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back up lights

Ba-Riedo

Ba-Riedo

has frame envy
Location
redmond/bellingham, wa
has anyone ever put backup lights in their rear bumper? i want to do circluar ones like the ones that are in the new wrangler bumpers but i dont want them sticking out bc i know those wont last long. any other suggestions on where to put lights?
 
try docking lights for a motorhome, you will have to cut the hole in bumper. if you look at the new motorhomes (diesel) you will see what i mean... truck stops could have them too, not sure
 
I took the stock swing away off my 88... the bushings were shot and I subsiquently moved the spare into the jeep. looking at the square hole where the swing away latched i realized it was a perfect fit for a tractor utility light... so thats what I have. works great. and I hooked it to a manual switch so I can use it as a flood for trail use ect. also put a trailer wire disconnect on it. I took a second tractor flood lamp and put it on a homebuilt stand with a ten foot cord. now I have a mobile flood lamp for any work I might have to do at night
 
found a picture
2005_0622xj0009.jpg
 
xjwisconsin said:
I took the stock swing away off my 88... the bushings were shot and I subsiquently moved the spare into the jeep. looking at the square hole where the swing away latched i realized it was a perfect fit for a tractor utility light... so thats what I have. works great. and I hooked it to a manual switch so I can use it as a flood for trail use ect. also put a trailer wire disconnect on it. I took a second tractor flood lamp and put it on a homebuilt stand with a ten foot cord. now I have a mobile flood lamp for any work I might have to do at night
Click to expand...

wow! what an idea!!! i think i am going to steal it :firedevil and go add that to my truck! maybe even add a magnetic base?!? what 10 ft cord didja use and trailor wiring plug? got any pics?
 
I dont have any picts of it right now (I left it at a buddys cabin when we were moving firewood at night). I just used som wire I had laying out in the garage (8 guage?) and a two pin flat trailer connector. originaly I had the light mounted on my roof rack and had put the connector on so that I could remove the rack and light in one shot and not have to mess with the wire. when I relocated it down to the bumper I decided it would be nice to have a plug in location for an aux light. figured it would be good for night time repairs, setting up camp, whatever. I just used some leftover 3/4" aluminum flat stock that I had from another project to built a basic C shape with an arm to mount the light on.
 
I didn't *put* these lights in my bumper - they were there when I got it..

They light up about 20 feet behind me, well enough to back up in the darkest area's or to setup camp. They get friggin hot. The one on the passenger side looks like it sticks out a bit and will get broken off - it just looks that way.

dsc00042.jpg
 
Stupidwierdo put some lights in his front bumper.
3019.jpg

Same idea
 
I like this idea. But then again, it won't work if you have a spare tire on the back...

reverseon.jpg


They are really bright. I have mine set so that they come on with the regular reverse lights or with the flick of a switch they can be turned on for what ever reason (setting up camp, seeing where you set your drink down, getting the point across to the guy behind you that he still has his brights on.)

DAryl
 
Two switches...On/Off and Reverse Engage/Reverse Disengage So that I can turn them on whenever I want them and can stop them from going on while under normal driving conditions, but when Reverse engaged they power on with the stock white reverse lights. They are Marine Spreader lights from West Marine and I love them.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I used some slim square lights and put them right next to the reciever on the rear bumper. I have banged the reciever off a couple of rocks and a culvert and the lights are still there!! I just spliced them into the stock reverse light circuit...easy, simple, and they come one when I back up.
 
I mounted some square ones to the bottom side of the factory roof rack. I like them but they dont light up directly behind me (like within 5 ft), they just light up everything else. Still work great though and are never bothered by trees or get covered in dirt.
 
DO NOT power them from the stock harness, get a realy and trip it with from a tap off the stock wire. Very very bad idea to wire lights like that into the 18 or 22 ga wire thats there. Also get a diode if you plan on making them so that you can turn them on independantly of the reverse lights.
 
EMSJEEP said:
DO NOT power them from the stock harness, get a realy and trip it with from a tap off the stock wire. Very very bad idea to wire lights like that into the 18 or 22 ga wire thats there.
Click to expand...

Not really. They're only 55watt...have you seen the stock harness for the headlights...even the brights?
For the three maybe four minutes they'll be on a day it's not a big deal. I've wired them like that on several Jeeps I've owned and have never had a problem.
 
AlabamaDan said:
How do you wire them up so that they come on automatically when you put the trans in Reverse and have the ability to turn them on stand alone.
Click to expand...

I just had a thought on that actually. It may be totally insane, I don't know...
Would it be possible to install a relay into the factory wires for the back up lights? So that when you put it into reverse, the power to the stock lights trips the relay for your better/useful lights, thus activating the independent (Read: safe and not melty) power supply to the auxillary lights?

Then you could (Maybe i don't really know) wire up a seperate switch to trip just the relay, without the stock lights coming on.

Not that anyone would EVER flash bright lights at the person tailgating you on the highway. Although, it could be amusing... if no one died. Of course if it was just for the purposes of say... setting up camp then it's all good :)
 
Here is what I did for reverse lights. I know they aren't IN the bumper, but they were easier to install and all I needed was two screws. $25 Pilot driving lights at Autozone.
Copyoflakeview024.jpg


I bought a double rocker switch, one of the ones that the middle prong is supposed to be power, and then the two prongs on either side goes to two separate devices. What I did was splice a wire into one of the reverse light wires and attached that to one of the outer prongs, and then ran a wire from the battery to the other side prong, and ran a wire from the middle prong to the lights. This way when I have the switch to the right, they come on when ever the reverse comes on, and aren't blindly bright, then the middle position they are off completely, then the left they come on wicked bright from battery power when ever I want. They work great and have definitely come in use especially when I'm on the beach trying to pack up after fires.




EMSJEEP said:
DO NOT power them from the stock harness, get a realy and trip it with from a tap off the stock wire. Very very bad idea to wire lights like that into the 18 or 22 ga wire thats there. Also get a diode if you plan on making them so that you can turn them on independantly of the reverse lights.
Click to expand...
What?
 
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