member
It has 2 leads, one for the power and for the dash lights.
If you didn’t see it already here is my thoughts/review/install of the Rago kit
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-g...eview-rago-fabrications-bumper-light-bar.html
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-g...eview-rago-fabrications-bumper-light-bar.html
Actually I had not yet seen your post regarding the install of this kit. Thanks for sharing that, nice write up.
However, since you did not wire up the illumination wire for the switch that doesn't really help me with my most recent question. Additionally, it seems that you have the early fifth GEN kit that you purchased for your vehicle and apparently they have made some updates and improvements to the later model fifth GEN kits. For example, you mentioned that your light bar did not come with waterproof connections to the harness. Mine however did come with a very nice factory style waterproof 2 pin connector to connect the light bar to the harness. No cutting and reattaching of any connectors required. Also the interior illumination of the 2016 is blue from the factory so the switch that it comes with should match my truck nicely. Thanks for providing the link to your install though! I will likely refer back to it when I get ready to do mine.
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So then im guessing the wire on the new switch that is intended to go to the illumination circuit attaches to the dimmer switch wiring on the ground side? It seems that in some other threads there was mention that there is the chance of some type of ECM or BCM damage if not wired correctly… I wish I could find an interior illumination lighting wiring circuit to reference.
Do you have the older kit with the Opt7 light bar or the new freedom design bar? I saw in their install videos of the older kits they used to have real connectors when they used Opt7 lights, as far as I know everyone got bs stripped wires once they partnered with freedom design to build lights for them.
The item that I ordered along with the paperwork/generic wiring info that came with my shipment is from Freedom LED bars. There is no writing on the light bar itself to designate a manufacturer though. However everything points to Freedom LED bars. The light itself has no striped wires but rather a female factory style connector and the harness has the corresponding male factory style connector. It all looks to be very high-quality to me.
Perhaps Rago will see this post and chime in with some answers. To me it seems the difference is between the early 5th GEN models versus the later models...
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2flyfishin
New member
I just tapped the illumination wire on the switch right next to it.
And it dims like the others?
BTW, your handle is something I can relate to. Fly fishing is my number one sport. It's one of the reasons I got the 4R, to get back into some remote AZ fly fishing spots. Here in AZ good streams are far and few and require work. I usually fish alone and because of that my wife was more supportive of getting a more off road capable truck than our previous Jeep Grand Cherokee.... :thumb3:
2flyfishin
New member
Out of curiosity, last night I tried the dimmer and the switch didn't dim. It turns on and off with the other lights and turns on when I turn the light bar on but the dimmer didn't work. Maybe next spring we'll run into each other in the White Mtns and set the hook on a couple of apache's. I bought my 4runner to replace a jeep too. Your grand Cherokee was probably a lot more capable than my liberty was though. I must say, the liberty was much more capable than I ever thought it would be with a decent set of tires on it. My wife fly fishes too which is nice and is always ready to go. I just have to make sure she gets some Stillwater time.
