I observed a cop using his handy dandy spotlight mounted on his door post of his crown vic and I thought now wouldnt that be a nifty addition to my tacoma. So I found them in no short supply on ebay however I beleive checked out www.unityusa.com and they have a table of specific mounting kits for most vehicals including my 04 taco. I am skeptical however because of the extremely narrow doorpost. There doesnt seem to be much margin of error and Im somewhat worried about screwing something up structurally. Just wondered if anyone has added these onto their truck or similar vehical. Thanks. Here are some examples of what Im talking about if Ive confused anyone:
http://www.unityusa.com/Revised%20Ne...ain%20Page.htm

 

I'm wondering why you'd want one? I'm planning to go with front mounted flood lights (Light Force, IPF, Hella, etc.), but wouldn't have any use for a spot light to waive around. Even if I wanted one, I'd just get a $10 cig light spot light.

 

you may also just make sure they're legal to use in your area. i'm betting having them mounted is not against the law (seen them in place on retired cruisers), but the "use" of them may not be legal, or just restricted... they may even need a cover when on paved roads like some areas require "off-road" lights to be.

 

Basically so i dont have to dig through my backseat to find it whenever i want it. It would be right there and have the flexibility of a handheld without me having to drive a stick, and hold a spotlight. this would be for offroading, utility usage. Im always needing to shine a light in a certain direction outside of my truck while i work on something. It would be very handy while setting up camp in the dark as i normally am when i cant quite get my headlights in the direction i need.

 

i dont think that it would be illegal to just have it, but i know that it is illegal to use it on the road

 

Yeah get one from a retired Crown Vic lol. I see people driving around in them all the time. Seems like they should get busted for impersonating cops.

Rob

 

ive seen several jeeps with them mounted here. Also people around my area are OBESSED with driving old retired crown vics with 50thousand inch chrome spinners and all that crap. many of them have the lights still. Im not worried about the legal part of it just actually getting it on there without screwing something up.

 

They aren't very powerful spotlights. Most cheap plug spotlights from Walmart are more powerful.

Also, I don't like the idea of drilling a hole through a doorpost for several obvious reasons.

 

The lights themselves arent all that great but how the assembly and mechanism works is very versitile. I can put a differnt lamp, perhaps modify the refracting lense and definently wire it for higher output. Unity makes HID versions of the whole rig that costs around 900 bucks. Im sure i can come up with something cheaper. My main question is has anyone put a hole through their doorpost? because im like you and dont like the idea of drilling into it but if it can be done right it would be worth having such a useful accessory.

 

Paging toyospearo...ttt...

 

i seen a thread on here about 2 or 3 months ago where a guy made a bracket that bolted to the bottom of his side mirror. but i dont think he was able to move it around. 50,000 inch rims, this i gotta see

 

Yeah they were a fixed mount yoder...
FWIW I don't think the hole through the A-pillar would weaken the structure enough to be worried about. If it did they would'nt do it to cruisers and the like... I don't know about the US but up here it's ok as long as they are not operated in such a way as causes a hazard to traffic or impersonates a Police officer...
when i was delivering chinese back in the day the company cars all had these lights on them... very handy to light up the front of houses when looking for an address... also many private security patrol cars have them fitted as well...
One thing to think about though is a lot of punks like to rip them off that mount is not very robust and sometimes they can leak over time if not installed correctly finally ice/freezing rain can seize the mechanism.

 

Two very good reasons why not to do it.

 

Here is a great writeup for an FJ cruiser.

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forum...lots-pics.html

I thought about doing this, but will probably install a golight instead. Keep us updated if you go for it.

 

Toyota didn't design the A pillar with drilling a hole through it in mind and out side of it looking dumb I wouldn't do it.

 

i wouldnt drill through the A pillar. i've rolled my truck twice and i dont think it would hold up very well with a hole drilled in the A pillar. you never know whats gonna happen. i never planned on rollin my rig and i definatly wouldnt trust it holding up with a big ole hole drilled in the A pillar.

 

get a remote controlled one that goes on the roof like the one on this guys rig


http://www.4x4offroads.com/toyota-4runner.html

 

I had the same thoughts. Drilling a hole in the a pillar was way too permanent for me so this is what I came up with...
Side Mirror Hella 500s

 

Since toyospearo didnt see this thread hear ya go...

 

just saw it.. thanks scoob
here are a few more. I pulled this spotlight off one of our farm trucks. It was crome so I used reverse electrolysis to strip the crome. I then painted it black.
Theeee biggest PITA was drilling the hole. BE CAREFUL. if you dont do it right you will buckle the metal and crack your windshield.