Time for the update! I was feeling better today, and had some time to kill before work so I thought I'd tackle the install...we all know what Thought did....

Step one according to the instruction sheet, measure the distance from end casting to end casting so you can cut the bar. So I slid the end castings in the rain gutters:


Instructions say to use two people for this, but I figured a wallet and a flashlight weigh the end casting down enough I can level it off and get a good measurement.


After I measured twice, I cut once:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...7-cut-once.jpg

on each side of the bar so it's even of course:


Hope those measurements were correct, cuz this is final:


Next was just to put the bar together LOOSELY so I could make minor adjustments:


Then put it on the roof and tighten it down:


Then you're supposed to ad these metal "L" brackets to literally clamp the light bar on to your rain gutter, and that's where I ran in to my first/only problem:


As you can imagine from the pictures, that metal "L" bracket isn't real flexible. When I attached that I could no longer close my door. I'm looking at a few options here...I'll either have to put a couple 90 degree angles in the bracket so it bends around the door frame, contact CARR and find out if they make some other kind of brackets, or just find out I'm doing the whole thing wrong and give up. I can't remember the last time I've given up, so I'll either be fabricating or replacing pretty soon. I'll let you guys know if I find a way to make this fit better. Otherwise, CARR has some work to do before they can claim they make these to fit on our trucks.

Hope to talk to you guys soon with some good news!

 

man the bar looks good up there! hopefully you can get the mounting figured out!

 

Yeah, I definitely love the look of it up there. I just need to find a way to keep it secure while still getting the doors to close. lol. I'm about 2 inches shy of just putting a magnet up there!

 

Well looks good so far, good luck with the rest

 

Sadly after all of this, i just got off the phone with Carr and the told me they dont make a mounting bracket for our trucks. Looks like I'll be making a reluctant return to truckaddons.com.

 

is there no way you can fab up a bracket to make it work?

 

Really sorry it didn't work for you. If you wanted an idea for something similar, I've seen someone put a Thule bike rack bar that they make for our trucks on and then he drilled out his own holes for lights and it seemed to have worked great. Been debating on doing this since we don't have many options.

 

Six, i could fab somerhing up, but i just have this "thing" about using something that wasnt meant for our trucks to begin with. If I'm gonna do anything like that Id rather return it and get my money back, then do something like wolf suggested. Mount a rack that belongs there and THEN find a way to mount the lights.

 

i hear ya! i almost bought a thule roof rack to do just what wolf said. ive seen it done before on our trucks.

 

Since they come with two bars if you order one you could sell the other

 

I'm all about modifying the roof rack, but most of them require factory cross bars or somethin, I'm just trying to find either something universal, or some that don't require the cross bar...This turned in to a week long frustration instead of a weekend project! haha

 

Ok, so I just have to say this to get it off my chest. www.truckaddons.com is a GREAT website if you're looking for anything after market for your truck. I've searched through their stuff a few times and they seem to provide a pretty good price on everything I've searched for. That being said, if you ever see something on there you want, MAKE SURE IT'S RIGHT FOR YOUR TRUCK! They have little drop down selections on the website for finding things for your truck, and if it's a universal item, they'll say it's for your truck. That works with things that truly are universal, but in the case of this light bar, there are special brackets you need to mount it to the truck that Carr doesn't make for the 97-03 models. I ran in to the problem when I opened the box and started installing it. Fortunately, I called Carr directly for the brackets, and when I spoke to a woman there that told me they don't make them for our truck, she told me they would take the light bar back after I contacted the website I went through to purchase it. Had I not called Carr first, they wouldn't have taken back my open (and slightly modified) light bar. When I emailed them saying, "your website listed this as an item for my truck, so this is your fault I have to return it" They basically told me, you voided your option to return the item the minute you opened it. It's not our fault if something was mis-marked on our website. I guess what I'm saying is the website is a great website with a huge selection, but their return policy is REALLY strict. Fortunately after a few emails and phone calls, I was finally able to get an RGA number to return it, but I don't think many others could say they were as lucky as I was.

 

Hi guys I just received my carr light bar, I see some of you are having problems with your mounting brackets, I just bent the L bracket almost straight and then attached it to the inside of the end casting instead of the outside it mounted perfectly, doors close perfectly .

 

If ya have any questions just email me at mymercades@gmail.com.