Spot lights...

Right, I have 2 spotlights I would like to mount on my 90, I don't have a
A-frame or bullbars so I was thinking of going straight into the little holes on the bumper (after being made a little bigger). I do have a roof rack and considered putting them up there.

Basicly my thoughts were originaly to put them on a removable bar, that I could easily fling on when I wanted them, so some sort of bar that could bolt/clamp/whatever onto the rack, or front bumper. Idea being that if I left it somewhere not to safe, I wasn't leaving some lights to be unbolted. Which is why I didn't want them on the roof rack, as I didn't like the idea of the neds standing on the bonnet as they try to tear them off.

Am I just being para about them being stolen, do they tend to get stolen?

Anyway I thought I would just stick them on the front bumper, bolt them on, and thats me... so pros, cons, experience what do you think?

Well, i have 4 on the roof rack and 2 on the A bar, and mine are still attached.

Scott.

Yeah, I will get them on this weekend.

How did you wire them in, come on with full beam with override?

No, i wired in a couple of extra switches.

Scott.

when you wire them into the switches, where do you connect the live wire? ive got a light bar on the roof which isnt wired in yet and as a novice this will be my 1st electrical instalment

i looked at some plans and was going to wire them into my sidelights and the switch. is this normal practice? i have my fog lamps up front wired into the full beam and switched on via the fog flasher thing (left hand stalk). so this is taken up.

thoughts?

dont mean to hijack your post disco! let us know how you get on.

you must use a relay when wiring up spot lamps.
also im sure the law says they must only (be able to) be operated when full beam is on.



we used to have problems with nicking lamps with the rally cars. pretty sure they must be safer on the roof bar/rack?

The lights on the roof rack I am almost certain cannot be used while driving on the road.

I will be looking at my setup at the weekend and will let you know how I get on. I will have an override in the cab as I am not going to only have them active with full beam, thus meaning I can use them for particular things such as focusing them on something for work/emergencys/recoverys etc...

dont put them on the bumper mate....they will get smashed/dislodged in bushes and covered in mud.Up on the roof is best -where it is illegal to have them wired up to anything other than their own switch ( i think?)..and anway you wont want them on all the time you have your main beam on.

just to clarify, it is illegal to us a roofbar/light setup on the road and i, like disco will only be using them from specific things like recovery, night greenlaning etc. they will also work off a seperate in cab switch. i was just wondering how to power the things. ive got the appropriate relays, switches etc. i just wasnt sure what live wire source to tap into

G

For the relay, pretty much anything live, look for a spare in the fuse box or something, and use it. For the lights you will need a good source which can handle the lights, plus a bit more. I have seen different setups, from new runs from the battery (with a fuse immediatly) to taps into starter cable etc... Try and go with a spare in the fusebox and running it out.

here is a typical wiring diagram for spot lamps. using a very common relay.

Yea, that about sums it up. 25amp relay at my local motor factor for a few quid, worth it for the expansion capabilities.

So my setup will entail when complete, 2 lights on the bumper, wiring goes in through the front, and feeds up to the bulkhead where the relay is mounted, the live goes along the top of the bulkhead to the alternator live. The switch follows a standard route into the dash.

ps,
forgot to add.

the wire for the 2 top terminals (30 & 87) must be rated for the lamps. ie heavy duty. the switch wire can be very low rated wire.

thats the whole point of a relay, you dont need to use heavy duty wire to the swich and back again.

Right I made my spotlight bar this weekend, its farily simple, piece of bar, with 2 moutings welded on for the lights; which are now bolted on, and then 2 small risers welded on the underside of the bar so that it could sit above a reflector I have bang in the middle of the bumper.

I then temporarily bolted it onto the bumper, after a trial run I think I am going to have to rethink the riser idea, I wired them into a universal socket, and slung the wire up my bonnet in through the window and I could see them rocking about a fair bit.

I will try again tomorrow in the light, but it looked pretty good.