Nad Owners Don't Need Stinkin' Lightbars!
Kirks "No Lightbar" Solution For Nomads
Originally Posted 7/23/99 on the Delphi Vulcan Forum
For all my fellow Nomaders, last night I installed some spot lights on my Nomad. I didn't much feel like paying $200 for a light bar and spots, and I figured the Nomad already HAS a light bar that the signals lights are attached to. So I bought a pair of Show Chrome 4-1/2 inch spot lights and installed them on the existing light bar. I bought the spots from Frankie at Wing Things for about $35 each. It was a fairly simple job, and took only about 1.5 hrs. Most importantly, it looks good. And I saved a load of money. I wired them so that the light stay on in both high and low beam. And they're bright, at 55 watts each they look just as bright as the high beam.
There are many sources for lights from Fire and Steel to Harley Davidson to Custom Chrome. The style is up to you.
How To Do It:
With a caliper I measured the diameter of the mounting bolt on the light and then I just drilled through the end-plate on the stock lightbar. I stayed far enough from the edge so the nut on the underside would fit, but far enough away from the center so the spot light housing wouldn't touch the headlight housing. I then spliced into a 12 volt power source inside the headlight can. Finally, I ran a ground wire to one of the lightbar mounting bolts. These lights are very bright.
Answers to your questions:
- Was it hard to hide the wires?
- No, I just followed the same path as the turn signal wires into back of
the headlight can. I used a shiney black primary wire and they are just as
unnoticeable as the the signal wires.
- Can I assume you drilled in the front half of the bracket forward of the turn signal wiring?
Plus it looks like the bottom of the bracket where the mounting stud would come out is curved. How do you attach the nut if the surface it is butting up against is at a 45° angle? - The light bar itself takes up the front portion of the end cap, so I drilled between that bar and the spot where the signal is mounted. I assure you that the underside of the end cap is just as flat at the top. The nut that holds the spot light on goes up inside the end cap and will not be visible when you're done. The hot wire to power the spot light goes up through the hollow center of the mounting bolt.
Additional Options:
Check out the photos (below) for other front lighting options on your Nomad. Some owners have mounted them on top of the engine guard bars, others at the bottom.
This is the lightbar alternative described above |
This is a road light suspended from the top of the engine protector bar |
This is a standard lightbar type spot mounted to the bottom of the engine protector bar. |
Tag: nomad lighting