Fitting Spot Lights Directly to Bumper

Hi Everyone, was looking for some advice if poss.

Happy with my lights I've fitted to my expedition rack but want MORE!!

..So I'm getting some spots for the front. Was wondering if you've got any advice on the following:

• I don't have an A Bar. I want to mount the spots direct onto the bumper on the sticky-out bits either side of the reg plate. What's the score with this? can I just drill through the bumper? Are there any holes hidden under the plastic? Anyone ever mounted their lamps directly onto the plastic? (Td5 Disco)
• If I can't mount them directly onto the plastic, I'm going to buy one of them £50 light mounting bars. But would prefer not too if poss!!
• I think 8" lamps should be just about right. I think that's the size of those Land Rover 'Safari 3000' lights which are the 'official' ones and these look just about the right size. I've seen some 5" type ones (more car-size) and these took too small I think. Whay do you think? 8" good?

I'm going to relay them off main beam. Straighforward enough, but any mega tips on using existing wiring?

Thanks guys! Have a good day!

James

if your gonna mount them onto the plastic then use fair size washers, if you go into "off roading in merseyside" go to the last page and youll see i have done it to mine.
if you dont use bigger washers to support it youll find they can be ripped off easily.

RAZ8550TDI said:

if your gonna mount them onto the plastic then use fair size washers, if you go into "off roading in merseyside" go to the last page and youll see i have done it to mine.
if you dont use bigger washers to support it youll find they can be ripped off easily.

Click to expand...

Ahhhh... Will take a look! Big washers is a very good idea.. Did you not hit any metal when drilling through the bumper top, then?

Just found a piccy...

hiya mate, as far as i am aware the part you wnt to bolt to comes away as a seperate peice from the bumper itself, well mine did anyway, think it was 4 bolts on the back of the bumper and it came away, shocking the amount of **** that was behind there too .
take the wires under the plastice part of the bumper too, it hides them better and dont forget to m ake sure yer got a rubber washer where the wires come out the lamp or at least silicone them so wanter cane enter it and rot the chrome work inside the lamp.

James W said:

Hi Everyone, was looking for some advice if poss.

Happy with my lights I've fitted to my expedition rack but want MORE!!

..So I'm getting some spots for the front. Was wondering if you've got any advice on the following:

• I don't have an A Bar. I want to mount the spots direct onto the bumper on the sticky-out bits either side of the reg plate. What's the score with this? can I just drill through the bumper? Are there any holes hidden under the plastic? Anyone ever mounted their lamps directly onto the plastic? (Td5 Disco)
• If I can't mount them directly onto the plastic, I'm going to buy one of them £50 light mounting bars. But would prefer not too if poss!!
• I think 8" lamps should be just about right. I think that's the size of those Land Rover 'Safari 3000' lights which are the 'official' ones and these look just about the right size. I've seen some 5" type ones (more car-size) and these took too small I think. Whay do you think? 8" good?

I'm going to relay them off main beam. Straighforward enough, but any mega tips on using existing wiring?

Thanks guys! Have a good day!

James

Click to expand...

You not going to put switch on them for MOT time???

iannotts said:

You not going to put switch on them for MOT time???

Click to expand...

do you have to? even if they only come on with main beam?

spotlights and main beam do not come into the mot, only dipped beam aim.
as for wiring, it depends on the bulbs you are going to use, if you are sticking with standard 55w items then normal wiring will be fine, if you want to use 100w+, then make sure you use larger diameter wiring to make sure that it will take the current loading, otherwise they will lose voltage and be dim.

how yer getting on with it???

Hiya,

Wiring's not a problem. My roof lights are on a separate switch for legality. Spots coming on with main beam only is fine, as long as the lights are approved etc. Have bought the spots, just awaiting delivery. Got some 9" beasts in the end! Photoshopped them onto the front of the car first to check what they would look like

What I still need to know is whether I can drill through the bumper top as per the piccy I put above. Your bumpers are different (and arguably better!) on a mk1 disco, because you esentially have a metal bumper with plastic cappings on the end and in the middle. Series IIs (TD5s) have a fully moulded bumper end-to-end. I don't know what metal lies beneath though. For example, if it is SOLID under the bit I want to drill through, I'm stuck!

The only way I can see round this is to take the whole bumper off. Seems to be straightforward enough looking in the Haynes manual so once the lights arrive, I'm going to whip the bumper off and check that I can drill through where I want to.

I was hoping someone on here had already drilled through those 'bits' on the bumper but never mind!!!

