Mounting Front Driving Lights - Stock Bumper

[bloc]

In the meantime here are some old pictures of the structure behind the bumper skin. The upper sheet metal part is very thin but should handle forward/backward/sideways force just fine.. with the crash bar supporting the up/down forces of the weight of the lights and brackets. Up to the core support could also help but might make inserting all of this through the top without major disassembly a challenge.

 

[Tommy Dwyer]

Glad this thread popped up. Some time ago, I ran across a user account on Instagram called Steel Rhino...wondering if he is on Mud. Reached out to him as he has done this very thing, said Nick at Backwoods Overland made the brackets. Was going to reach out to them, but this kind of got lost on the list. Still interested in something like this. Here’s a photo from his truck on Instagram .

 

[yonah]

Glad this thread popped up. Some time ago, I ran across a user account on Instagram called Steel Rhino...wondering if he is on Mud. Reached out to him as he has done this very thing, said Nick at Backwoods Overland made the brackets. Was going to reach out to them, but this kind of got lost on the list. Still interested in something like this. Here’s a photo from his truck on Instagram .

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I’ve seen that same truck displayed on this forum before. Looks good!

 

[bloc]

Glad this thread popped up. Some time ago, I ran across a user account on Instagram called Steel Rhino...wondering if he is on Mud. Reached out to him as he has done this very thing, said Nick at Backwoods Overland made the brackets. Was going to reach out to them, but this kind of got lost on the list. Still interested in something like this. Here’s a photo from his truck on Instagram .

View attachment 2438598

Perfect! Thanks!

I checked backwoods overland website and no mention of the brackets as a shippable product.. guess we could contact them and see if more can be made.

If nothing else a good look at steel rhinos could be useful. I don’t have IG though..

 

[Tommy Dwyer]

Perfect! Thanks!

I checked backwoods overland website and no mention of the brackets as a shippable product.. guess we could contact them and see if more can be made.

If nothing else a good look at steel rhinos could be useful. I don’t have IG though..

I believe the brackets were a one off. If there was interest I bet they would make a few since the leg work has already been done. If I get a chance tomorrow I’ll reach out to Backwoods.

 

[bloc]

I believe the brackets were a one off. If there was interest I bet they would make a few since the leg work has already been done. If I get a chance tomorrow I’ll reach out to Backwoods.

Different year model grilles might need slightly different measurements though, depending on how they attach.

It was raining yesterday but I'm bringing mine to work today and should be able to have a look at our options. Either way I'm curious what Backwoods says.

 

[Tommy Dwyer]

Different year model grilles might need slightly different measurements though, depending on how they attach.

It was raining yesterday but I'm bringing mine to work today and should be able to have a look at our options. Either way I'm curious what Backwoods says.

Yep. I believe this example was a first gen 200, later models will probably vary a bit. Hoping to have time to make a phone call this afternoon

 

[bloc]

Got a good look. Should be pretty easy, though we’d need to either drill a hole in the back of the crash bar and add a nut-sert, which should be easy with a 90 degree drill, or go to the crossmember under the radiator. There are holes in that but aren’t threaded. Then to get the front/rear stability using the formed sheet metal support below the grille.. a hole there would be easy but the way I’m envisioning the brackets we’d need to add a leg forward or something to catch that.

On the passenger side it’ll be close to the transmission cooler but there should be plenty of room. I think the best spot is roughly lined up with the small metal bracket you will see riveted to the back of the crash bar

So my idea for the brackets themselves would be flat stock between 1/8 and 1/4” thick, ~2” wide, bent in a 90 at the top and protruding between the slate of the grille. Then either bring the long end of that down to the crash bar, or weld it to some square or round tube to go down there. This would reduce the obstruction in the lower grille opening.

Pictures should help.. these are 2013.

 

[EGR GUY]

Subscribed - I’ve been looking for brackets to do this very thing.

