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Lights (Cubes/Bars) Are We using them?

18K views 124 replies 49 participants last post by  Pattle 
#1 ·
Seems like it's the latest "craze". I know I have Always had them and Loved them even back when they sat atop my roll bar in the bed of my Toyota Pick-up trucks (had to climb up there to take the covers off)
Todays lights are much smaller, much brighter and just plain - better.
But who's doing it and what/where are you mounting them?
Are you going SPod, straight wiring harness, tieing into High/low beams?

Not talking Heads/Fogs, many of us have already upgraded those. Talking about A-pillar cubes, Light Bars of various lengths and everything else.

Love to hear what folks like/don't like, tips and tricks and Pics (of course)

Mine (so far)





 
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#2 ·
I've got one of those absurd 50" bars across my windshield. I originally bought it cuz it looks dope but I e actually used mine for unexpected uses. Mainly roadside repairs. Since I live in an apartment with no garage I sometimes have to work on my motorcycle and that 50incj bar on the Jeep lights everything up. And night riding is now much more fun . haha
 
#3 ·
I'm running the Inspired Engineering 4 Led cube lights. Set up looks similar to your's except I have the Light Worx brackets. The Light Worx seem to bring lights away from windshield.
Installation was easy & I'm very pleased with the appearance/performance.
 
#6 ·
I Am Absolutely impressed with the Quality and performance of the Inspired Engineering, Great service, Company started by X-Military I believe.
Love to see some pics of them mounted.

I had ordered Poison Spyder mounts but then found these locally, little pricey but I liked them. Was planning on returning them but will probably keep them.
 
#4 ·
I am "thinking" about a 20" on the front bumper. Do I Need it? I'd say No.
I have been in situations where I simply could not see and extra light that was Powerful would have been the solution.

The Woods, the Beach during a storm and looking for my Dogs. ALL are situations where BIG light would have helped. In each of those situations being wired separate circuit with no tie in to high/low actuation would have mattered.
I drive with JWS Heads/Fogs - can't see wanting the cubes or bar during normal driving (obviously the local constabulary would agree) and I will pull the fuses for inspection. Been there done that already.
 
#31 ·
I'm interested to see if you get the 20". I was considering the 20" grille mounted or getting the Mopar Light Bar for the front bumper and putting the LED bar on that. I would use mine for hunting and blizzard-like conditions helping people but I don't feel like I would get much use out of them....
 
#5 ·
Haha, guilty I am light obsessed! I had initially planned to do a 50", 20" and cubes, but the 20" wasn't fitting properly with my fogs so that got moved to the hood and added a 12". I'm on the fence about the hood light, it kind of blocks the driver view of my beautiful hood, so it may be relocated. I have mine wired to a Spod.

If I'm being 100% honest since I'm one of the few on here that likes both style and function over function, they are completely unnecessary and 75% of the reason they are there because I like the look. I eventually may get into some night wheeling, but again I could probably get away with the 20" and cubes.

I did use them to light up the field for my daughter's soccer practice when it got dark recently, so there's that.

Personally, though I doubt most would admit it, I think 99% of the people with the 50" bars have them for cosmetic purposes. It's so rare to need that much light, but damn do they look good.







 
#8 ·
I know I know, I'm sorry. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem or something, right?

And thanks! Yours is looking fantastic as well.
 
#9 ·
Not sure what my mental block is but we have been wheeling regularly (my wife and I) for several years now and when we go to the dear lease especially we wheel quite a bit at night. My wife says she doesn't mind holding her arm out the window with a 2Mil CP spot light but I can only assume she really would prefer some real lights. Or I suppose we could spend 4-5 grand on some quality night vision

Both you fellas rigs look boom
 
#30 ·
Krawl-Offroad 2x2 KOR LED cubes on my A Pillar
I am also using the Krawl-Offroad cubes, and I am using them as auxiliary back-up lighting. Sure beats spending 400$ on fancy taillights, and since these are wired to the sPOD, I can turn them off and on as needed.

They are just welded right on top of the light guards on the stock lamps.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Tire Automotive tire


Land vehicle Vehicle Tire Car Automotive tire
 
#11 ·
With the SPod, What do you do - get the switches wired down to the module in the engine bay and then future additions only need to get to that?

I'm trying to wrap my brain around the gadget other than obviously it looks cool. At what point (how many items) is it useful?

I wanna stay focused on lights but the wiring/install is part of it....
 
#12 ·
I won a gift certificate last year from a shop that sells mostly Xterrra gear. All they had that I'd want were cubes from this supplier: 3" LED Light Pod - 1,600 Lumens - Spot Beam | Extreme LED Light Bars
So I got 2 cubes for $40 total.

They're just mounted on the front bumper and only for offroad. Flood pattern is useless at speed but very good for trail use ---- you can see the tree branches before they clobber your windshield.

 
#13 ·
yes there's a wire harness that goes between the box under the hood and the switch bank above the rear view mirror. And the sPOD has dedicated power and ground to run directly to the battery.



and then all you need to do is run power/ground from your lights to the appropriately marked switch location

 
#15 ·
yes there's a wire harness that goes between the box under the hood and the switch bank above the rear view mirror. And the sPOD has dedicated power and ground to run directly to the battery.



and then all you need to do is run power/ground from your lights to the appropriately marked switch location


Argent, where did you source yours? Looks like "another mod" does it ever end - that was a rhetorical question.
 
#14 ·
Bill - L00k 0ut!! there is an FjC getting ready to mount you! :)

I thought you were going to be post #2 in this thread but I'm glad to see you find value in some cubes. I have been impressed with mine.
When I need them, they will be nice to have.
 
