OK, so my WJ had one bulb under the hood which was giving me next to nothing for light output. I tried upgrading to an LED bulb, but it was still not much light, and it was nearly unidirectional. Then the other day I was at KMart and I saw these 12" Pilot LED strips on the clearance rack for nine bucks apiece and picked up two packages.
I took them home and pulled the light/switch assembly from the engine compartment. (Just squeeze the connector to disconnect it, then carefully pry the black housing loose.). Feed a jewelers screwdriver into each corner to release the clear plastic cover. In case you don't know, there's a ball switch in the assembly - kind of like a float switch - it has a ball in it that rolls back to make contact and turn on the light when you open the hood. So I took two short (about 4") sections of 16 gauge wire and soldered them to the two ends of the connector like this...
The strips are flexible and peel/stick, so I picked out the spots to stick them, cleaned them with Simple Green and let them dry. Then I stuck them (some of the double sided tape didn't take so I had to use a drop or two of wife's nail glue here and there) in place. I fed the wires under the insulation stuff to the switch, soldered and heat-shrinked (heat-shrank? heat-shrunk? whatever. Lol.) them and stuffed them back under the insulation, reattached the switch, and voila! Awesomeness!
Trust me when I tell you, the pics don't do it any justice. It is SO bright under there... I'm VERY pleased with myself... Hope it helps someone else. If you do it, post a pic here!
No. There's NO glare. The bends in the hood's metal angle them perfectly into the engine compartment away from my eyes. I'll try to get another pic tonight in full dark with no flash.
I have some of those LEDs kicking around, and have been meaning to do this to my TJ for a while ... the factory light is all corroded and almost never works.
This is a great cheap mod! My local Wal-Mart has a bunch of those on clearance but only in blue. I was excited when I first saw them then dissapointed they only had blue. As for the retractable light, some late 80's early 90's Chevy trucks had them also.
I'm old fashioned. A 12 volt back up light, and a clip-on reflector, and two battery clips are good enough for me. My dad carried one in the glove box of his 1951 Buick. :thumbsup:
I'm old fashioned. A 12 volt back up light, and a clip-on reflector, and two battery clips are good enough for me. My dad carried one in the glove box of his 1951 Buick. :thumbsup:
I'm still using a small flood light on a magnetic base that plugs into the lighter. 12 foot cord plus a 12 foot extension so I can reach the rear of the jeep if needed.
But.....
Being able to simply lift the hood and not have to futz getting that light out it's ammo can storage box is VERY convenient. Nice mod! :thumbsup::highfive:
I have a headlamp, the aforementioned maglite, two or three other small flashlights, a flashlight app on my phone, and now this. There are certain things that when you need them, you can't have too much. (Light, water, ammo, cover, QRF...)
Maybe you could put them under the car to face upward and also wire them to the switch. So that if you ever have to do anything under the car you can see what your doing. I would aim them at stuff like the starter, oil pan, u-joints... Maybe put a strip in each tire well so you can change a tire in the dark...
The possibilities are endless. If you don't want to wire to the hood lamp you can always put a toggle switch somewhere. LEDs don't take much so there isn't much risk of blowing a fuse if you hook them all to one location.
LEDs are pretty durable and should hold up to the water, dirt and other road sh... Just don't hit them on a rock or something.
What would you attach them to if you wanted them to shine up from the bottom? The control arms?
I like the idea of the wheel wells, though. That had crossed my mind when i saw someone's rock lights...
Excellent. I'm heading up and getting some today after trying to work on a couple items under the hood last night while balancing a flashlight in the other hand. Getting is jeep done up for my daughter to use, with her working right along with me, and want to make sure things can be seen and checked at night or even in shade. This looked like a great idea. Thanks again for sharing.
I was going to add to my 04 but never got around to it. I have the OEM fixture as well as bulb as well as the full harness, I bought used, I really should list for sale. are you interested?
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