 

[Moby]

I spent today looking at this after I determined that the license plate mount that I bought was not going to work without additional reinforcement. I was going to use it for one of my 10" Rigid SR bars from my GX but it won't hold up to even that little light. So I decided to move ahead and build a mount that will accommodate the 10" bar and then hopefully a Baja Lights OnX6+ 20" bar. I want to see how if there is radar interference first (I'm going to mount the smaller 10" bar out farther than it needs to be to replicate the larger 20" bar). If it interferes I'll cut out the lower center support ribs of the grill and push it back as far as I can.

For a bracket I'm going simple. I'm just going to take 2 1/8x2" straps from the back of the crash bar and up and out through the lowest portion of the grill. At the top I'll add a nutsert to the stamped sheetmetal crossmember and put a rubber bushing between the bracket and the crossmember for support without worrying about the crossmember and crash bar moving independently with flex (probably not an issue but can't hurt). There's about 3/4-1" between the crossmember and where the strap will run.

1/8x2" should be pretty solid with ~8lbs for the 20" bar. If it isn't I'll run another piece from the top of the crash bar though the holes in the bumper under the license plate and up to the bar, and them mount the license plate to those. But I don't think I'll need it.

I have a right angle drill for the back of the crash bar. Either tap threads or nutsert, need to measure the thickness first. I think it will be a pain to get threads tapped in straight but we'll see. 3-4 6mm nutserts per strap should be fine. For the 2" strap I have a Williams Lowbuck Plate Brake that will bend 1/8" up to 6" wide or 1/4" up to 2" wide.

 

[tbisaacs]

Got a good look. Should be pretty easy, though we’d need to either drill a hole in the back of the crash bar and add a nut-sert, which should be easy with a 90 degree drill, or go to the crossmember under the radiator. There are holes in that but aren’t threaded. Then to get the front/rear stability using the formed sheet metal support below the grille.. a hole there would be easy but the way I’m envisioning the brackets we’d need to add a leg forward or something to catch that.

On the passenger side it’ll be close to the transmission cooler but there should be plenty of room. I think the best spot is roughly lined up with the small metal bracket you will see riveted to the back of the crash bar

So my idea for the brackets themselves would be flat stock between 1/8 and 1/4” thick, ~2” wide, bent in a 90 at the top and protruding between the slate of the grille. Then either bring the long end of that down to the crash bar, or weld it to some square or round tube to go down there. This would reduce the obstruction in the lower grille opening.

Pictures should help.. these are 2013.

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I know this area well because I just put a bull bar on. Taking the bumper skin off is maybe a 30 minute job, would be worth it to do this right.

1. Remove four clips (two by each headlight)
2. Remove center screw
3. Unplug camera
4. Unplug 2 sensors
5. Unplug 2 headlight washers
6. 4 bolts for fender liner
7. Remove flappy little wings between skid plate and wheel well

It seems like a lot but it's all really easy. Would give you a ton of room to work.

 

[dubaicruiser]

This thread is just what I was looking for. Doing this soon to my lc200

 

[Txoverland]

I spent today looking at this after I determined that the license plate mount that I bought was not going to work without additional reinforcement. I was going to use it for one of my 10" Rigid SR bars from my GX but it won't hold up to even that little light. So I decided to move ahead and build a mount that will accommodate the 10" bar and then hopefully a Baja Lights OnX6+ 20" bar. I want to see how if there is radar interference first (I'm going to mount the smaller 10" bar out farther than it needs to be to replicate the larger 20" bar). If it interferes I'll cut out the lower center support ribs of the grill and push it back as far as I can.

For a bracket I'm going simple. I'm just going to take 2 1/8x2" straps from the back of the crash bar and up and out through the lowest portion of the grill. At the top I'll add a nutsert to the stamped sheetmetal crossmember and put a rubber bushing between the bracket and the crossmember for support without worrying about the crossmember and crash bar moving independently with flex (probably not an issue but can't hurt). There's about 3/4-1" between the crossmember and where the strap will run.

1/8x2" should be pretty solid with ~8lbs for the 20" bar. If it isn't I'll run another piece from the top of the crash bar though the holes in the bumper under the license plate and up to the bar, and them mount the license plate to those. But I don't think I'll need it.