#17 ·
I was thinking about adding lights to the rear of my jeep. LOL- Not to be different but I do a lot of fishing and backing the trailer down a dark ramp and hearing cracking and popping and hoping nothing is back there is not fun.

Also- I was sitting at the counter of 4WD parts this weekend and someone asked the counter about the 50 inch lights and the counter guy stated "Yeah- they are bringing the lights back because they can't keep them from rattling". The dude looked annoyed so I didn't ask follow up questions-

Do you guys have a Optima battery for these lights or what is the drag on the battery?
 
#19 ·
Big fan of your Jeep Argent, it looks great.

RubiconSS my thought was if I was going to wire at least 4 things up the spod was worth it. Less than that I think it's kind of a waste of money. One really good thing it does is monitor your battery life so if the battery gets below 15% I believe it will cut the power to whatever you have hooked up to it to make sure you can start the Jeep. Always good if you leave something on and forget.

Crushed I like the idea of the rear lights, I've seen a few people do it on here and get good use out of them. That's a good question about the Optima battery, I was actually talking to a vendor about that yesterday because when I have the 50" bar on with one of the other lights they seem to cut off and then cut back on a few seconds later. We think it's because the stock battery isn't cranking out enough amps to power everything. So down the road I'll be adding the Optima, I was planning to anyway.
 
#20 ·
Big fan of your Jeep Argent, it looks great.
Thanks :) I'm currently getting my doorless mirror brackets welded to my ACE 50" LED brackets and then sending the whole thing off to be powdercoated blue to match - hope to get that light up soon.

and I also plan on eventually getting the ACE Pro series rear bumper with LED's but I'll probably just wire those up to the reverse lights instead of their own switch
 
#21 ·
Thanks Guys, I guess we should all be happy :iamhappy: that LED's were invented and came to market for the common man. Not that long ago, this kind of "light power" wouldn't really be affordable OR possible. We'd be towing our power supply.

Good stuff that technology thing-a-ma-do.....
 
#23 ·
I have cubes on my windshield and flush mount on my modified front bumper. They were @$35 a set on Ebay and they work great. No water issues, and very bright.

I have used them for:
-Search and Rescue missions
-Lighting up campsite for night time setup
-Lighting up a field by my house I usually clean trash up from
-Blinding my kids in the garage for fun
-I also used them to signal others from a great distance: such as a search team who needs to know where to go to get extracted.

Lot's of uses! Just use them! :happyyes:
 
#26 · (Edited)
I chose to go away from the SPOD and go with the Switch Pro. For the same price as the base SPOD, you get full digital MOSFET circuitry, no relays, 8 switches instead of 6 and bluetooth integration. Not to mention, that ability to mount anywhere you want and not being forced to mount it above your rear view mirror.

If you are interested, there is a thread here:
http://www.wranglerforum.com/f274/switch-pros-switch-panel-power-system-review-1269953.html

As for lights, I am currently running a 10" rigid on top of my fairlead and the weak LED lights in the rear bumper from PSC, and will be adding lux rock lights, brighter backup lights, spot and flood cubes in the front as well. The other 2 switches will be to manually run the lockers when I want as soon as we can figure out how to keep the computers from throwing codes when engaging the lockers in 4-hi or 2 wheel drive for that matter.

Here is what the switch-pro looks like in my Jeep and the front with the 10" Rigid and JWS head and fogs.
 

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#27 ·
I went with the SPOD SE, a little more on the cost, but solid state (no relays) and you have the option of dimming the LED's as well as flash and strobe modes. Well worth it for me. I have the square LED's on each bumper corner and the 20" Eyeyourlife bar on the hood.
 
#29 ·


All LEDs are Rigid. I have a 50" bar, 2 amber flood duallys, and 2 DOT compliant LED fogs.

We use them pretty much every time we go out. We leave home around noon. Good offroading locations are all 4-5 hours away. By the time we get to dirt, it's usually getting dark outside. We camp where nobody else is around. Being able to see is just critical.
 
#35 ·
Also for anyone mounting lights that has the hard top wiring, a very easy and minimal invasion-ist way to get through the firewall is by using the rubber grommet on the drivers side (up high) that feeds your washer hose through the firewall. Pull the rubber grommet out, cut it open a little more just enough to pass the wires through and then feed them in through the firewall via the same route as the washer hose. The wires poke through in the dash back behind the drivers side dash end filler piece. Super easy. Then you can rtv silicone the penetration or use flexible duct seal (Gardner Bender etc. at Home Depot) in the rubber grommet and you are all waterproofed again. Easy as pie and very non-invasionary.
 
#42 ·
@hockeyman474. I'm far from an electrical guru, but the install can be a piece of cake. Here is what I did.

1. Buy a light that has a Deutsch connector on it. It's a waterproof type plug.

2. Then buy a wire harness assmebly that also has the Deutsch connector too, then the light plugs right into the harness. The harness will have a relay already built in (needed), a fuse for the battery power (recommended) and it will already come with a switch. All you need to do is hook the harness to your battery, feed the switch into the cabin, hook the Deutsch connector to the light and whammo. All done. Here is the harness I'm talking about:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NLMXNO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=OYP0EBAFIRF3&coliid=I3F3NP5TTX82BX&psc=1

One final thing. This harness is a "constant hot" harness so you can power the light without the Jeep being turned on. You can also wire it through the ignition (need a different harness though) so it only turns on if the ignition is on. I personally wanted it direct wire so I could flip the light on even if the Jeep is off. If you mount the switch in a location (A pillar trim is perfect) where you see it always, then most likely you will never "accidentially" leave it on......not that you won't see it on if you turn the Jeep off and leave anyway, it's a super bright light!
 
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