What is the bracket for lights
JK Newbie
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
I am no expert on lighting, but i can tell you why i did mine this way.
The idea to me of fogs is to keep light low and to the outside so you can cut through the stuff. So those went on the bumper outboard.
(Also, at the time i had no other place to mount them as i didnt have a filler plate for my bumper, and i hadent picked up the windshield brackets yet, but dont tell anyone that, my first answer sounded more like i knew what i was doing)
The driving or the spots could go on the a-pillars. i did in fact have the driving ones up there briefly, but didnt care for them, they just looked small and i did get a small amount of glare from them. I put the spots up there to get them up high for long range, also the long range beam gave me less hood glare. not that the driving ones where bad or anything, I just noticed less with the different beam pattern.
Others have driving lights on the a-pillars and say they dont get any noticable glare, i suspect i am just getting it from a combination of the lower Mopar brackets, and the silver hood.
As far as wattage? honestly, i just ended up with what was available. I didnt plan that out at all.
As a side note: I was recently told that my state has a certain maximum candlepower rating allowed for lights. I have no clue what that is yet as I have not had time to find out. I seriously doubt these lights are high enough to cause a stir because i am guesing that that law is about the handheld spotlights more than offraod lights. I will end up checking it out though as I am around a lot of LEO's and state officials for my job ~things get noticed.
The idea to me of fogs is to keep light low and to the outside so you can cut through the stuff. So those went on the bumper outboard.
(Also, at the time i had no other place to mount them as i didnt have a filler plate for my bumper, and i hadent picked up the windshield brackets yet, but dont tell anyone that, my first answer sounded more like i knew what i was doing)
The driving or the spots could go on the a-pillars. i did in fact have the driving ones up there briefly, but didnt care for them, they just looked small and i did get a small amount of glare from them. I put the spots up there to get them up high for long range, also the long range beam gave me less hood glare. not that the driving ones where bad or anything, I just noticed less with the different beam pattern.
Others have driving lights on the a-pillars and say they dont get any noticable glare, i suspect i am just getting it from a combination of the lower Mopar brackets, and the silver hood.
As far as wattage? honestly, i just ended up with what was available. I didnt plan that out at all.
As a side note: I was recently told that my state has a certain maximum candlepower rating allowed for lights. I have no clue what that is yet as I have not had time to find out. I seriously doubt these lights are high enough to cause a stir because i am guesing that that law is about the handheld spotlights more than offraod lights. I will end up checking it out though as I am around a lot of LEO's and state officials for my job ~things get noticed.
So you had the 6" hilites on the a-posts initially? you think they looked to small there? I have the 6" hilites on my front bumper now and i can't decide if i should stick with the same lights on the a-posts or get the rally 800's. the 800's almost look a little too big. How much brighter are the rally 800's? they are a lot more expensive i see.
Also, will I need a special wiring harness for this set up, or will the wires and switch that come with the lights suffice?
Eternal ***erator
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 18,270
Likes: 3
From: Niagara, New York
Yes, i had the 6" KC Slimlight driving lights on the A-pillars.
They looked fine, and they worked fine. ALbeit I had an ever so small amount of hood glare from the wider pattern. It was NOT bad or unusable, it was merely something I noticed.
As for the 6" lights on the A-pillars: IMHO they just looked kinda out of place when I stepped back and looked at the front of the Jeep as a whole. With the 6" fogs on the bumper, the 6" lights on the A-pillar where so far away that it made them look deceivingly small. It was an asthetic thing to me. When i first put the 8" lights on, I stepped back and went...
"
ho...chit, those look huge. 
eh, screw it" and they stayed. Now, I am very glad I kept them as I think they look perfect.
Others have the 6" lights up there and think they look fine. They do, but to me in combination with the others, it just looked odd. Ultimatley that is up to you. Either look great.
As for brighter? I cannot compare them directly as I had 6" driving beams, and would be comparing them to 8" long range spots... Not exactly apples to apples. The long range ones are considerably brighter (60W of brighter total for the pair, and that is quite a bit) at extreme range, which is what I wanted. I do a lot of night time driving on the thruways around here when my job requires it, and the deer population tries to reduce itself by running out in front of me from time to time, these give me oodles of warning time if something is up there. THAT is why I put them on. Justifying the cost of the lights vs. Bambi playing kamikazee on my radiator was a no-brainer for me. It isnt a sure fire answer, but every little bit helps.
I waited until 4wd had one of their free shipping/10% off combo deals going on when i got the slims. The Rally's I parts swapped with aquaintances and the swap value ended up being less than the slimlights, so I lucked out. If i had to go completely out of pocket on them now, I dunno what i would do.
