Aux Lighting

wingman4 · #1 10-26-2009, 12:19 AM

Hey guys, just trying to get some suggestions for some auxiliary lighting. What do you guys think of roof racks and or the Carr light bars? What do you think would look better on my truck?

Looking for something like this: http://www.offroadunlimited.com/orus...ails.asp?id=55

or maybe a setup similar to Jolly Green's (with the carr light bar) or Impact 9 (with the camper shell + roof rack)

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thejake1989 · #2 10-26-2009, 12:38 AM

have you looked at the n-fab light bars? they look great on the 04-08

wingman4 · #3 10-26-2009, 09:04 AM

Ya I was hoping someone was gonna suggest that one... I just wanted to get some opinions - I had someone tell me it wouldn't look good (I disagree).... Cause Im trying to mount a winch, and I was looking at the basic winch mount from www.truckwinchmount.com, and that n-fab light bar (and to mount the winch I would have a tow hitch mounted under the front bumper).... but ya I really want to look into the rack lights too, cause I do a lot of night driving (on and off-road)

DDuan · #4 10-26-2009, 10:12 AM

I think that roof mount looks great man!!! but im not sure how much you are willing to invest. I found a road armor one with lights. Here is the link the picture. Not sure if its something you are interested in or not. Just bored at work and trying to offer a look. Good luck with your search!!!
http://image.off-roadweb.com/f/91325...ercarriage.jpg

wingman4 · #5 10-26-2009, 03:06 PM

sweet man. Thanks for the link! I have seen that truck on the web before and I really like that guys setup.

MudTerrain · #6 10-26-2009, 04:36 PM

I think the ORU rack looks great!!

I'm not crazy about the N-Fab 'prerunner' bar on a basicaly stock truck... It doesn't look like it belongs...

thejake1989 · #7 10-26-2009, 04:46 PM

The one I was suggesting is their non prerunner light bar. I think it fits with most trucks stock or not

4x4wolf · #8 10-26-2009, 06:11 PM

I've always loved the carr light bars and roof rack, just couldn't find any that would fit my truck

wingman4 · #9 10-26-2009, 06:47 PM

what do you guys think about a camper shell with the ORU rack on top with lights? Basically like what impact9 has: http://www.impact9.org/

thejake1989 · #10 10-26-2009, 08:24 PM

idk im not the biggest fan of the camper shells but if you need one then it works out.

Impact9 · #11 10-26-2009, 10:26 PM

I love my shell the only down side is the tall stuff can be a challenge to haul around. For example I had to get a water heater the other day and they are suppose to be hauled standing up. I couldn't do that so I had to lay it down. Same thing with my 80 gallon air compressor. If my wife wasn't pregnant at the time she could of helped me lift the shell off. But the groceries never get wet and all the stuff we drove cross country with stayed nice and dry.

The roof rack can be put over cab as well you just have to get the correct model landing pads. I have a extension in the middle of my rack that adds like 16" to the length. Expect to pay like $500 or more for this type of setup used or $1000+ new. Scrub ebay and you can drive the price down pretty quick.

Nice thing is it's a system, you don't have to buy it all at once to start using it. Get the control towers, landing pads and crossbars. Then get the basket, make your own light mounts or buy theirs. Or just get one pair of control towers, pads, and one crossbar, then have a shop make a simple L shaped mount for the lights.

I'm not a fan of the defender racks at all. They look good but they aren't rack systems. You have to drill into your truck to install them and that's not good for a daily driver. The Thule and Yakima racks use special clips that grip the roof edges and you can remove with out any damage to the finish.

N-fab makes light bars that don't have the prerunner look which are very nice and easy to install. Here's one I like:

http://www.n-fab.com/products/sfID1/.../productID/295

The Carr light bar light Jolly Green has is pretty nice too. Just not my taste when I can get the roof rack and use it for other things.

wingman4 · #12 10-26-2009, 10:55 PM

Thanks Impact! That's really helpful! And yeah, this is my daily driver, so I don't really want to drill too much into it, especially if I might take it off... I have a toolbox, but I really just wanted that originally to mount an antenna, and to put a few tools... I don't carry stuff usually, but when I do, Im usually carrying passengers + luggage, and heading to the beach for a weekend with my brother or my brother and his fiancee and then it gets kinda cramped in the back seat for room. So I figure something like this would be good for keeping stuff dry and maybe even sleeping in and hauling stuff on the trail and keeping it dry (and out of the mud :P)

Jolly_Green_Giant · #13 10-27-2009, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4x4wolf

I've always loved the carr light bars and roof rack, just couldn't find any that would fit my truck

They fit your truck. You just have to get the mounting bracket for the sides. The bar is made long and has to be trimmed to fit the width of the vehicle it's going on.

The Carr has it's pros and cons. If I had it to do over again I wouldn't get the "rota" version. It's a neat idea but such a pain I never "rota" it. It's a little squeaky over rough terrain. I also saw a marked drop in gas milage but I'd imagine that would be the case no matter what bar I went with.

Looks good imo and works well. Very little to no light shake over rough terrain.

Should be plenty of pics in my gallery.

.

wingman4 · #14 10-27-2009, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jolly_Green_Giant

I also saw a marked drop in gas milage.

Hey Jolly, how much decrease did you see? cause currently (recently reset my truck to stock settings, reprogrammed it, and ran some seafoam thru the AI) my mileage is up to... yes up to about 14.3 mpg.. oh and I took my toolbox out :/ not sure if that affects any air flow (cause the mythbusters thing was w/o a toolbox) except that with it I removed about 300 lbs of stuff just sitting in my box... before I was getting 12.5 - 13.5 mpg

Jolly_Green_Giant · #15 10-27-2009, 06:56 PM

I'm not sure about just the light bar since I installed the grill guard, light bar, and all 7 lights at the same time. But I dropped from about 16'ish to 13'ish. As she sits right now highway milage at about 70mph runs between 12.7mpg and 13.5mpg depending on terrain and wind.