OK guys I have an 06 screw with the chrome bumper and no foglights. I have seen different members on the forums do some great light mods but the best one is some piaa lights behind the grille. It is nice because you can see them lurking in the background and the height is perfect for lighting up the night. Anyone have some pics or recomendations on how to go about this? Thanks.

 

Ask and you shall receive.



Check my gallery for more pictures on the fabrication and installation.

 

Nice setup. Thanks I had not seen square lights but they look really good. I am going to check your gallery right now.

 

Uhhh, I know I don't know much, and I'm thinking way too hard, but...

If the purpose of the lights is to give additional light, why would you put them behind the grille, which will reduce their effectiveness?

If you want dim lights, just buy cheap ones.

 

I hate to burst your bubble, but there is more air space in your grill than you might think. (That's how air gets to your radiator.) That's a pair of Hella 550 driving lights with 130 watt bulbs in them. When I latch into the high beams (my driving lights come on with the high beams), you'd better have some suntan lotion on. Ask anybody who's seen them (check the burn ward) if the grill cuts down on light output. Now, if I'd been silly enough to put FOG beams back there, you might have a valid point.

 

Uh, thanks for your concern, but my bubble's just fine. I'd love to hear how "air space" behind the grille means that the bulb's brightness isn't affected by the FACT that there is now a physical barrier between the light and the surface it is shining on. By the way, a "grill" sits on the back porch and burns burgers, but a car or truck has a "grille".

Of course, if you only have the lights to shine on people and impress them with how bright they are, that's totally different. The reason I put lights on my truck was to shine on the driving surface, especially when off road. I guess I'll have to admit that I never thought I would need to light up the radiator supports, splash guards, and the back side of my grille to help my driving. Or was it you were concerned that Ford didn't properly design the engine's cooling system and you wanted to block air flow to make the radiator less efficient on cold winter days?

And by the way, you were silly enough to put lights behind the grille, so my point is perfectly valid. All you told us by bragging a brand name and numbers is that you spent money on a product that you chose to not use to it's fullest capability.

 

I'm glad sarcasim is still a core value here, but let me clarify a few things. First, The lighting on my truck (virtually none of it stock) is all done for a purpose. That purpose is not to just look good. All of my lighting upgrades have been done to put more useful light on the ground - in specific places. Yes, I would have loved to put a rack up on a roll bar for "off road use only." Truth is, I don't go off road and my garage opening doesn't allow that kind of placement. So, behind the grill was a logiocal alternative. We actually did some testing on a dark school field with several sets of lights and bulbs - with the hood (and grill) up and down. The difference was imperceptable. Don't you hate scientific method? Oh yea, and "lighting up my radiator" wasn't a result or goal. Air flow to my radiator - although technically changed - does not seem to have been significant enough to cause any change in operating temperature either. Kiss and make up?

 

Not the best pictures, but those are the ones I have for now. In no means am I getting in the middle of this pissing match, but I do agree with both sides of the arguments regarding the lights behind the grill. Yes, obviously hiding lights behind another physical object will block SOME of the light, the amount that is blocked, in my case, is minimal. I honestly didn't know the effect the grille would have on the lights before I installed them, but thought they would look "cool" regardless. When I first installed them, I had the original honeycomb-style grill on the truck. This grille blocked noticeably more light than the billet grill that is currently on the truck. So YES some light does get blocked, but it is minimal. It really is all a matter of taste and what function your lights are serving. Just my .02


Oh yea, these are Hella 500 driving lights

 

Awsome setup! So can you give me some steps on how you mounted them. Fabricate, weld, maf sensor, etc, etc..

Thanks,
M

 

It was actually REALLY easy. Other people have made more elaborate brackets, but I just went with a very simple setup. I had some sheet metal laying around (little bigger than 1/8 inch thick) and made a template for the cutout (it's just a rectangle). Make sure if you do it this way you measure how long the bracket has to be so that your lights are mounted in the center of the grille when the hood is closed. I cut the metal using a plasma but you can use a sawz-all or hand saw if that's all you have. You might even be able to find something at Home Depot that you would only have to cut to length as they have some metal stock. I then bent (using the side of a bench and a BFH) the bracket so that it came off of the radiator support at an angle that I thought was acceptable. I mounted the metal on the crossbar by drilling some holes through the light bracket and into the frame crossmember and attaching with nuts and bolts. Then just drill the hole in the correct spot to mount the lights and you're done. I did paint the brackets before I put them on as well. VERY simple. Need any clarification just let me know.

 

NHSP-06

Thanks for the info. You are right that does seem pretty simple, I think I have my saturday morning planned now I am not going offroading or anything but are they pretty stable? Thanks again.

M

 

Due to the thickness of the brackets that I used, they are EXTREMELY stable. You don't notice any bouncing up and down on bumpy roads or anything of that nature. I know some guys that have mounted lights differently and complain about the lights bouncing. With this setup, I have never had that problem.

 

When you say you used to have the original honeycomb grille, did you cut it out when you installed your billet grille? The reason I ask is I just purchased a wire mesh grille and the directions call for cutting that part of the original grille out, and I'm not to fond of cutting into it without good justification. Again, I'm just trying to decide if I want to go forth and cut the factory grille out before installing the new custom grille.

 

After looking into your question in more depth, I guess the actual name of my original grill is "bar-style grill." It looked like the bottom one

The stull grille I bought was a replacement grille so I did NOT have to cut out the original. The only cutting/drilling I had to do to the truck was drill out some new mounting holes on the inner tabs of the grille surround. The new grille came with new brackets and everything. Sorry about the confusion about the type of original grille. Anything else I can help you with feel free to ask

 

NHSP-06, unfortunately I have they "honeycomb" grille, and it sucks for the fact that this new grille that I bought requires you to cut the comb area out. The stock grille itself has the tabs that I'm guessing you're talking about, but they are impossible to get out, and also the honeycomb is molded to the frame of the grill, so I'm guessing that is why the manufacturer of this custom grille requires the honeycomb to be cut out. I've removed the "Ford" emblem from the stock grille to allow room for the new grill to see how it looks, and it's ok looking, but the black oval kinda takes away from the custom look. I'm thinking possibly this weekend to go ahead and cut the stock grill out and get the look that the manufacturer sells. Thanks for the info though. I'll get some pics going once I get it all done for all to see.