Budget / DIY Light bar mount

I was gifted a 22" light bar. After searching the web and looking at my options, none really fit what I was looking for. My guess is my mounting won't be applicable to other than 2nd Gen Tundra's.



My light bar is 22", but, up 36" can fit in the area. Since the mounting has to be "crafted", each install can be customized to meet skill levels and the look you want. I had to buy a bracket to serve as mounting base. Found at Lowes for a few bucks.



Cut the bracket in half and you have two 5" brackets. My brackets only needed to be 4" long so I cut them again. After determining the center point of the grill / bumper, I centered the light bar and marked the bumper for drilling and mounting the brackets. (remember, measure twice, only drill once!) 5/16" hole located where pictured.....Stainless bolt and nylock nut to secure.





I secured the light bar mounting bracket with a stainless "flat head" cap screw and nylock nut. I had planned to use a spot weld to hold the screw to the bracket, but the bracket mounting holes are chamfered on one side and super glue secured the screw to the bracket


To make removal of the light bar painless, and, no additional wire cutting, the electrical connection is a weather pak connector



Don't forget to leave enough room to close hood, but, close enough you can still get to the hood latch.



Last but not least, I wanted to turn on the light bar with the high beams. Some states require that auxiliary lighting be switched. Using a 30 amp relay, I installed a fuse tap in the #24 fuse slot, (L/H high beam in the under hood fuse box) and ran it to trigger the relay.



Other than the angle bracket, all other hardware and material was laying around my shop.

 

No vibrations mounted like that?

 

Nope, the mounting bolts go through the plastic bumper and through the sheet metal bumper support beneath.

 

That's a clean install. Pls post some nighttime pics when you can. I'm curious about its brightness.

 

sorry, won't happen anytime soon...I very seldom drive the truck at night (actually I don't drive it much at all, 14 yrs old and only 72K), but, there are a lot of comparison pics on line for similar set ups.