Ordered all the parts for my next headlight retro fit to go with my new corners. Took advantage of the retrofit source sale and saved some solid money.

Excited to try something new.

 

where'd you get mount for the winch? in some of the pics it looks like it doesn't go into the hitch so I'm curious. I have an xrc8 sitting around

I was looking at this but idk if it'll be too low
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...FTJp7AodnS8AZw

 

This is going to be sick!!

 

the one I got was this

Hitch Receiver Mount for Winches

it was cheap and I never ran it with the arms because they hit my KCs it dropped into my front hitch when I had it. I built the hitch to tuck the winch as close as possible to the bumper.

worked out real well.

 

awesome thanks mike. I'll look for it next time I'm up towards HF.

 

I did have to drill another hole to fit it just right so the curt one may be better to give you some adjustability.

Make sure to run the cable to the tow hook and tighten slightly to keep the winch from rattling.

 

cool, thanks for the tips

 

Gave the truck a bath and took some pics of the latest lighting mods.

Added some new puddle lights to the side of the rock sliders, the sliders blocked most of the light from my existing ones so I added another side emitting strip.



Heres the new corners light up and on the truck they look great. I am also testing some LED fog bulbs



Corners, can't wait to build my new headlights. ordered my FXR 3.0s and a tone of LEDs for a new set of headlights. stay tuned.



Bulbs are not bad we will see how they hold up.



Strobes light up!



and video of the strobes, pretty happy with the results gives me full coverage even when I don't have my rear bar on. should be plenty obnoxious when I am on the side of the road.

DSCN0838_zps573972df.mp4 Video by mike_riderfr | Photobucket

Also got my Xmas lights up (yes they are LED and Yes I have a problem)




Supercharger showed up now it just begins the parts buying frenzy to put it all together.

 

looks good! i didn't know you got a new bumper on there lol. looks badass

 

Thanks! I have a rear in the works.

 

Sweet! Happy to hear about the FX-R 3.0's! I too took advantage.


Question though.... I've yet to come across anyone local with LED bars mounted up high pointed forward. With you having projectors, you might be able to give me a good opinion. I'm currently getting my canopy set up with a Yakima basket and wanting lighting up top. I can do about a 34-36" bar up there. Would its output be enough of a long range reach? Would it be impressive? Or would it be better to have old fashioned halogen or HID spot beams?

I'm bouncing between 4 KC long range HID converted units up there or a LED bar. I'm crossing my fingers for good output from a bar for easy, clean, slick mounting and installation. I'm VERY impressed with my spot beam 27W LED work lights I use for back ups up top.

Thanks for any help.

 

Damn that's a lot of light.

I wish I would paid attention to The Retrofit Source's site, I need to get retro parts.

Truck looks good as usual.

Shane, I'm in a similar position, if I get badass projectors will an LED bar help at all?

 

Thanks Man ya I think I have taken advantage of TRS sales every year for the past 3 lol.

The simple answer is yes it helps D2S and FXR projectors put out light on par with a good LED bar.

Long answer bellow


Long answer, the LED bars are great but not all bars are created equal. and to find the best use it really depends on where you want your light.

My LEDs set up 2 Rigid D2 driving beams and a asian 20in combo bar are an amazing trail flood and fill the immediate area and I would have trouble out running them.

there is also a huge differance in mounting location my explorer has a the same bar as my truck but low mounted on the bumper the truck is much higher and preforms better. (the explorer has 55w d2S projectors and 55w stock high beams so its bright...)

here's some out put shots to show what I am talking about. tree line is roughly 75ft away.

here is low beams (d2s projectors with morimoto 55W balasts and bulbs) darn good by any standard)



here's high beams



and high beams with 100w KC daylighters (longrange spot beam) beam is much more concentrated and these through light the furthest down the road. dosent hold a candle to my go light but the range is great so they have not been replaced ... Yet.



For comparison here is just my LEDs (2 Rigid D2 driving beams and a asian 20in combo bar) the 2 small D2 rigids are as bright or brighter then my bar.



and all on.



IMO the LEDs are worth it with projectors if you want options and more edge and tree light. with my set up I 180 degree light and plenty of coverage. it also gives me lots of options I do lots of sceen lighting with my truck in search and rescue so its nice to have low draw floods I can light up anything i need to with.

hope that helps

 

had a mission spin up last night for a stranded vehicle that got snowed in (almost 3 feet in 24hrs)
















truck ran great all night in 17* weather in over 3 feet of snow. the XJ and land rover got fairly stuck turning around but the ranger and TJ has no problems.

we defiantly did some snow plowing. also put ALL of my lights to use.

Found out my air compressor is toast so I will need to work on an OBA system.

 

SNOW RUN SOON!!

 

im down for some snow

 

Double post sorry!

 

Only high end bars will help at long distance. Baja designs onx and vision-x light cannons are the best two options

 

What is the color temp of your headlights? They almost look pink

 

Correct it's all in the reflector and the design of the optics. I ran a pair of. Light cannons for a month this summer and loved them ( product testing) but I have been most impressed with the long range capability of the arb intensities.

Just depends what your end goal is. My led golight has the optics supper focused and will light a hillside a mile away with daylight.

They are 4300k they look pink from my Iphone and all the amber mixing in from my corner light LEDs

 

Thanks for the info about the LED's. I really appreciate it. I think I may pull trigger on a cheap eBay bar. I just can't justify the cost of running a name brand bar on a lamp I will likely never use in actuality. A good friend of mine bought himself and his girlfriend eBay bars and they seem impressed for the cost.

That first snow pic is awesome!!! We'd take the snow-cat up on the back of my F550 for that sorta recovery!

 

ya they work our pretty well.

this is one of the better deals I have found

http://www.strobesnmore.com/Strobes-...-Lightbar.html

A snow cat would have been nice!

We had snowmobiles behind us but my unit was the first on scene and getting the vehicle located and the driver out safe was the first priority.

 

Went out yesterday to go get a Christmas tree, wasn't nearly as much snow as we were hoping for but we defiantly still had fun. what snow was there was wet and heavy.

Airing down



Parked for lunch at the top of the hill





we were hoping to find a spot with a view but this is all we could find.









Found a tree!



Heading back out,










found a bunch of elk on the way out.



Tree is drying now and we plan to get it put up later today.

 

Got a Gopro for Xmas so here's some video from this weekends trip into the woods.

Tahuya 12 28 13 - YouTube

Cracked one of my mirrors on a tree when the truck slid on a wet root but easy fix and everything still works.

 

AWESOME VID!! I watched the whole way through and recognized several places in it! Did you have it mounted on your whirrly twirrly light? So cool!

Ugh....wish I had normal people working hours and schedule. I need a trip with my truck and/or my guns.