The wiring harness that comes with them works fine. I happened to get my hands on the Mopar relay/harness assembly and used that, but i wouldnt have done that had i not gotten it super cheap. (actually, the only reason i opted to use it at all was to review it to tell people what i thought of it on here.) My opinion of it is: Dont buy it, it's waste of money. It isnt anything special and in my opinion, isnt worth what they want for it at all. Buy a roll of wireloom at the auto parts store if you want to make the wiring look "factory" and dissappear under your hood, and some decent quality electrical tape, and the one that comes in the box is perfect.
They looked fine, and they worked fine. ALbeit I had an ever so small amount of hood glare from the wider pattern. It was NOT bad or unusable, it was merely something I noticed.
As for the 6" lights on the A-pillars: IMHO they just looked kinda out of place when I stepped back and looked at the front of the Jeep as a whole. With the 6" fogs on the bumper, the 6" lights on the A-pillar where so far away that it made them look deceivingly small. It was an asthetic thing to me. When i first put the 8" lights on, I stepped back and went...
"
ho...chit, those look huge. eh, screw it" and they stayed. Now, I am very glad I kept them as I think they look perfect.Others have the 6" lights up there and think they look fine. They do, but to me in combination with the others, it just looked odd. Ultimatley that is up to you. Either look great.
As for brighter? I cannot compare them directly as I had 6" driving beams, and would be comparing them to 8" long range spots... Not exactly apples to apples. The long range ones are considerably brighter (60W of brighter total for the pair, and that is quite a bit) at extreme range, which is what I wanted. I do a lot of night time driving on the thruways around here when my job requires it, and the deer population tries to reduce itself by running out in front of me from time to time, these give me oodles of warning time if something is up there. THAT is why I put them on. Justifying the cost of the lights vs. Bambi playing kamikazee on my radiator was a no-brainer for me. It isnt a sure fire answer, but every little bit helps.
I waited until 4wd had one of their free shipping/10% off combo deals going on when i got the slims. The Rally's I parts swapped with aquaintances and the swap value ended up being less than the slimlights, so I lucked out. If i had to go completely out of pocket on them now, I dunno what i would do.
The wiring harness that comes with them works fine. I happened to get my hands on the Mopar relay/harness assembly and used that, but i wouldnt have done that had i not gotten it super cheap. (actually, the only reason i opted to use it at all was to review it to tell people what i thought of it on here.) My opinion of it is: Dont buy it, it's waste of money. It isnt anything special and in my opinion, isnt worth what they want for it at all. Buy a roll of wireloom at the auto parts store if you want to make the wiring look "factory" and dissappear under your hood, and some decent quality electrical tape, and the one that comes in the box is perfect.
Last edited by HappyCurmudgeon; Jun 2, 2008 at 03:11 AM.
Eternal ***erator
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 18,270
Likes: 3
From: Niagara, New York
Bought it on eBay. 
JK Enthusiast
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 465
Likes: 0
From: Ormond Beach, FL
I bought the KC versions and although they are nice, they are shallow and the lights will sit very close to the windshield. I have Soltek lights on mine and I needed to drill new holes farther out in the brackets. I would buy the Rugged Ridge ones next time. I've got several pics of mine at: www.BenHedrick.com
Warrior:
http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?partID=14972
Rugged Ridge:
http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?partID=3676
Warrior:
http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?partID=14972
Rugged Ridge:
http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?partID=3676
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JK Super Freak
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,027
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From: Toronto, Canada
Eternal ***erator
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 18,270
Likes: 3
From: Niagara, New York
No, i dont have an item number or anything, but the ebay seller i got mine from was "shortyantennasource" they have a website by the same name as well. Should be able to google that up no problem. Just make sure tto tell them to send you the adapter stud for a wrangler. I did, they missed it but when i contacted him i got it right away in the mail.
The quality is great, i think as good or better than the stocker. I bought silver, figured if i didnt like it i'd just squirt it black, but the silver looks stock and i dont notice it at all. My reception range dropped some, not enough to be a problem for me, but i didnt care about that at all anyways.
The quality is great, i think as good or better than the stocker. I bought silver, figured if i didnt like it i'd just squirt it black, but the silver looks stock and i dont notice it at all. My reception range dropped some, not enough to be a problem for me, but i didnt care about that at all anyways.
Eternal ***erator
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 18,270
Likes: 3
From: Niagara, New York
I forgot if i said, but like Putnam Dan, i had originally just lopped off the stocker, but it started to pop a little, dunno if it was the antenna or not, so i replaced it *shrugs* havent noticed it lately, but i rarely use the radio anyhow.