Good lights for bumper install?

[drmoreau]

Looking for some driving lights, I was first thinking about going with a bull bar and some lights on it but going from a Yaris to a V6 4Runner the gas mileage already seems appalling so I'd prefer to keep it from getting even worse with a heavy piece of steel, lol.

Anyone have any recommendations for lights that fit well in the front bumper of a 2000 model? Thanks.

 

[nicolasballia]

You could do what a couple of us have done before and put a light bar in the front bumper!

 

[drmoreau]

i hear those are super bright but I'm really looking for round lights, hopefully something with rock guards.

 

[nicolasballia]

If you want round with rock guards I would go with either ipf or Kc hilites, those are the ones I've seen most people run

 

[shootmymime]

Looking for some driving lights, I was first thinking about going with a bull bar and some lights on it but going from a Yaris to a V6 4Runner the gas mileage already seems appalling so I'd prefer to keep it from getting even worse with a heavy piece of steel, lol.

Anyone have any recommendations for lights that fit well in the front bumper of a 2000 model? Thanks.

go to harbor freight, pick up some of the 6" round lights they are cheep but work good, take the 55W lights out and replace them with new 100W bulbs.

it makes it 10 times better with light output. they are round spots and throw some light out there. i have them on the front of mine and only use them for spots while driving on the highway and back roads to look out for deer.

 

[Millerad1651]

KC Slim lites work well on the front bumper. They come in fog, driving, and long range. I installed the long range on my '98, which has a shallower bumper. Easy install and work great...plus they have a 23 year warranty.

http://www.amazon.com/KC-HiLiTES-12...8&qid=1401985915&sr=8-2&keywords=kc+slimlites

Here is the install, some pics, and some light shots...
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/113006-millerads-build-thread-gigi-7.html

 

[drmoreau]

What about a "light bar"? Does anybody make one for the 4runner. It's just a metal bracket that attaches like a bull bar for you to mount lights on. Obviously smaller and lighter than a bull bar though.

 

[nicolasballia]

Well there are some like westins bull bar-light bar thingy, you can google it. It's mainly for looks but I'm sure you can figure out a mount for the lights

 

[drmoreau]

Just looking for something cheap and light to mount some lights on. The recessed bumper look is okay, but a bar looks better I think.

 

[Millerad1651]

There used to be a company that made a bar that mounted to the lower section of te bumper, and you could mount 2 or 3 lights to it. I'll try and find a pic. I don't think they are being produced any longer though.

Defiant light bars...short or long tube

http://www.tiregate.com/defiant-light-bars/

 

[drmoreau]

I found the Defiant one, but it cost WAY more than a full bull bar, so I don't see the point. If I can get a bull bar for $140 I should be able to get a light bar for less than half that. May have to get something fabbed up.

 

[Millerad1651]

Ya prices are ridiculous...but that's the only manufactured option as far as I know.

 

[drmoreau]

wow. you can even find light bars for little hatchback cars (mini cooper) easier than that. crazy.

 

[MTD]

I found the Defiant one, but it cost WAY more than a full bull bar, so I don't see the point. If I can get a bull bar for $140 I should be able to get a light bar for less than half that. May have to get something fabbed up.

If you want a light bar you should look into this. Back when I still had my stock bumper I wanted to mount lights, but didn't want to drill some big ugly holes in my bumper so I made this thing for $16 bucks from parts I got from fleet farm lol.

It is made from:

2x Stanley L braces cut down to the first hole
1x 4 ft 1in aluminum tube
2x stainless steel bolts (holds tube to brackets
2x stainless acorn nuts

Its super cheap, super effective, and super cheap!

 

[drmoreau]

Not sure what a "Fleet Farm" or a "Stanley L-brace" is but if you didn't drill into your bumper where did you mount the setup to? It looks good to me.

 

[MTD]

Not sure what a "Fleet Farm" or a "Stanley L-brace" is but if you didn't drill into your bumper where did you mount the setup to? It looks good to me.

Idk if they have fleet farm in LA, but its kind of like if bass pro and homdepot and tractor supply all got together and had a baby. We call it the "mans mall" lol.

Any way you do drill into the bumper, but it is under the grill so it is not seen and you end up using 1/8 self tappers which are tiny anyway.

A stanely L brace is just this:

 

[drmoreau]

Ah, I get you.

Looks pretty decent, might have to try that out. Thanks for the tip. Was it stable? Did the lights bounce around at all?

 

[MTD]

Ah, I get you.

Looks pretty decent, might have to try that out. Thanks for the tip. Was it stable? Did the lights bounce around at all?

there is a small amount of bounce, but nothing more than you would get with a bull bar, when I made this setup i was living in western MN and was running gravel washboard roads with no issues. And the lower you mount the tube on the L braces the less bounce there is and IMO the better it looks. :thumb3:

 

[drmoreau]

can't really tell from your photos, did you run a bolt through the pipe into the L-bracket to secure it? I can't see any bolt but can't think of any other way you could have secured the pipe to the bracket.

 

[MTD]

can't really tell from your photos, did you run a bolt through the pipe into the L-bracket to secure it? I can't see any bolt but can't think of any other way you could have secured the pipe to the bracket.

Ahh yeah, I added the bolt latter, because I started out with just a self tapper holding it. That doesn't work by the way lol. I can take some pictures of it when I get down to my shop on saturday, but I dont think I have any pics of it with the thru bolt setup. You can look through my gallery but Im pretty sure I never uploaded any..