Bluegill
01-21-2007, 03:03 AM
:drum roll:
After much ado, my rock lights are finally finished - for now, that is :twisted:
For those who aren't familiar with my TJ, check it out here:
http://www.4x4grace.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=6045
Now - the rock lights. For Christmas my in-laws gave me a wonderful item from my wish list :wink: These 5-LED pods from www.plasmaled.com
http://www.plasmaled.com/images/pod5.jpg
I wanted to mount them in a protected location but in a way that would also allow ample lighting between the front & rear tires. Thanks to these pod's small size (2" wide, 3/4" tall, 5/16" thick) they fit nicely inside the body mounts to protect them from slamming into an obstacle. I did not want to drill any holes to mount them, so I used a couple different mil-spec adhesives to do the job. In order to achieve a straight line appearance of where the beams hit the ground, I had to make a few brackets: one with only a slight angle for the rear, and about 30 degree angle for the front. To secure the brackets to the frame, a mil-spec aircraft epoxy was used. To secure the LED pods to the brackets a different adhesive was used - this one being a combination of caulk & adhesive properties in order to provide a slight cushion (against vibration) for the pods. The brackets were made from 1/2" x 3/4" x .070" aluminum angle and were ground to the appropriate angles. Here's a pic of the pass side front pod installed (you'll also notice the wire loom above the frame coming down from the firewall):
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0797.jpg
Next item was the wiring. For power I chose to tap my CB radio lead (hooked straight to the battery) after the fuse. Drilling a small hole in the firewall was also necessary (grommet on the new hole). The driver side wiring was nice & easy; the steel fuel lines provide a nice anchor to secure the wire loom to. The passenger side was not that easy. First, the exhaust runs along that side and only a couple inches away from the frame. Second, there was nothing to properly secure the wire loom to. So, I used a long drill bit to transfer the ouside frame holes all the way thru the inside wall of the boxed frame. After deburring the new holes, this allowed the use of high-temp cable ties. Here is a pic of the passenger side loom running along top of the frame:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0798.jpg
Next up was the switch & location. I wanted a fairly small switch that wouldn't be too easy to flip, asthetically blends with the interior, that would provide a visual indicator that the circuit is energized, and would mount inconspicously. And so a 20amp thumb style round rocker with red LED indicator was selected. I chose to mount it just below the instrument panel, and to the right of the steering wheel. It is positioned to allow both driver & front passenger easy viewing of the indicator light, yet high enough not to be accidentally switched on by a inadvertant body part (knee). Here is a pic (pardon the dust & mud on the interior :oops: ):
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0796.jpg
So, what happens when the switch is flipped? Well, I took more than a dozen pics, but unfortunately our digital camera (like most) doesn't like taking pics of lights in the dark with no flash - most were too blurry to even recognize. However, I did get 2 decent pics (not too blurry). Here it is in my driveway. The first pic is a complete view of the driver side. The second pic is from the drivers front corner looking diagonally.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0803.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0799.jpg
While they may not be as bright as some LEDs (luxeon), they're a whole lot cheaper (30 bucks gets you 4 of these 5LED pods shipped versus 1 single luxeon LED bulb for the same price) and are brighter than the $15 Wally world special fog lights.
BUT
The best part is I have invested a grand total of $14.67 in these lights 8) That was for 20ft of wire, loom, switch, and some connectors. Why did I want LED? Lets see - hardly any current draw (I tested these prior to installing with a 25ma 12v household converter), won't get hot from continous use, waterproof, the frame will probably rot before the bulbs burn out, and the best part - they're cheap!
After much ado, my rock lights are finally finished - for now, that is :twisted:
For those who aren't familiar with my TJ, check it out here:
http://www.4x4grace.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=6045
Now - the rock lights. For Christmas my in-laws gave me a wonderful item from my wish list :wink: These 5-LED pods from www.plasmaled.com
http://www.plasmaled.com/images/pod5.jpg
I wanted to mount them in a protected location but in a way that would also allow ample lighting between the front & rear tires. Thanks to these pod's small size (2" wide, 3/4" tall, 5/16" thick) they fit nicely inside the body mounts to protect them from slamming into an obstacle. I did not want to drill any holes to mount them, so I used a couple different mil-spec adhesives to do the job. In order to achieve a straight line appearance of where the beams hit the ground, I had to make a few brackets: one with only a slight angle for the rear, and about 30 degree angle for the front. To secure the brackets to the frame, a mil-spec aircraft epoxy was used. To secure the LED pods to the brackets a different adhesive was used - this one being a combination of caulk & adhesive properties in order to provide a slight cushion (against vibration) for the pods. The brackets were made from 1/2" x 3/4" x .070" aluminum angle and were ground to the appropriate angles. Here's a pic of the pass side front pod installed (you'll also notice the wire loom above the frame coming down from the firewall):
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0797.jpg
Next item was the wiring. For power I chose to tap my CB radio lead (hooked straight to the battery) after the fuse. Drilling a small hole in the firewall was also necessary (grommet on the new hole). The driver side wiring was nice & easy; the steel fuel lines provide a nice anchor to secure the wire loom to. The passenger side was not that easy. First, the exhaust runs along that side and only a couple inches away from the frame. Second, there was nothing to properly secure the wire loom to. So, I used a long drill bit to transfer the ouside frame holes all the way thru the inside wall of the boxed frame. After deburring the new holes, this allowed the use of high-temp cable ties. Here is a pic of the passenger side loom running along top of the frame:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0798.jpg
Next up was the switch & location. I wanted a fairly small switch that wouldn't be too easy to flip, asthetically blends with the interior, that would provide a visual indicator that the circuit is energized, and would mount inconspicously. And so a 20amp thumb style round rocker with red LED indicator was selected. I chose to mount it just below the instrument panel, and to the right of the steering wheel. It is positioned to allow both driver & front passenger easy viewing of the indicator light, yet high enough not to be accidentally switched on by a inadvertant body part (knee). Here is a pic (pardon the dust & mud on the interior :oops: ):
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0796.jpg
So, what happens when the switch is flipped? Well, I took more than a dozen pics, but unfortunately our digital camera (like most) doesn't like taking pics of lights in the dark with no flash - most were too blurry to even recognize. However, I did get 2 decent pics (not too blurry). Here it is in my driveway. The first pic is a complete view of the driver side. The second pic is from the drivers front corner looking diagonally.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0803.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/rock%20lights/HPIM0799.jpg
While they may not be as bright as some LEDs (luxeon), they're a whole lot cheaper (30 bucks gets you 4 of these 5LED pods shipped versus 1 single luxeon LED bulb for the same price) and are brighter than the $15 Wally world special fog lights.
BUT
The best part is I have invested a grand total of $14.67 in these lights 8) That was for 20ft of wire, loom, switch, and some connectors. Why did I want LED? Lets see - hardly any current draw (I tested these prior to installing with a 25ma 12v household converter), won't get hot from continous use, waterproof, the frame will probably rot before the bulbs burn out, and the best part - they're cheap!