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Aux. backup lights "frenched" in rear bumper


02_Pathy
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Alright so first real post here. So after skimming the internet I came across a pathy with frenched in backup lights in the rear bumper and I thought that was pretty slick. (I saw it on expedition portal and I believe his name was Allof75). He sparked the idea for me to do this mod so I went for it. I bought the Hella ValueFit 6 led floodlights off amazon and the wiring harness for a decent price as they were the size and shape I wanted. These lights almost fit perfectly in the rear bumper where the stock reflectors are. So what I did first was remove the plastic cover off the rear bumper to expose the steel bumper underneath. Where the reflectors are, there's already a open spot in the steel bumper where you could mount the lights in and there's a piece of sheet metal in that space where I mounted the lights to. Then the next step I "carefully" dremeled out the outline of the reflectors in the plastic bumper so it would contour to the lights. Then it was a matter of putting the plastic bumper back on and off to readjust the lights and to trim a little bit of the plastic to fit well. After everything was set I moved on to wiring. I ran the wires through the rubber grommet where the stock tow package wiring harness goes into the cab of the truck then I routed the wires behind the interior panels all the way to the front and out the firewall where there's a hole for the clutch for the manual's I assume. Instead of splicing the back up lights to the stock back up lights I opted for a on/off switch as I don't want to compromise the stock wiring and cause a short or something. Also I did this because I could turn it on when I want for lighting up work areas, campsites, tailgaters and what ever I need it for. I don't necessarily need them all the time so the switch works out perfect for me. This "mod" was pretty straight forward the most tedious job was trimming a hole in the rear bumper and mounting the lights to the steel rear bumper. Again first post here so I might've forgotten something along the way on this install but feel free to ask questions and I'll try my best to respond to them! Also I'm having issues uploading pictures here so standby for those.

Edited by 02_Pathy
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Yup, those loaded!  Looks really good.  I remember seeing somebody did this a couple years ago and I always wanted to, but the Infiniti bumper doesn't have reflectors and I didn't want to blindly go cutting into the bumper cover.

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Yup, those loaded!  Looks really good.  I remember seeing somebody did this a couple years ago and I always wanted to, but the Infiniti bumper doesn't have reflectors and I didn't want to blindly go cutting into the bumper cover.
Finally! Yeah its nice having the stock reflectors as a reference point to cut out. If they didn't have them I would've wired them to the rack

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It looks really nice in person too! Really, his whole truck looks great.

 

One drawback is that this eliminates reflectors on the rear of the truck. I’ve advocated putting red reflective tape on the vertical surface of the lateral arms of the OEM hitch to compensate.

 

 

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Alternatively, It’s super easy to just mount them below the bumper. I have a pair mounted upside down with the mount screw coming up through the lower inside of the metal bumper that have been there 14 years. Mine are lateral to the OEM hitch but just inside where the hitch mounts to the truck. I’ve hit that hitch countless times but not yet taken those lights out. Mine are wired to the reverse lights with an override toggle down by the fuel release in case I want to use them at camp or to suggest to the person behind me to dim their headlights.

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+1 on a clean install! Looks like the same lights I used. Hopefully yours are waterproofed better than mine were.

 

2 hours ago, RainGoat said:

Alternatively, It’s super easy to just mount them below the bumper. I have a pair mounted upside down with the mount screw coming up through the lower inside of the metal bumper that have been there 14 years. Mine are lateral to the OEM hitch but just inside where the hitch mounts to the truck. I’ve hit that hitch countless times but not yet taken those lights out. Mine are wired to the reverse lights with an override toggle down by the fuel release in case I want to use them at camp or to suggest to the person behind me to dim their headlights.


I mounted mine to my '93 in the same place, between the bumper and the hitch. Nice and hidden, both visually and from whatever I might happen to back into.
 

12 hours ago, RainGoat said:

One drawback is that this eliminates reflectors on the rear of the truck. I’ve advocated putting red reflective tape on the vertical surface of the lateral arms of the OEM hitch to compensate.


Looks like the QX4 tail lights have reflectors built in. That could be another way to go without highlighting the hitch with tape. That said, the Pathy lights look a lot better IMO. The license plate's reflective, right? :lol:

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3 minutes ago, Slartibartfast said:

+1 on a clean install! Looks like the same lights I used. Hopefully yours are waterproofed better than mine were.

 


I mounted mine to my '93 in the same place, between the bumper and the hitch. Nice and hidden, both visually and from whatever I might happen to back into.
 


Looks like the QX4 tail lights have reflectors built in. That could be another way to go without highlighting the hitch with tape. That said, the Pathy lights look a lot better IMO. The license plate's reflective, right? :lol:

I put a thin line of silicone sealant around the edge of the lens so it wouldn't get moisture inside. And yes the license plate is highly reflective haha. Although the lights themselves are somewhat reflective when you hit them with light. With all the reflective bezels inside for the floodlight effect it helps reflect some light as well and since it's a bright color too it's pretty visible.

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7 minutes ago, Pathy_02 said:

I put a thin line of silicone sealant around the edge of the lens so it wouldn't get moisture inside. And yes the license plate is highly reflective haha. Although the lights themselves are somewhat reflective when you hit them with light. With all the reflective bezels inside for the floodlight effect it helps reflect some light as well and since it's a bright color too it's pretty visible.

 

I gobbed silicone on mine like I was icing a cake LOL. Don't forget the back where the wires go in, that wasn't sealed at all on mine.

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I gobbed silicone on mine like I was icing a cake LOL. Don't forget the back where the wires go in, that wasn't sealed at all on mine.
Well I'm glad you told me because I haven't gobbed the back of the housing will do that before the rain just dumps nonstop for 6 months lol

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Question. Can I tap into my reverse light with some led pods to do the same thing you did?


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Yeah you can tap into the stock reverse lights with the pods. Theres other people and forums that have a how to on how to tap into the stock wiring.

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Awesome thank you

Yeah you can tap into the stock reverse lights with the pods. Theres other people and forums that have a how to on how to tap into the stock wiring.

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Awesome thank you



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Yeah of course. I just did a switch because I'm not the best with electrical so I didnt tap into the wiring just to be on the safe side

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