Thanks for all your help so far everyone.

ok, wasnt sure on your bumper, looks can be decieving hey, well if its is plastic then yes its possible as mine are just through the plastic, reason being it gets a pasteing off road and instead of my lamps being damaged when hit they have a bit of flex in them due to being fixed by a sturdy plastic base.

James W said:

Hiya,

What I still need to know is whether I can drill through the bumper top as per the piccy I put above. Series IIs (TD5s) have a fully moulded bumper end-to-end. I don't know what metal lies beneath though. For example, if it is SOLID under the bit I want to drill through, I'm stuck!

The only way I can see round this is to take the whole bumper off. Seems to be straightforward enough looking in the Haynes manual

Thanks for all your help so far everyone.

Click to expand...

have you got the 'rave cd' ? if so look under 'accessory fitting instructions' - then 'sorted by description' then 'lamp mounting bar'

- this shows the procedure for fitting the bar that you were talking about earlier - the ends of the bar fit above the 'sticky out bits' on bumber - same place you want to fit your lights, so same procedure.

you need to remove the bumper because, if you look at the 3rd image, there are 2 parts of the chassis that stick out into the 'sticky out bits' of the bumper. doesn't look to hard - 7 bolts to remove the wheel arch linings each side & then about 12 bolts to remove the bumper - have plenty of WD40 ready - it'll be the first time the bolts'll have been undone & they're bound to be covered in all sorts of crud






let me know how you get on - I was planning to fit one of the light bars with 2 spots onto my 2001 TD5 - but if its too much hassle , I won't bother

you need a 13mm socket for the bumper bolts BTW

BurtonBuy - This is ace, thanks. I'll try and dig out my RAVE CD if I can find it! Like you say, as long as I fit the spots in the same place as I would fit a light bar then I should be okay.

Hopefully there will be enough room for the botls to drop down without fouling the chassis ends you have illustrated.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers!

James

Right - Gone and done it! All fitted and working correctly. Took all day though!

Getting the bumper off was surprisingly easy, just take off the front wheel arch linings, two main bolts either side of the reg plate area, and one rubber mounting bolt each end of the bumper at the very end. Finally there are three screws underneath.

Here's some tips:

• DON'T FORGET TO MARK OUT WHERE THE LIGHTS ARE GOING (WHERE YOU NEED TO DRILL) BEFORE YOU TAKE THE BUMPER OFF!!
• You don't have to jack the car up at all, as long as you put the wheels full lock one way to remove the linings on one side, then put it on full opposite lock for t'other.
• Once you've undid the bolts, get a mate to hold one end and you get the other and wiggle it off the rubber hangers. It slides off straight forward, not down.
• The bumper is a plastic shell with a metal frame bonded inside. But the metal doesn't follow the plastic exactly. The bit you would drill through to put the light brackets through is actually in the 'void' between the metal and plastic!! But with small hands and some fiddly use of small spanners, you can hold the nut in the void by feeding you hand trough a little gap, and get someone else to rotate the whole light bracket until it's tight!! Hey - it worked well and was the only real solution!
• As suggested on this thread, I used some nice wide washers to spread the load
• Refitting the bumper is quite easly, make sure you reconnect all the fog lights, pipes, etc. and cable tie them all up!!

Let me know if you have any specific questions about this process. I'll stick up a completed picture soon.

James

quattro6999 said:

spotlights and main beam do not come into the mot, only dipped beam aim.
as for wiring, it depends on the bulbs you are going to use, if you are sticking with standard 55w items then normal wiring will be fine, if you want to use 100w+, then make sure you use larger diameter wiring to make sure that it will take the current loading, otherwise they will lose voltage and be dim.

Click to expand...

You sure????

Extract from mot testers site:- Mot tester manual

Main Beam Headlamp 1 or 2 if one it must be mounted centrally, or if adjacent to another lamp (e.g. dipped beam lamp) they must be mounted symetrically about the centre. If the maximum vehicle width exceeds 1300mm, two main beam headlamps are required (1700mm for motorcycle derived tricycles)

Hi but the beam isn't tested and extra lamps are classed as auxillary lamps.

agree with red one this one, besides which you wont have to put yer spots on for the mot anyway so **** where they point off. and i doubt any tester will check the positioning.

If your fitting lights that large think about fitting ajustable steadying clips to the top as otherwise you could well get vibration which will drive you mad when you have them switched on .

tacr2man said:

If your fitting lights that large think about fitting ajustable steadying clips to the top as otherwise you could well get vibration which will drive you mad when you have them switched on .

Click to expand...

Very true, I had to do this for the lights on my expo roof rack - they jiggled about all over the place.

For these spots, they rest against the grill and don't vibrate at all! Perfect