thorpe991 Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Ok so I want to put a light bar on my vehical in front of the sunroof or at the front of the sun roof I like the look of the led bars but I have led fog lights and I'm not happy with the light out put so my ?s are 1. What put out better light ( area coverage ) 2. Is there away to hook one to the stock roof rail system 3. What brand should I look at for both led and a kc style light system 4. What do you run and or have tried 5. How did you run the wires to the switch inside and what mods did you do for the extra power needed ( I have a sound system that's pulling more power than the normal radio would Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhamelin819 Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 led light bar has amazing fog/spot combos, 20 inch would be perfect, i have run kc's which are also amazing, but the led's are a bit better and more durable, althoe you will pay alot more for the led light bar and inside switching is an easy instal, run it on a toggle switch or wire it to your high beams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhamelin819 Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 no extra power needed, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhamelin819 Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 and rigid light bar, 4 wheel parts.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverPath Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 What are you looking to do with the lights? you mention fog lights, running a LED bar on the street will get you a hefty fine, they are like looking into the sun at night. In area the bar will put more light out close by, but the technology isn't quite up to par at long ranges with say a HID spot beam. If you want a quality light bar you will be tossing some $$$$ out for Rigid, or Baja designs. However you can find lower quality china bars on ebay that hold up quite well for quite abit less. i have a 14" bar on the front of my bumper with 4 Hella Spot lights up top I have all my lights on seperate switches all relayed inside the engine compartment so I don't have to run any high amp circuits in the cab. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAustinHenry Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Go LED! On my list for sure, im just doing 2 (5") fogs to start but will do a long bar once I get a bumper made. LED is the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpe991 Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share Posted December 15, 2013 I would be running them only when I'm on the back roads I had some 4x3" spot lights on my old truck and they did the job perfectly to light up the road but they were on the bumper I still have those lights but there a box style and in think they would look funny on my pathfinder and the reason I put that about the fogs is because I thought they would be bright . Which when you stand in front of my pathy they are bright white but they don't put light out on the ground I've tried putting that at all different angles Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidscollegefund Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Previous thread here - http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/36405-light-bulbsoff-road-lightsheadlights-what-are-you-using-on-your-r50/. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidscollegefund Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 On sale now, can't go wrong here, get yourself a Christmas present - http://www.ebay.com/itm/24INCH-120W-LED-LIGHT-BAR-SPOT-WORK-LIGHTS-4WD-UTE-OFFROAD-Car-Boat-Truck-SUV-/131070350916?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e8466d644&vxp=mtr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpe991 Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share Posted December 15, 2013 (edited) I'm going to order some next week but if I was to hook up the spots I have from my truck on to my bumper would I be able to splice into the fog light wiring or do I have to put a new switch? Im going to leave the LEDs if I was to do this so I would have 4 lights running of my fog switch Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk Edited December 15, 2013 by thorpe991 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidscollegefund Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 You can use the fog light feed to run a relay but since this bar draws 16A you should run a dedicated, fused feed to a relay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theexbrit Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 (edited) I have a 24" 7200 lumen led bar on top & 2 1600 lumen spots on the bumper, the led's are very bright & a nice white light but they don't project as far as my old KC Daylighters. As silverpath says the distance isn't as good with leds but the amps are way lower than with halogen. I'm thinking of putting hid bulbs in my Daylighters & putting them back on for times when I need some distance. all my lights are on separate switches so I have a lot of lighting combo options. PS. My led bar is an el cheapo china knockoff, works great & is pretty well made. My 2 led spots are Ironman & are also well made & pretty bright. Edited December 16, 2013 by theexbrit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpe991 Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 so im thinking to get the light out put I want Im going to have to use led and halogen lights so im thinking after looking at the price of led bars to go with one that would be mounted on the bumper -and put two halogen lights on the roof . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theexbrit Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 The only problem I found with mixing led & halogen is the color (kelvin) difference. After you get used to the nice clean white light of the led bar, the grungy orangey/yellow light of the halogens doesn't mix very well even though they're very bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 (edited) so im thinking to get the light out put I want Im going to have to use led and halogen lights so im thinking after looking at the price of led bars to go with one that would be mounted on the bumper -and put two halogen lights on the roof . I would recommend going with all LEDs. Get a light bar for the roof and individual pods for the bumper. LEDs consume much less power per lumen than halogens. BlitzPro has some pretty good LED bars. The LED lenses/reflectors aren't quite as long-throwing as those from Rigid, but their lights are much less expensive. I used to run 4 55w IPF 630RV lights on my roof and while they were bright, I could hear the alternator change pitch when I turned them on. Last year I replaced them with 2 Rigid SR-M LED lights and a Rigid SR30 LED light bar, which now draw a combined total of less than 11 amps and are amazingly bright. My friends joke that I have the sun mounted to my roof. click photo link another photo Edited December 16, 2013 by XPLORx4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpe991 Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 ok so how long would the bar have to be and is there any way to mount it in the rail system on the roof? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theexbrit Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 I drilled holes for mine in the stock roof rack cross bar & it works ok, you just can't get the lights near the edge of the roof but if you don't mind them set back a little (& lighting up your hood) then you don't need a dedicated light bar. I have the 24" led bar but wish I'd got the 36" bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpe991 Posted December 18, 2013 Author Share Posted December 18, 2013 ok so theres no way of putting it closer to the front of the sunroof with out pting the bar there? and i should go with the 36" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 In order to mount any light system to the roof rack rails without using a factory cross bar, your light needs to be at least as wide as the distance between the roof rack channels, and you'd probably have to build your own brackets to fit in the roof rack channels. The photos I posted earlier show a 30" LED bar, so use that as an estimate for what size light bar you get. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpe991 Posted December 19, 2013 Author Share Posted December 19, 2013 ok where are the bolts that hole the roof rack to the roof? if i could find those i think i could make a bracket to bult to those with exsiting hardware and have it where i want Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Does your Pathfinder have the roof rack mounting channels on either side of the roof, that run the length of the roof? If not, there won't be any bolt holes. If yes, you can find or make a metal bracket that fits into the channels and attaches to either side of the light bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpe991 Posted December 19, 2013 Author Share Posted December 19, 2013 yes i have the rail system and i think at the front of the rails is where thy bolt to the roof so ill be on hold for mounting a light bar at the moment because i dont want to brake the plastic that covers the bolts but if i cant use the bolts there how would i make a mount that sits in the channel and is actually stationary ie not move back and forth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 You don't need to bolt to the roof rack channel, you can make your own mount. For each channel, you'll need some metal 7/8" wide and about 4" long. Drill holes in this metal and tap them so that a 6mm bolt will thread into each hole. Then get another piece of metal about 7" long, and bend a 90° angle in it 3" from one end. In the 4" end, drill 2 larger holes through which a 6mm bolt will pass. Align the two pieces of metal so that the holes line up. Now, remove the front end cap of the roof rack channel and slide the 4" long metal into channel. Place the bent 7" piece on top of the roof rack channel and tighten the top piece and bottom piece together to keep it from sliding back and forth. OR even easier is to just use the existing plates in the roof rack channel that are used to hold the crossbars. Then you just need the top piece of metal and some properly sized bolts/screws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpe991 Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 ok and if i wanted to stick out more towards the front i just make the top pieces have a longer piece till it bends thats really simple ok definitely going with that should i get a light that is exact length to the rails or just inside? from the middle of one to the middle of the other channel its 39" so should i look for a 39 or 40 inch wit hbottom mounts or a 35 or 38 inch with side mounts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpe991 Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 so scrath that last ? after drawing som sketch plans i think im going to try and find a 22 04 24 inch bar and do a mount that holds that and then ill get some for the bumper later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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