Upper Grille Foglights & Modification

[RaceThisLTZ]

The bar was purchased off of amazon. The brand is Cree lighting. I will removing the bar as soon as I find another cooler solution for the fact it is not the light I am looking for. It is extremely bright! dont get me wrong but I have 55w low beams and fogs for close range lighting. I want long distance. My halogens would throw a ton of light directly in front of me(spot beam) 300 ft in front of the car. The bar gives a ton of light and makes everything in front of the car look like day time a lot of light to the sides too but only out 100+ ft or so. I honestly think I'm going to put back on the hella lights I had but with upgrading the 55w halogens h1 bulbs to 100w LED equivalents. Not much else fascia wise to mount lights on the front of our car (I also would never block the FMIC) so Ill think of something lol. O and the front bumper cover is very easy to take off, there is a right up on it here somewhere i think. Yosemite I sounds like you are trying to find the same lighting as I am. From my experience I would stray you away from the bars, I love the way mine looks, It looks awesome but that's about it lol

 

[gijoefontaine]

Resurrecting an old thread so sorry,

After running the driving lights a problem arose with my set up lol. The 55 watt halogens got extremely hot! Hot enough that they actually melted my upper grill. So I sourced a cooler solution with more light. My choice was a 20" 120W LED light bar. I measured the space available and bought a bar that fits light a glove. I'm very happy with the results and the light output is different. Much brighter all around but not as much distance as the driving lights. Still bright even in the day time though. The bar has 40 3w LEDs. The center 24 LED are a spot 10 degree with the outside 8 on each side being a flood 30 degree. what that means is a S*** ton of light everywhere in front of the car. definitely worth pulling the bumper to do and makes me feel a lot safer driving mountain roads in the middle of the night.

for some reason these photos don't work anymore... can you repost?

 

[gijoefontaine]

huh. that's too bad loved the look but I guess the practical part is what im looking for. without melting my grill of course.... let me know should you find a solution... the search continues lol

 

[RaceThisLTZ]

So after taking it off three times I can have the front bumper off in about 15minutes haha.



I finally have the light i want!! I ended up using the water jet at work to make a bracket to mount 4 hella optilux 2500 lights. I love these lights for the shear fact they are true glass lenses with aluminum bodies (durable and not cheaply made). I fitted each light with a new 80w h3 led bulb to replace the stock halogens they came with. I did a temp test and over a time period of 10 minutes on the 55w halogen produced a temp at the focal point of about 450 degrees (why my grill melted lol). The 80w LED at the same time and point only produced a temp of 206. Temperature were taken with a laser thermometer. Clearly they do not produce as much heat as the halogen but nearly as much light.

These lights are extremely beyond belief bright!! Last night I stopped on a strait flat back road in a field with no trees or structures to either sides, I turned the lights on and noted the furthest object I could make out. I then drove and recorded the distance via GPS. With the spot beam these lights create I could see clearly .27 miles in front of me a mail box with no reflectors. I will try and see if I can get a night picture if any one is interested.

Wiring Is easy but with the power output I didn't take any chances. I wired two relays with a 15 amp fuse on both lol.

I love the way the lights look on the front of the car. It looks like a hidden rally light bar and is definitely functional!

 

[KartRacer]

Ok, I love the setup but you say 80w led? Do you mean 4 X 20 w, can you provide link to what you used in these lamps?

 

[ohio_grad_06]

Better watch if you do those in colors like red or blue, local PD may not be hip to your idea

 

[RaceThisLTZ]

I ordered the lights through a vender we used here at work so no link, but yes they are rated at 80w per bulb... So 320w total. If you search 80w led on amazon there are a few similar looking lights there. I'm not sure if the wattage is accurate but they do produce roughly the same amount of light as a 55w halogen. My cost was 42.00 per pair for the bulbs.

And as to the police comment. I would never dream of having colored lights on the front of the car. They are all very white.

If anyone is interested in duplicating the setup I would be willing to sell the mount for the lights. Or any other lights. I would only need the mounting measurements.

 

[KartRacer]

Better watch if you do those in colors like red or blue, local PD may not be hip to your idea

Where the hell did this thought even come from.
This is sonic forum not dumbass forum, geez.

