In San Antonio. Probably 2 1/2 hours from Ft. Hood.
I agree. I'm shopping around right now. Grill Craft is a little pricey for me cause I want to do upper & lower. But hopefully I'll have something on by the end of October.
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Who is interested in a "behind the grill" light mount bracket?
- Thread starter SOcalTRAIL
- Start date
In San Antonio. Probably 2 1/2 hours from Ft. Hood.
I agree. I'm shopping around right now. Grill Craft is a little pricey for me cause I want to do upper & lower. But hopefully I'll have something on by the end of October.
Ryan1975
New member
Yeah I head down to friends occasionally. They're up by Randolph I think. I still have my mount, just haven't gotten around to buying lights to put on it. Maybe I'll pay someone to do it.
Socalrugger
New member
Here's the front of what the grill craft setup looks like (ignore the two guys working underneath) This also gives you a good idea on the mounting of four visionx cannons behind the grill and two PIAA 510 ion yellow fogs in the lower grill... might be time for some LED cubes down there
View attachment 98718
JC! I knew you put some lights on but holy $h1T!
Experiment- turn your lights on at night from anywhere in the South Bay and I bet I will see them from my roof.
SOcalTRAIL
New member
[MENTION=50210]KVA[/MENTION] If you ever venture down to my hood (beach area San Diego) make sure you hit me up. I would absolutely loooooove to see those Vis. X Canons!!!!
KVA
Member
Will do. Almost had to go down NOW...to Carlsbad...moving a business site can be so much fun (sarcastic)
If I show up to your work will I drive away with new "built by SOcalTRAIL" stuff...lol? :juggle:
You make great mods...just saying.
jbstrd
New member
Just recieved my "blemished" light bracket from SOcalTRAIL today. I am going to just come out and call [MENTION=74569]SOcalTRAIL[/MENTION] a liar. This light bracket looks perfect:laugh:
Thanks again Shawn and I will post pics when I get the light bar in. Just ordered an OTRATTW switch, cradle mount is on the way, light bar should be a couple weeks still.
Thanks again Shawn and I will post pics when I get the light bar in. Just ordered an OTRATTW switch, cradle mount is on the way, light bar should be a couple weeks still.
I know that area. Used to work close to there.
The hardest part for me was the wiring. I understand black is ground, red is positive. But beyond that I'm a deer in headlights.
Mounting the bracket and lights is super simple. And that's coming from a rookie.
Hit me up if you buy some lights. And if you want to drive down I'll give you a hand.
8MoreMiles
New member
bracket plus winch plate?
So I'm finally getting around to installing my bracket and lighting.
For those that have done this before, if you install something like a BudBuilt winch plate and winch at later date does the bracket have to removed for installation of the winch?
So I'm finally getting around to installing my bracket and lighting.
For those that have done this before, if you install something like a BudBuilt winch plate and winch at later date does the bracket have to removed for installation of the winch?
SOcalTRAIL
New member
Just an FYI-
I still have 1 bracket left, ready to ship out for whoever wants it.
I still have 1 bracket left, ready to ship out for whoever wants it.
kenski
New member
Part of the bracket bolts to the front bumper / grill, and part of it bolts to the body of the vehicle. If you ever need to remove the front bumper (which you definitely will for hidden winch install) then the SoCal bracket will need to be removed, or at the very least, detached from one side. The easiest way I can think of is to disconnect the one bolt that connects the bracket to the vehicle, and leave the rest of the bracket attached to the bumper.
DannyLlama
Elite Member
What you are suggesting is to detach the bracket and bumper, just wondering if I got that right. In doing so, he will have to disconnect and redo the wiring of the lights, no?
kenski
New member
Good point, Danny. That's correct. I have a quick disconnect on the lightbar that I have installed in there, so in my mind it wasn't a problem. If you don't plan on disconnecting the light wiring, then yes, you would need to detach the light unit(s) as well. All depends on your setup which would be the easiest way to go.
Does the 30" fit pretty easily with that cradle mount versus the standard sorta z mount? I am going to order soon, and would love to fit the 30"!!!!
jbstrd
New member
Well, the factory leg mounts restrict you to mounting at a set distance apart. The cradle mount has slots along the entire length of the 30" bracket, so your mounting hole option is infinite. I don't think SOcalTRAIL's bracket is 30" long, so the leg mounts would not fit on the light bracket since they are over 30" apart. Does this make sense?
I have everything but my led light bar. When I get it, I will post pics of the bar with cradle mount behind the factory grill. I am debating on whether to do the Satoshi grill. I am going to hold off for now to see how much the factory grill covers.
Stay tuned...
