Rear Facing Off Road Lighting

[Mudderoy]

Recently Mark at DETOURS came out with some A-pillar light mounts. I have 4 KC lights on my front bumper and I have plans for 4 more on my roof, so 2 on the A-pillar, though appealing I really shouldn't do. :smiley-scared002:

http://xjtalk.com/images/special/17offroadlights.jpg

But I was remembering how some people had installed off road lights at the rear of their vehicle. I thought a bracket that mounted on the top of the hatch might be a nice add. Has anyone seen anything like this? I've seen them on the roof cargo carriers, but not mounted on the hatch.

[Punisher]

The more you put on that xj of your the hotter its going to run...:smiley-laughing021:

[XJ4IV]

ummmm like mine?
http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo167/seivey/Mobile%20Uploads/kdk_0053.jpg

[4.3LXJ]

Tony

I believe your hatch is metal. So you could get away with that. But they would have to hang out a little to allow you to open the hatch all the way.

[XJ Rat]

I used this for a wiring go by on my TJ. Wired so the lights turned on by putting the Jeep in reverse and had the switch so the light could be turned on at any time.

http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Electrical/ReverseLights.htm


Worked out great. Use the lights of your choice. My son has a small cheap pair mounted on top by the hinges on each side (it is a pre 1996 XJ), the lights are excellent for night time maneuvering.

[Mudderoy]

ummmm like mine?
http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo167/seivey/Mobile%20Uploads/kdk_0053.jpg

No on top of the hatch, I have a rear tire carrier.

[XJ4IV]

Oh ive seen guys mount em on the carrier on each side of the spare

[Mudderoy]

Oh ive seen guys mount em on the carrier on each side of the spare

Well I guess you could mount them anywhere, but I wanted to know about brackets that mounted them on top of the rear hatch.

[XJ4IV]

most folks want em protected by the body of the vehicle thats why most folks have em behind some sort of bracket or bar and not sticking up... trees are like cats they just grab anything they can get a hold of and tear it up!
yes you could make a housing for them but I wouldnt leave them un protected... but thats just me!

[Mudderoy]

most folks want em protected by the body of the vehicle thats why most folks have em behind some sort of bracket or bar and not sticking up... trees are like cats they just grab anything they can get a hold of and tear it up!
yes you could make a housing for them but I wouldnt leave them un protected... but thats just me!

It's not just you, I've heard people make the same argument about the cargo racks.

[XJ4IV]

if a cargo rack is TIGHT up there it is just as strong as teh factory one... but lights are so BIG up top and small mounting area also a big glass lens sitting unprotected... and blue.... that sucks you groaned at me man!

[XJ Rat]

A good train of thought that worked for me on my TJ is nothing above the windshield and nothing beyond the rear view mirrors. This way I knew that if my windshield cleared everything else would clear. Same with the mirrors, if they got by a tree, then anything else would also clear.

I have seen many lights and 1 roof rack fall victim to low tree branches off road. I have also seen gas station lights get blown out by the old 102" whips mounted on trucks. I heard from an owner of a lifted XJ in my club that he lost his roof rack and lights to a low parking garage beam.

Now, if said Jeep is a mall crawler, then none of the above applies :)

[oderdene]

You can find a way to mount lights on hatch, near hinge area seems good to me.
it is not XJ (russian niva), but looks like this:
http://www.monsters.4wd.ru/tun/niva/15h.jpg

http://autoanything.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/anzo_rugged_vision_lights.jpg
http://www.responderpse.com/images/prodspics/vision-x-xmitter-led-off-road-light-xil80.jpg

once idea is found, we have a brain and hand :)

[steph74]

Yeah a lada Niva......
Why oh Why USA you don;t want them on your soil ????? lol

[Mudderoy]

A good train of thought that worked for me on my TJ is nothing above the windshield and nothing beyond the rear view mirrors. This way I knew that if my windshield cleared everything else would clear. Same with the mirrors, if they got by a tree, then anything else would also clear.

I have seen many lights and 1 roof rack fall victim to low tree branches off road. I have also seen gas station lights get blown out by the old 102" whips mounted on trucks. I heard from an owner of a lifted XJ in my club that he lost his roof rack and lights to a low parking garage beam.

Now, if said Jeep is a mall crawler, then none of the above applies :)

Mine fits in that second category! :patriot:

[Mudderoy]

You can find a way to mount lights on hatch, near hinge area seems good to me.
it is not XJ (russian niva), but looks like this:
http://www.monsters.4wd.ru/tun/niva/15h.jpg

http://autoanything.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/anzo_rugged_vision_lights.jpg
http://www.responderpse.com/images/prodspics/vision-x-xmitter-led-off-road-light-xil80.jpg

once idea is found, we have a brain and hand :)

Yep that's exactly what I was talking about as far as mounting location. Hmmm maybe a rectangular light would be best because of the reasons several people have outlined here. A friend of mine went up a long trail at night and there was no way to turn around, so when he got to an impossible point, he had to back up, with his passenger using a flashlight so he could see. Our backup lights are horrible.

