Anybody ever wire up Off Road lights for a roof rack? How did you wire it up, where did you run your wires, and was it difficult?

 

Something to think about. Lights on your roof WILL light your hood which can be distracting. I know this for a fact, my son has 4 lights on his roof. The lighter color the vehicle the more distracting.

 

I was actually recently thinking about this mod myself. I have a Yakima load Warrior basket and they make light mounts for it, but at $60 each..forget about it.

I am considering just piloting the holes thru the crossbars of the basket and run the wires internally, then feed it thru the roof via half inch hole and down the a-pillar on the driverside.

Never considered the light pattern lighting up the hood.

Anyone have that same issue?

My hood is Line X'd so I couldn't imagine it reflecting much

 

You can wire it up the side under the weather stripping thats what i had or you can do something by removing the endcaps on the roof rack if you have one and popping out a plug under your headliner.

I had 4 hella 500s on the rack with the two in the middle retrofitted HID and it was pretty awesome and I definately didn't notice that much distraction from the reflection of the lights even with the hood scoop. There was some wind noise ifI had the sunroof open.

 

Driving lights, or fog lights also makes a difference for reflecting off the hood. Also, how far back you have your basket/rack will make a big difference.

 

Sounds like a great idea, just what I was considering, with the same type of set-up!

I'm in the process of waiting for my basket locks, cus two weeks ago some fool was trying to jack my gear before a friend from work scared him off.

When they arrive, as well as my lights I'm gonna move forward with this mod.

 

yeah all of mine were driving lights and were behind the sunroof

 

Now I had a Idea, about taking lets say 6 lights and mounting them to the stock luggage rack in the front. have 4 facing forward and the 2 on the sides faced out to the left and right a little for Trail riding. Now how would I fasten them to the rack, How to wire, and can the rack support the drag of those lights?

Just a thought since I cant afford a Safari rack and I can get a bunch of small lamps for cheap around here.

 

I put some $20 driving lights up on my Load warrior behind the air deflector. I just flip the deflector down when I need them.
I ran the wires along the bars of the rack back to the top of the rear hatch and then down to a disconnect behind the driver side tail light. Its nice to be able to take the whole thing off lights and all when I want to.

 

You can wire it using the methods above but to mount to the stock rack I used yakima mighty mounts and pm me if you want them because I have since taken the lights down

 

mine are mounted to the stock rack using pipe clamps. yeah i know, pretty okie, but it works. where the bolt normally goes to tighten down the clamp is where you stick the bolt for the light in. dirt cheap, these costed me like 50 cents each and they dont move around at all. this is only temporary until i get my surco rack. wires run through the weather stripping on back passenger door. this leaks like a sive. when i get the rack on, im gonna run the wires through the back hatch, down the side and into a little gap on top of the brake light fixture, then through the side panel to the engine compartment. all this is pretty easy to do, you just need patience when feeding the wires through the panels

 

Both trucks has Hellas up there. Wiring is along the A-pillar.

 

I like everyones ideas! Alexjet, do you have any close ups of the wiring?? Actually, does anybody have closeups of their wiring??

Also, what are the pros and cons of having these lights up there??

 

I don't have any close-ups but just put the wires in between the body and the bigger thick weatherstripping. The weather stripping you can still see with the door closed.
I at first had them in the other stripping and it looked terrible because the wires would work themselves up.
They were really good for lighting when I had them. With the HIDs I probably got a football field more distance than the regular halogens.
If you drive with your sunroof open then it is louder and as long as you keep the wiring clean it looks pretty sweet

 

Wiring write-up:

http://mycolorado.org/wiring.html

 

I'd LOVE to see someone try and steal the Gobi, I'd probably just sit back and record it before stepping in.

When I had my hi lites up there a couple years ago I ran the wires down the channel and through the top of the tailgate, from there routed them through the driver side rear panel, then from there to the fuse block, etc via a/v line.

 

I ran my wires inside my rack tubing to where the wire goes thru my roof. I have a dual battery setup in the rear, so my wires run to the back of my 4Runner. I run my stereo, air pumps, inverter and lights off this battery. They go thru the roof about 5" from the back of the roof rack just to the inside of the runner. I used 7-strand trailer wiring that comes in the round sheath so I could use a bulkhead grommet to seal it. It's hard to show my wires because they are inside and under the rack.

 

check out my install.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f131...onnect-184365/

 

i did this on one of my friend's fj 40s and another 3rd gen 4runner and it hasnt been a problem that any of us have noticed... we used offroad driving lights that look like 6" round PIAAs not the fogs but it lights up well and the wiring was just done under the rack on the left side and ran down the back.

 

As Pro points: better visibility, further light output, not distructed by high grass or small trees, higher survive factor, and of course looks.
Cons are: more noise, fuel economy, complex wiring (compare to bumper ones).