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Installing LED Lightbar on top of my Tacoma
I went ahead and bought one of the LED lightbars from Lazerstar not too long ago. I couldn't resist! I needed some light on my truck and it was going to cost me $500 anyways so I might as well throw a little more fuel on the fire and grab one of those big lightbars so I can REALLY see at night. My offroading at night doesn't consist of covering desert race courses at 100+ mph so a nice LED light bar will do just what I need it to do. The middle of the light bar consists of more focuses lenses over the LED's and on each side of those are LED's that use lenses that diffuse the light more like a fog light.
I'll post up more and more pictures as I take them. But for now here are the pictures of the light bar itself when I unboxed the Lazer Star LED bar. http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_..._lights_09.jpg http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_..._lights_08.jpg http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_..._lights_07.jpg |
I was pretty shocked at the quality of this unit. The metal alloy casing is super strong and definitely weighs enough. At least you get your money's worth with these instead of some cheap plastic housings I have seen on other lights.
http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_..._lights_06.jpg http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_..._lights_05.jpg |
And now it's time to put some power to them! They hardly use any energy so I went ahead and connected my 12V Makita battery to fire them up. It's pretty amazing how little power they consume. And you do not want to stare into them. No matter how hard you try you still can't resist looking at them!
http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_..._lights_03.jpg http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_..._lights_04.jpg http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_..._lights_01.jpg |
Time to update this thread a little bit here so everyone can check out how things worked out with these Lazerstar lights. They install quick and once you just put some low amperage volts to them they light right up without a problem. They are so power friendly that along is a reason for using them. They won't drain your power system hardly at all and you don't even need more than a 10amp fuse to power them.
Anyhow here are a couple picks of me installing them on my Tacoma. I started out by throwing the lightbar on the bench so I could start dreaming up a mounting system. As long as you have something to bolt them to then you're in business. I wanted an easier removable bar to mount them on. http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...llation_05.jpg The clamps that hold them work really well and slide back and forth along the length of the lightbar. Once you tighten them they don't move at all, no chance. http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...llation_04.jpg |
I found an aluminum bike rack type bar that is slim like an airplane wing. I used spacers on the ends since the rack piece has a curve in it.
http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...llation_02.jpg Then I needed a place to bolt it up so my friend Steve over at Dirt Designs cut a couple holes in the top of the truck and welded some tubing pieces to the rollcage. They stick out like horns and I was able to weld up a couple brackets that hold the aluminum bar. http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...install_02.jpg |
Lazerstar Lightbar crossbar done finally.
http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...llation_01.jpg http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...llation_03.jpg |
The wiring for the Lazerstar LED light bar basically consists of a low amp relay connected to a switch on my dash. The small gauge wires are easy to run up to the lights and secure quickly with zip ties. The lights are super bright and they shine bright enough that I don't need anything else since I'm not driving at 100mph at night. You really don't need lights that go any further than these unless you are racing REALLY quickly in the desert and then you simply throw on a couple of spot/pencil beams on your bumper and the problem is solved. I'll probably be doing this later on when my bumpers are made.
You think the light is hard on your eyes just looking into them in this picture? Try looking at them in real life. They will seriously burn your pupils out if you look at them head on, day or night. http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...tar_led_01.jpg http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...tar_led_02.jpg |
And some more shots of the my Tacoma out in the wild. :)
http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...station_01.jpg http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...station_04.jpg Don't try this in person, although everyone always has to look right into it no matter what I tell them. http://fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_...station_03.jpg |
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