My lightbar....

[tojo]

I wanted the biggest light bar I could fit in the front bumper and I didn't want to give up on the tow hooks. I installed a 30" rough country led light bar and purchased aftermarket tow hooks off of ebay.

Just don't ever use the tow hooks. I'm sure there are a few pictures of people who unfortunately used them and suffered damage to the bumper and fender.

 

[alarmin]

Aerial photos

Headlight only

w/ Light bar

Headlight only

w/ Light bar

 

[PDXRam]

I wanted the biggest light bar I could fit in the front bumper and I didn't want to give up on the tow hooks. I installed a 30" rough country led light bar and purchased aftermarket tow hooks off of ebay.

That looks great. Would love to add one to the same place of my truck but not sure it would even work?

 

[alarmin]

You have a different front bumper than I do. My bumper is open between the tow hooks

 

[PDXRam]

You have a different front bumper than I do. My bumper is open between the tow hooks

Yeah I know that. Maybe by relocating the license plate to a little further down I'd be able to. What are the exact specs for the tow hooks? Looks rad too.

 

[alarmin]

These are the tow hooks I bought 2010 - 2016 DODGE RAM Mopar 2500 / 3500 Aftermarket TOW HOOKS | eBay. They look good and seem solid. They were shipped in a light weight FedEx box with some newspaper for packing. Needless to say the box was thrashed and I needed to do a little touch up on the paint.

 

[gromage1]

Is the harness that comes with these light bars pretty much plug and play? I have the snow chief package on my new 2500 and have 5 upfitter switches that aren't being used yet, I thought I read those switches were already relay protected. I'm thinking a 42" curved and losing the tow hooks.

 

[alarmin]

The wiring is very basic. There's only 3 wires to the switch and it comes with its own relay. I seriously thought about going with the 40" curved but I couldn't get myself to ditch the tow hooks. JMHO.

 

[gromage1]

The wiring is very basic. There's only 3 wires to the switch and it comes with its own relay. I seriously thought about going with the 40" curved but I couldn't get myself to ditch the tow hooks. JMHO.

Thanks, I really like the looks of yours I ordered hooks like you have but after seeing what can happen if you use them I don't think I'll put them on. I would think it should be pretty straight forward as far as wiring the bar up to my factory switches, time to do some searching!

 

[alarmin]

Thanks, I really like the looks of yours I ordered hooks like you have but after seeing what can happen if you use them I don't think I'll put them on. I would think it should be pretty straight forward as far as wiring the bar up to my factory switches, time to do some searching!

I know people keep bagging on the tow hooks. From the little bit of searching I did it seems that it can pull the bumper out of alignment, but it can be adjusted back. The only major negative I saw was when someone used them to secure the truck to a flat bed tow truck. Now I've been stuck in the mud before and I can't think of anything worse than having to dig under the truck to find a place to hook up a tow strap (unless you bring a couple of hot looking women who want to mud wrestle while they're at it)

 

[gromage1]

Did you get the Rough Country brackets with your light? If its a easy bolt on deal with hooks and the lights I still may go that way.

 

[tojo]

Ditch the tow hooks because they are pretty much worthless. If you use them and the bumper gets misaligned with no body damage then I guess that's a win but one I never wanted to gamble with. For how heavy duty the hooks are gives you the impression that they can handle more than they can due to the limitations of them not being directly mounted to the frame.

Rough Country brackets utilize the bolts for the tow hooks and make a 40 inch curved look like it belongs there. Yes, it's easy.

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[alarmin]

Did you get the Rough Country brackets with your light? If its a easy bolt on deal with hooks and the lights I still may go that way.

I did not use the Rough Country brackets, however, using their brackets without the tow hooks would be the simplest solution. I made my own brackets using T straps that I got from Home Depot.


A little cutting, bending and drilled a couple of holes and then painted with a rattle can when I was happy with the finished product



Whatever floats your boat....

 

[Bigdaddy]

I'm interesting on getting a light bar myself that goes between my tow hooks, so will the 30' work for that and what is the best bang for the money? I was looking at the Trail Master in the 4 Wheel Parts store, there one by my house that I might go and look at some.

I don't need nothing fancy just to light up those dark roads sometime.

 

[alarmin]

A 30" light bar won't fit between the stock tow hooks. Some people cut off part of the stock tow hooks to make the light bar fit but I didn't want to do that. I replaced my tow hooks with tow hooks I found on ebay. The aftermarket tow hooks gave me enough room to mount a 30" light bar. If you keep the stock tow hooks only a 20" light bar fits (unless you can find a 28" bar). I think you can fit a 40" light bar if you remove the tow hooks (which I didn't want to do)

 

[twolabsdad]

Behind the grill light bars vs. hid fogs?

I think the brackets you have will flex both side to side and for and back at that height with a light bar. It doesn't take very much wiggle to make a light unbearable to use

Mine are made of plate, flat bar, and angle iron. The angle iron works well as it stiffens and supports in all 3 axis. The biggest thing though is to anchor it top and bottom.

sbarron (or anybody else who mounted behind the grill)... With the lights behind the grill, how is the output? How does it compare to kicking up fog lights with HID? What about out over a long distance? Looking back at the project, anything you would change, or have plans to change? (yes, thinking seriously about doing this!!!)

 

[sbarron]

I have great output through the black mesh grill - I also paid the premium for Rigids and there is a difference. My 2 10" behind the grill put out every bit as much light as my co-workers 50 inch Chinese windshield mount bar. I can't say anything about HIDs in the fog light opening except I think being behind the grill will have a couple of advantages....

Less likely to be damaged by rocks/ road debris

Probably throw light a little further and wider being mounted a little higher.

Behind the grill, the lights are pretty secure from someone stealing them.

In short, no regrets except I would probably run the ambers I have in a dual row rather than the single I have.


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[twolabsdad]

I have great output through the black mesh grill - I also paid the premium for Rigids and there is a difference. My 2 10" behind the grill put out every bit as much light as my co-workers 50 inch Chinese windshield mount bar. I can't say anything about HIDs in the fog light opening except I think being behind the grill will have a couple of advantages....

Less likely to be damaged by rocks/ road debris

Probably throw light a little further and wider being mounted a little higher.

Behind the grill, the lights are pretty secure from someone stealing them.

In short, no regrets except I would probably run the ambers I have in a dual row rather than the single I have.


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Why increase the ambers?


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[sbarron]

Why increase the ambers?


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Because I can

No other real reason. The SR's put out plenty, but plenty is never enough.

 

[Bigdaddy]

A 30" light bar won't fit between the stock tow hooks. Some people cut off part of the stock tow hooks to make the light bar fit but I didn't want to do that. I replaced my tow hooks with tow hooks I found on ebay. The aftermarket tow hooks gave me enough room to mount a 30" light bar. If you keep the stock tow hooks only a 20" light bar fits (unless you can find a 28" bar). I think you can fit a 40" light bar if you remove the tow hooks (which I didn't want to do)

Okay good, I went today and look at the 20" and I figure that that setup will work.