I have a right angle drill for the back of the crash bar. Either tap threads or nutsert, need to measure the thickness first. I think it will be a pain to get threads tapped in straight but we'll see. 3-4 6mm nutserts per strap should be fine. For the 2" strap I have a Williams Lowbuck Plate Brake that will bend 1/8" up to 6" wide or 1/4" up to 2" wide.

How is this project going?

 

[Moby]

Slowly. After work, family my next priority is endurance bike racing (mtb, gravel). My plan was to bend up 2 pieces of 2"x1/8", mounted to the top of the crash bar and extending up over the brace and through the lowest slats in the grill. That took a little extra time to calculate how much material is "consumed" by the bend to get the height right (good thing I ordered 3 pieces of material). So as I figured not rigid enough. This weekend I cut up reinforcing tabs and ground the mill scale off so that everything is ready to weld.

If I were to do this over I'd use 1"x2" rectangular tube with a foot welded to the bottom for bolting to the crash bar and then a piece on top extending through the grill. Easier to get precise dimensions given the small space in the grill slats and less welding that could distort the dimensions.

Remaining work:

1. Weld up the braces (should be fun, I've been out of fabrication for a long time and will have to do a bunch of practice with my TIG skills)
2. Figure out how to pull the grill so that I can get in to drill and tap the top of the crash bar (which looks thick enough to carry enough threads that I won't have to use a netsert). Plastic parts make me so nervous.
3. Drill and tap some holes
4. Finish wiring. Have everything laid out, mount for relays, wiring schematic, color matched dash blank switch from AirOnBoard, etc.

Trying to get this finished up before I head back down to Bend in a few weeks, where I'll be without a full shop until I'm back.

 

[Lou Gill]

Would this work? VANGUARD VGUBG-1345SS STAINLESS STEEL TRANSCEND RUNNER

 

[Moby]

If that is mounted to the license plate I bought one and it is way too flimsy for my liking, even with a small 10" bar. I suspect it will tear the bolts out of the plastic bumper over time.

 

[Moby]

Here are some shots of the mounts. The small foot will mount to the to of the crash bar. The long end will extend through the grill. It is intentionally long and will be cut to length once mounted to the crash bar. The braces will be centered and welded on to add rigidity. Making this in two independent mounts makes getting it installed easy once the mounting holes are drilled. They will be space to accommodate a 10" Rigid SR bar that came off my GX and a larger 20" Baja Designs OnX6 with a cradle mount if the 10" plays nicely with the stock radar (the 10" will be positioned out further to test this). Worse case I'll cut out the bottom of the grill and stuff the OnX6 partially into the grill. Should be able to re-use these mounts, cut way back, if that happens.

Last shot is the plate brake used for the bends. A very long pole is inserted into either of the two tube on the sides to provide leverage. It has no problem bending 2"x1/8". I believe that it is rated to 6"x1/8" and 1"x1/4".

Two argon tanks, the small one for back purging stainless or in the event that I ever need to be portable (Miller Dynasty 200, so portable, with a water cooler or air cooled torch for convenience and smaller jobs)

 

[Lou Gill]

If that is mounted to the license plate I bought one and it is way too flimsy for my liking, even with a small 10" bar. I suspect it will tear the bolts out of the plastic bumper over time.

nope it’s a lightweight bumper guard....

 

[yonah]

Here are a couple of photos from the 200-series Facebook group. A member there posted some photos of his 200 with a set of homemade mounts for two circular driving lamps. It’s a great look for sure:

Tagging @sleeoffroad to see if the team there might be interested in offering a solution

 

[Moby]

That's a good look as well. And it looks like a model year with radar so that is encouraging.

I'd like to work with a light bar as I think it will block less airflow through the grill. But my mounts will work for either, and I may move to circular if I can't get the output I need from a 20" bar (I know I can't from a 10", my GX had 2x6" and 1 10" Rigid SR, and that was close to sufficient). I'm planning on punching 3-4 holes in the crash bar on each side so the they can be adjusted horizontally some to accommodate different light styles.