BajaNomad

My Light Bar has been modified for 4 lights!

David K - 2-22-2011 at 12:36 AM

Originally, Josh (of Stewart's Raceworks, Santee, CA) made my '05 Tacoma a custom light bar for my two HID lights... they cracked (the plastic housing) after on Baja trip with lots of washboard roads.



Josh repaired them with fiberglass, but then I got a pair of Hella 4000 metal lamps (100 watt pencil beams) and installed them on my bar... The '05 was changed to the '10, and the light bar was moved onto the new truck... The place the bar mounted had changed slightly and it wiggled a lot...



Today, Josh modified the mounting locartion to stop the shaking and changed the two tabs to four... then did a great job with the wires and new light switches.















Stewart's raceworks is where Baja and desert racers get built, modified, repaired and ready... Custom 'luxury' 4WD pre-runners like the Ford Raptor truck are also made there!



























Okay, back to my Tacoma and the modified light bar!













Easy to see the difference between a halogen (yellow-white) light and an HID (blue-white) light output color.













Later tonight...



STOCK TACOMA HIGH BEAMS:









ADD 7" HID EURO BEAM Kragens:









ADD 8" HELLA 4000 100 watt halogen Pencil Beams:



racheldarlin - 2-22-2011 at 07:28 AM

Very nice looking mod. The pics clearly show the difference in illumination but I'm sure they don't do justice to the reality.

I saw a rig like yours yesterday. Had a stinger on the front, canopy w/rack, and looked like 33" tires. Said Baja all over it!!

David K - 2-22-2011 at 08:36 AM

That lights working photo set was by my house, I may need to aim them more, but need a big field or long road... I just wanted to show the difference last night with the new set up working.

You can surely see the amount of light difference between stock, legal headights and HIDs added, and how they benefit ones vision at night in the desert. The third photo shows how the pencil beams throw their light way far down the road. The three photos were taken from inside the truck.

racheldarlin - 2-22-2011 at 08:50 AM

David

I wasn't being critical. I can clearly see the difference. I was just saying the photos probably cannot do justice the real enhanced illumination so.......

When you get it out in the boonies it will be interesting to hear how far down the road your set up (by measurement) will throw light at each stage.

David K - 2-22-2011 at 09:37 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by racheldarlin
David

I wasn't being critical. I can clearly see the difference. I was just saying the photos probably cannot do justice the real enhanced illumination so.......

When you get it out in the boonies it will be interesting to hear how far down the road your set up (by measurement) will throw light at each stage.


I didn't take it as critical... no worries!

When I get out of town to a big field or long road, I will shoot more photos at night to see the various lights working.

Barry A. - 2-22-2011 at 10:16 AM

2 comments/concerns-------

I thought we were not supposed to drive in Baja at night? :spingrin:

I am wondering if the configuration of your lights interferes with air flow to the radiator to such an extent that you may have overheating problems? (I had that problem once)

Barry

David K - 2-22-2011 at 10:22 AM

I see many vehicles with full light bars like this... so I am not worried... If that does happen, I can simply remove them in a couple minutes!

Baja12valve - 2-22-2011 at 10:23 AM

I put airplane landing lights on my truck. I can tell if a dime is heads or tails from 150'.

Barry A. - 2-22-2011 at 10:31 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Baja12valve
I put airplane landing lights on my truck. I can tell if a dime is heads or tails from 150'.


Ha!!!! I did the same thing about 40 years ago--------worked super, but they do draw a LOT of amps. A bigger alternator solved that problem. Landing lights were free from a wrecked airplane.

Fun, fun!!! Not to many serious off-road lights seen in those days. :lol:

I still have a couple mounted on a Yakima roof bar-----but only use in Baja.

barry

TheBajaKid - 2-22-2011 at 10:39 AM

Looks nice David k. Did you mess up your light bar this weekend in the snow? One of your pics from this lats weekend looked like one light was mounted different ? or was it just me?

Baja12valve - 2-22-2011 at 10:44 AM

Draw lots of amps, they do, but you don't get something for nothing! I used to work in Special Effects, they had bins of the bulbs and they were getting rid of them. I still have a bunch in reserve. I too have had them for decades. Love 'em.

David K - 2-22-2011 at 02:34 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by whistler
Racedezert website has video of Stewart's Raceworks build of the Raptor.Awesome fabrication.Wish my welds looked half as good as theirs.
Looks good,David.


That first video of the Raptor project mostly featured Keith doing the work... Keith was at the shop for a bit yesterday. Josh (Baja Angel's son) will be featured a lot in Part 4 of that series as he did most of the interior work, wiring, etc..

Only Part 1 is on You Tube, so far... It was very well done. Can you see how much Josh's boss (Craig) looks like Ivan Stewart?

Have a look... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e94KR97acTQ&feature=playe...

David K - 2-22-2011 at 02:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TheBajaKid
Looks nice David k. Did you mess up your light bar this weekend in the snow? One of your pics from this lats weekend looked like one light was mounted different ? or was it just me?


No, nothing messed in the snow at all..

One of the metal tabs for the Hella lamp cracked a while ago, so I put a temporary clamp on mount from KC Lights company. Good eyes!