I had a question from another member here via email on Ruby's new light bar which I've mounted under her chin spoiler. I thought I would share the information here for anyone interested.
Anyway, the Nilight lightbar (about $20) is 12-inches long and has 24 LEDs in two rows of 12. In each row of 12, the center 6 are spotlights (about 40 deg throw), the outer 3 on each side are flood lights (about 130 deg throw). The center lights throw a beam well down the road and the outer lights project well out to each side - this is a real blessing where I live because the roads are not always well maintained and the pavement sometimes crumbles near the edge and there is often no shoulder up in the hills. The light bar is rated at 72 watts - I'd say it easily throws out 5000+ lumens, it is really bright! Certainly puts the center halogen headlamps to shame.
This description on Amazon says the lightbar is waterproof - but customer reviews have said some people had problems with water intrusion. I took the end caps off and filled it up nicely with silicone calk and also caulked around the lens in front, and caulked the housing where the wire leads come out. The housing is heavy duty aluminum and cooling fins are built in - it's really beefy and I have no doubt that it will hold up well. With the caulking ahead of time I've had no trouble with water intrusion at all.
The mounting clamps I used (about $18.00) were basic, but sturdy and came with the screws and rubber pads needed to insure that they don't shift while riding - I've put about 150 miles on since I mounted them and there is no problem, they are solid as a rock. With the clamps attached to the round frame bar beneath the radiator, the light sits just 4-5 inches behind and beneath the front chin of the lower spoiler. The light is no lower than any other component under the sling and I've had no problem with anything hitting or dinging up the housing. The lens is polycarbonate - Nilight has a video where they show a fellow pounding on the unit with a hammer with no damage to the light - so I'm pretty sure this unit will hold up under the sling. Having the light under the chin spoiler and back a few inches means that I don't blind anyone ahead of me, so I felt that I was pretty safe without a switch - If I get flashed a lot at night, I might install a switch, but for now I'm good.
I also purchased a wiring harness & switch (about $12) from Nilight, but did not end up using it. dangerdarrell and I did the mounting and we found that there is an unused plug that puts out 12V above the outer headlight housing. Since this puts out the right voltage and is ON as soon as you turn the key, we cut the plug off and soldered automotive speaker wire (Walmart, $10) from there to the lights and zip-tied everything tight. Darrell showed me his wife's sling has a similar bar (not as large or bright. I haven't tested it thoroughly in the dark yet - but I do a lot of pre-dawn driving in the fall and winter because Ruby is my daily ride to work at 5:45 am most days. I think this is going to help loads!
The whole project was under $50, a great deal in my opinion. I hope the photos here help folks out, if you have any other questions, please PM me and I'll do my best to help.
Doc
I didn’t go out in the SS because of the 80% chance of rain. After the rain started though it kept it up till about 10.
