J Everett's Blue Meanie

maillet282

If you bleeding, Imma fix you
Moderator
Location
Ontario Canada
Holy crap you guys! I almost forgot to share this with you!

I've had my 2nd Xterra for 5 years now. I've always been disappointed in the factory off road roof lights, but I really liked the factory look. Also, I've never been night wheeling on anything more than a beach, and I don't need a 40" LED light bar up there, so that leads me back to keeping the factory look. I tried Silverstar bulbs for a definite improvement, but I still wanted more. I had bought some RIGID Duallies waaay back when, with the intent of creating a custom bracket to make them fit, but the pods in the air dam just wouldn't allow it.

2016: Enter the Rugged Ridge 15209! It's actually a little smaller than a perfect fit, but it has as many raw lumens as a Dually and is much smaller. And also cheaper! So I made it work.

After acquiring a pair of lights, and mocking everything up to see what else I would need, I also bought these adapter harnesses and this kitchen cutting board (bear with me).

I cut each of the harnesses in half and spliced the end that looks like a 9005 bulb socket to the plugs that plug into the lights. This creates a jumper harness between the truck and the lights without cutting into either the truck harness or the light leads. I apologize for not having any pics, but it's pretty self explanatory.

Next, the reason for the cutting board: I needed a 1/2" thick spacer. HDPE is a stout material that is easy to work with. It also turns out the HPDE cutting boards are waaaay cheaper than just buying raw material. Plus it comes in blue! So I took the entire light brackets apart and made a pattern using poster board that I then transferred to the cutting board. You can see the rough shape here:




I mocked everything up and found where I needed to drill for the mounting bolt, then drilled and countersunk the bolt head, as seen above.

Then it was merely a case of attaching the lights, lining everything up and then attaching the cutting board adapter blocks to the factory light brackets. I did that last bit by drilling two holes into the light bracket and adapter block and attaching it with self tapping screws. I don't have a pic of this, but I need to make a small aiming adjustment, so if anyone needs that pic, just ask.


Reassemble the whole thigamajig and plug everything in, zip tie wires out of the way and bolt back to the roof. Voila! LED pods in the factory off road roof light location!




Mega huge shoutout to Jay (Prime) for sending me a new rubber trim piece for the bottom of the air dam! Mine was shot!

did you end up taking pics of how you attached the LED lights to the mounting bracket behind the wind deflector?

and are you planning on typing up a quick how to?
 

J Everett

Suspension Lift
Founding Member
Location
Houma, LA
I will take that pic sometime this weekend. But what you see above is as close to a how to as I'm gonna make. I guess I can copy and paste that info into a HOW-TO thread.
 

J Everett

Suspension Lift
Founding Member
Location
Houma, LA
The Pic would be greatly appreciated


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I apologize for not getting that pic this weekend. Life intervened in a huge way. I hope to take it this afternoon after work. I'm just going to remove the basket and get a shot like that. I hope it will be enough.
 

maillet282

If you bleeding, Imma fix you
Moderator
Location
Ontario Canada
I apologize for not getting that pic this weekend. Life intervened in a huge way. I hope to take it this afternoon after work. I'm just going to remove the basket and get a shot like that. I hope it will be enough.

Hope all is well with you and your family. That comes first over a pic for a mod. When you get a chance it would be greatly appreciated


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

J Everett

Suspension Lift
Founding Member
Location
Houma, LA
If you've ever had the air dam off you'll recognize this as the part that mounts the lights to the actual wind fairing. Where the two bolts are is the spot that tells you that the replacement bulbs are 9005.



The adapter plates I made were clamped with small C-clamps so I could drill the bracket and plate at the same time so they would match up. This is approximately where they were drilled, so you can hopefully see how they are mounted without my having to pull the whole assembly apart.



I welcome any questions, but please, I beg of you, don't make me pull it apart again, lol
 

maillet282

If you bleeding, Imma fix you
Moderator
Location
Ontario Canada
If you've ever had the air dam off you'll recognize this as the part that mounts the lights to the actual wind fairing. Where the two bolts are is the spot that tells you that the replacement bulbs are 9005.



The adapter plates I made were clamped with small C-clamps so I could drill the bracket and plate at the same time so they would match up. This is approximately where they were drilled, so you can hopefully see how they are mounted without my having to pull the whole assembly apart.



I welcome any questions, but please, I beg of you, don't make me pull it apart again, lol

I think it am getting the idea of how you attached it. Looks like I need take things apart again once I have enough time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Top