Hi All, First Post on here. Hope this can help someone who is troubled by the lack of Light Bars available for the 2012 1500 Rams. I built my own with some angle iron and flat bar, a small welder, grinder, and flat black spray paint.
First I built a frame behind the grill out of 1.5 inch angle iron. I welded the two vertical pieces to the horizontal piece on the bottom. The horizontal angle iron ran across the frame behind the oil cooler. I then welded 1.5 x 1/4 inch flat bar 90 degrees forward from the vertical angle iron on each side. I extended it out three inches beyond where the grill sits. I then welded 3/4 inch flat bar across between the two 1.5 X 1/4 inch flat bars just behind the grill location for stability. The frame is held in place by two verticle 1/4x20-1 inch long bolts on through the bottom of the frame and two 1/4X20x 3 inch long horizontal bolts through the top angle iron and frame. All areas between the angle iron and frame have double sided sticky tape to reduce any vibrations.
I then had to cut the grill to let the light mounting bars come through the grill. I first found a replacement grill insert on Craigslist for $50. Than I cut out the two slots for the bars. Not to bad!
You can see in the photos in the photos where I mounted my two 30 Amp relays, and then tied the power into the + side of the battery with two 30 Amp fuses.
The switch is located just below my hand in the center console storage box. I like this location so I don't have to reach up to the dash each time I need to turn the lights on or off. You may think that is lazy, but I used to have it on the dash and it was a PIA at times. I tapped into the switched power wire for the cigarette lighter in the same storage bin as the switch. I didn't take the power from the high beams switch because I like to be able to run the fog light as they do fill the ditches fairly well.
Lastly I mounted the lights (four LightForce 170s) staggering the outer lights back form the inner to make them contour with the grill and bumper. Hope you enjoyed reading and the photos. Let me know if you have any questions.
AGZ951
First I built a frame behind the grill out of 1.5 inch angle iron. I welded the two vertical pieces to the horizontal piece on the bottom. The horizontal angle iron ran across the frame behind the oil cooler. I then welded 1.5 x 1/4 inch flat bar 90 degrees forward from the vertical angle iron on each side. I extended it out three inches beyond where the grill sits. I then welded 3/4 inch flat bar across between the two 1.5 X 1/4 inch flat bars just behind the grill location for stability. The frame is held in place by two verticle 1/4x20-1 inch long bolts on through the bottom of the frame and two 1/4X20x 3 inch long horizontal bolts through the top angle iron and frame. All areas between the angle iron and frame have double sided sticky tape to reduce any vibrations.
I then had to cut the grill to let the light mounting bars come through the grill. I first found a replacement grill insert on Craigslist for $50. Than I cut out the two slots for the bars. Not to bad!
You can see in the photos in the photos where I mounted my two 30 Amp relays, and then tied the power into the + side of the battery with two 30 Amp fuses.
The switch is located just below my hand in the center console storage box. I like this location so I don't have to reach up to the dash each time I need to turn the lights on or off. You may think that is lazy, but I used to have it on the dash and it was a PIA at times. I tapped into the switched power wire for the cigarette lighter in the same storage bin as the switch. I didn't take the power from the high beams switch because I like to be able to run the fog light as they do fill the ditches fairly well.
Lastly I mounted the lights (four LightForce 170s) staggering the outer lights back form the inner to make them contour with the grill and bumper. Hope you enjoyed reading and the photos. Let me know if you have any questions.
AGZ951