 

[KartRacer]

Has anyone considered cutting out the upper grill to fit lamps that would be visible and eliminate the heat problem?

 

[RaceThisLTZ]

I considered leaving the grill out completely. I just like the way it looks the way I have it. Sounds like you should give it a try.

 

[TurboSonic18]

Has anyone mounted them in front of their grill?

 

[KartRacer]

Has anyone mounted them in front of their grill?

I think they would stick too far out and look funny.

 

[KartRacer]

So after taking it off three times I can have the front bumper off in about 15minutes haha.



I finally have the light i want!! I ended up using the water jet at work to make a bracket to mount 4 hella optilux 2500 lights. I love these lights for the shear fact they are true glass lenses with aluminum bodies (durable and not cheaply made). I fitted each light with a new 80w h3 led bulb to replace the stock halogens they came with. I did a temp test and over a time period of 10 minutes on the 55w halogen produced a temp at the focal point of about 450 degrees (why my grill melted lol). The 80w LED at the same time and point only produced a temp of 206. Temperature were taken with a laser thermometer. Clearly they do not produce as much heat as the halogen but nearly as much light.

These lights are extremely beyond belief bright!! Last night I stopped on a strait flat back road in a field with no trees or structures to either sides, I turned the lights on and noted the furthest object I could make out. I then drove and recorded the distance via GPS. With the spot beam these lights create I could see clearly .27 miles in front of me a mail box with no reflectors. I will try and see if I can get a night picture if any one is interested.

Wiring Is easy but with the power output I didn't take any chances. I wired two relays with a 15 amp fuse on both lol.

I love the way the lights look on the front of the car. It looks like a hidden rally light bar and is definitely functional!

Which part of the grill did you experience overheating and melting of the plastic. Was it the grill or grill frame? Others have done this mod and not mentioned melting components. Would appreciate more info.

 

[Thesoccerone7]

Resurrecting an old thread so sorry,

After running the driving lights a problem arose with my set up lol. The 55 watt halogens got extremely hot! Hot enough that they actually melted my upper grill. So I sourced a cooler solution with more light. My choice was a 20" 120W LED light bar. I measured the space available and bought a bar that fits light a glove. I'm very happy with the results and the light output is different. Much brighter all around but not as much distance as the driving lights. Still bright even in the day time though. The bar has 40 3w LEDs. The center 24 LED are a spot 10 degree with the outside 8 on each side being a flood 30 degree. what that means is a S*** ton of light everywhere in front of the car. definitely worth pulling the bumper to do and makes me feel a lot safer driving mountain roads in the middle of the night.

Dang, Somebody beat me to it! I put it off for way too long haha. But it is great to see that the bar definitely works.

 

[RaceThisLTZ]

Kartracer,

it was the plastic honey comb grill. directly in front of the light at the center focal point. it literally melted nearly all the way through haha. with a less intense light I'm sure it would not be an issue. With my current set up it is not an issue at all. The grill from my local Chevy dealer was only 35 bucks so I'm not too upset.


Thesoccerone7,

Ya it looks really good and is quite bright. I have had 6 different variations of lighting on the front and the LED bar would be number 3 on my list of which ones were best.

 

[ramic]

I'm trying to figure out how I can rip the front end off, do the mods, reinstall the FE and get it parked back where it was, without my wife catching me!

 

[RaceThisLTZ]

I'm trying to figure out how I can rip the front end off, do the mods, reinstall the FE and get it parked back where it was, without my wife catching me!

First time with bumper removal, wiring, and mounting I would say a minium of 3-4 hrs lol

 

[KartRacer]

First time with bumper removal, wiring, and mounting I would say a minium of 3-4 hrs lol

Thanks for the info.
Finally pulled the trigger on this mod to get ready for fall. Ordered the Hella lights and 80w LEDs. Going to be a while before completed but am looking forward to being able to see out here in the sticks!

 

[Calorim]

What are all of your thoughts on using these lights behind the grill for distance viewing at night? Will only be used on back roads where no other cars are.

Auxbeam Lights