Vegas
New member
I have light brackets all over the truck that sit empty just waiting for the light bar budget to come back around... I wasn't happy with the Satoshi grill mods out there (mainly the zip ties holding it on) so I'm real interested how much light the 30" gives off while keeping the factory grill intact.
I'll be staying tuned
jbstrd
New member
Oops, I did the Satoshi with the customcargrills insert already. It looks good to me even though it is held on by zip ties. You can't see them unless you are extremely close.
Anyways, this stupid Chinese light bar I ordered has been back ordered for a couple of months. It is supposed to be here in a week or so but I am not holding my breath. I will still be posting pics of the light bar mounted on [MENTION=74569]SOcalTRAIL[/MENTION] 's bracket. Sorry it has taken so long.
WODWorldWide
New member
Hey there, any plans to make this for the 14' Trail. The front end is a lot different and a I was thinking about placing a 20" light bar on the lower grill above the bumper. A modification will definitely be needed to raise the light high enough off of the bumper.
Any ideas? or does anyone else know of any mods for this for the 14?
Thanks
jbstrd
New member
Well, sorry this took so long to get done. I promised [MENTION=74569]SOcalTRAIL[/MENTION] I would post up pics of my 30" Engo LED light bar mounted to his bracket. The light took forever to get and the holidays have been busy.
I had to change my original plan of running a Rigid 30" E-series cradle bracket to mount this light since (of course) it is slightly longer than the Rigid 30". So, I went to Home Depot and purchased a 36"x2"x1/8" steel bar stock piece. I mounted the bar stock to SoCal's light bracket and used the feet mount the light bar came with to mount to the bar stock piece. I had to play with where I mounted the light because it was hitting the compressor lines if I mounted it too far back and it was contacting the grill if I mounted it too far forward.
So, I got the light mounted up and wired to an OTRATTW switch with Amber LED's. It matches the factory switch color perfectly and I am very happy with it. I have it wired to light up the upper light with the ignition and both lights when the switch is on.
I put the grill back on and I have a tad bit of contact with the grill and light, but nothing that prevented me from installing the grill. I am happy with the light output of this Chinese light bar, but you can definitely tell the difference in overall quality compared to Rigid.....obviously.
As luck would have it, when I installed the grill, the light bar sits directly behind my lovely 14" TOYOTA emblem, blocking a significant portion of the "Spot" LED's. The feet that came with it mount the light bar pretty high up. I called Rigid to inquire about their new stanless steel, 3-positon feet mounts that come on the new E-Series lights. They shipped me a set and I am waiting for them in the mail as we speak. I am hoping this will allow me to mount the light bar lower, making it sit under the TOYOTA emblem. This should also help with the grill contact since the top of the light bar is hitting the grill.
Enough blabbing, here are a few Antman-esque photos of the SoCal bracket, the light installed on the steel piece without the grill on, then everything buttoned up. These are teasers since I don't have any output shots yet or pics of the switch. I will post up more pics when I get the new Rigid feet mounts.
I had to change my original plan of running a Rigid 30" E-series cradle bracket to mount this light since (of course) it is slightly longer than the Rigid 30". So, I went to Home Depot and purchased a 36"x2"x1/8" steel bar stock piece. I mounted the bar stock to SoCal's light bracket and used the feet mount the light bar came with to mount to the bar stock piece. I had to play with where I mounted the light because it was hitting the compressor lines if I mounted it too far back and it was contacting the grill if I mounted it too far forward.
So, I got the light mounted up and wired to an OTRATTW switch with Amber LED's. It matches the factory switch color perfectly and I am very happy with it. I have it wired to light up the upper light with the ignition and both lights when the switch is on.
I put the grill back on and I have a tad bit of contact with the grill and light, but nothing that prevented me from installing the grill. I am happy with the light output of this Chinese light bar, but you can definitely tell the difference in overall quality compared to Rigid.....obviously.
As luck would have it, when I installed the grill, the light bar sits directly behind my lovely 14" TOYOTA emblem, blocking a significant portion of the "Spot" LED's. The feet that came with it mount the light bar pretty high up. I called Rigid to inquire about their new stanless steel, 3-positon feet mounts that come on the new E-Series lights. They shipped me a set and I am waiting for them in the mail as we speak. I am hoping this will allow me to mount the light bar lower, making it sit under the TOYOTA emblem. This should also help with the grill contact since the top of the light bar is hitting the grill.
Enough blabbing, here are a few Antman-esque photos of the SoCal bracket, the light installed on the steel piece without the grill on, then everything buttoned up. These are teasers since I don't have any output shots yet or pics of the switch. I will post up more pics when I get the new Rigid feet mounts.
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