[steph74]

Our backup lights are horrible.

At least you have some ;)
I am following that thread for future mod/improvement

[Mudderoy]

At least you have some ;)
I am following that thread for future mod/improvement

I've also thought about mounting some white LED strip lights on the inside of the back hatch. Tie them to the cargo light and when you have the hatch up you have light shining down from above. Might help in seeing in the dark and rain. I just have to experiment with how many lights I need there.

http://BlueWaterLED.com has some great prices on them.

[LizardRunner]

I haven't seen any specific mounts for the rear hatch, but I believe you could most likely use the mounts that come with the lights. BTW Tony, do much jeep speed at night? looks like you have more lights up front than my last desert racer.:smiley-laughing021::smiley-laughing021::smiley-laughing021:

[prerunner1982]

Here is how I did mine...

http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?albumid=211&pictureid=1825

Only problem... the light reflects off the glass and lights up the inside.. not bad if you have your head out the window and are backing up. However they may great work area/cargo lights..

[Mudderoy]

Here is how I did mine...

http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?albumid=211&pictureid=1825

Only problem... the light reflects off the glass and lights up the inside.. not bad if you have your head out the window and are backing up. However they may great work area/cargo lights..

That's not a bad idea, but yeah interior light would be bad. You need a high temp flexible plastic seal to go around the light and press against the window.

[4.3LXJ]

There is another option I have seen, but wouldn't help Tony out much with his spare tire in the way. Use Oldsmobile back up lights. Much brighter and they fit very nicely in the license plate area. I believe the year was 99

[prerunner1982]

There is another option I have seen, but wouldn't help Tony out much with his spare tire in the way. Use Oldsmobile back up lights. Much brighter and they fit very nicely in the license plate area. I believe the year was 99

Yes the Olds Aurora. Fit nicely. In-laws have a non running Aurora that I am wanting to pilfer the back up lights off of.. :D

[DETOURS]

I offer, and could have done this in your rear bumper.........

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Detours/CornerDetailNAXJA.jpg

They're pretty darn bright, brighter than LED's........you might have liked them!

[prerunner1982]

Use Oldsmobile back up lights. Much brighter and they fit very nicely in the license plate area. I believe the year was 99


Yes the Olds Aurora. Fit nicely. In-laws have a non running Aurora that I am wanting to pilfer the back up lights off of.. :D

I borrowed these pics from a thread on another XJ forum..
http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/lets-see-some-light-setups-front-back-side-light-bars-other-light-mounts-65444/index2/#post799846
http://www.cherokeeforum.com/members/xjheep92-2373/albums/back-up-lights/37277-img-20110104-172048.jpg
http://www.cherokeeforum.com/members/xjheep92-2373/albums/back-up-lights/37274-img-20110105-170946.jpg

[XJ408]

I was thinking putting some of these on my jeep....

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&category=BARS&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2Fwlfa.htm

[XJ Rat]

I've got one of these Aurora plate holders in my garage. Son was going to on his use it on his 89 until he found out he needs to cut holes in the tailgate to get the plate frame to sit flush.

[Mudderoy]

I was thinking putting some of these on my jeep....

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&category=BARS&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2Fwlfa.htm

Check out the LEDs from http://www.bluewaterled.com/

[XJ408]

Check out the LEDs from http://www.bluewaterled.com/

I might buy a few of those for my boat.....:thumbsup:

[Mudderoy]

I might buy a few of those for my boat.....:thumbsup:

I use 4 of their "live well" LEDs on my Jeep. I was amazed that for $5 each they work as well as the $30 each that I bought prior to finding out about bluewaterled.com.

[prerunner1982]

Tony.. where did you mount these? Any pictures with them on?

[Mudderoy]

Tony.. where did you mount these? Any pictures with them on?

I put 2 just behind the front bumper on the body and two behind the rear bumper on the body. The 2 you see in the wheel well are the $35 as well as the 4 under the center section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZMaLvuQ6EU

Speaking to the guys at bluewaterled.com they tell me that their new quad LEDs are MUCH brighter.

http://www.bluewaterled.com/images/catalog/catpic26.jpg

They are $18.99 for a pair!

:link: (http://www.bluewaterled.com/catalogdetails.php?id=26)