Converted96

So, I thought i did enough research, but apparently not when wanting to do a Carr light bar and 4 lights up there.

My jeep is a very special case... as you can see in the pics. I had to modify the crap out of the bar to get it to fit, and even when i did get the side brackets to fit, i had to custom mount the bar to the top of the brackets.

anyhow, i got them all finished yesterday and went out on some unlit roads and adjusted them the best i could for the time being. I just cant use them cause i get a wicked reflection on my windshield, and the only way to not get it is to point the lights up into the sky.. lol. I did play around with some electrical tape last night to see that if i cover up the bottom 1/3 of the light, it quits shining into my windshield about 95%, though i didnt road test it I think i will be able to deal with it. so today I had the bright idea to paint the bottom portion of the lights with my spray bedliner paint.. thinking oh this will hold up, be a flat color and block what i need to and hold up pretty decently. well that didnt work out, when i took the tape off the paint peeled a bit and i just pulled on it and it pretty much yanked all the way off, so i got the goo gone and cleaned them all back up to square one. Then I remember in the past with my VW's i owned, i had this stuff called Niteshades.. the spray tail light tint. I am thiking of trying that out. But I have read on some other posts from doing a search that there may be a half cover or shield of some sort that i could put on. but google was no help. I cannot move the light bar back at all, it has to sit where it is. Anyone run into similar issues? and what have you done? or know of any suggestions.

The lights are Westin 09-0205 55W driving lights..

my thoughts now are

1. try the niteshades, but not sure if it will stick to the lens.
2. buy some extra covers and cut them to block the bottom portion of the
lights.
3. make a cover out of some thin sheet metal, paint it and semi permanently
attach it to the lights
4. keep the lights for decorative purposes only.. lol.

Screwd up 6

I like the idea of cutting mini shields out of some extras. You can try the night shades stuff too, but I dont think it will look great with half painted. What do you think about these...they are Xoskel Glare Shields

Screwd up 6

http://www.xoskel.com/glareshields.html

Converted96

I see they say they attach well to stone guards and list 2 different lights. Also i see that they can be glued, or double sided tape. the only concern I have is how my lights design are and the way they mount, there is a tab on teh bottom if you look at my lights, in the cover there is a molded part at the bottom. how did you attach yours?

OverlandZJ

It's the highly reflective gloss white paint thats causing the biggest issue. Take a look at Google images for Land Rovers.. you'll notice the hoods blacked out with a flat black decal or paint. if thats not an option the deflectors are your best bet.

OverlandZJ

Converted96

you know i saw that last night while searching around. but my mind wasnt letting me think that the hood was causing it inside, i mean i have a Tan dashboard, and when the lights were on, the dash was lit up like the sun was shining, causing a terrible reflection on the windshield. i didnt think to lay anything on the hood, like i have black carpet i couldve tried, to see if it was reflecting back off the hood, i think these lights have too wide of a spectrum and shining to much down. im not sure, maybe I will try tonight.

stomper27

So do you get the reflection/glare because you had to mount the Carr light bar so close to the windshield? I'm asking because I was looking at the same exact light bar and brackets for my ZJ. Is it a strong bar otherwise? Did it mess up the door seal? Do you like/dislike the bar if you didn't have the obvious probs? Thanks in advance, and I like your idea of making custom shades. You could even make your own complete cover with your own design, and just install them so they flip down like a shade. Good luck

Screwd up 6

I dont have them, but since your lights mount with a single stud on the bottom, just drill a hole and put the stud thru them and then bolt them down. That should do the trick I would think

Screwd up 6

Or if they have the same shape as my hella 500s, just cut a small square notch in them so you can then mount the them to the bottom with double sided tape.

Converted96

1. I haven't inspected for all the causes, but I am fairly certain that it is a mixture of the bar being mounted as far front as possible, actually further than what would be possible cause I bent my rain gutter out to get an extra half inch, and the driving lights having a wide light spectrum, as well as having a shiny white hood and tan dashboard.

2. To me it is a strong bar, the brackets are tough, my angle grinder worked a little bit harder than usual cutting it. The top bar is thiiner metal, but it is strong overall. I mounted the bar on top, which the bar mounts normally inside the brackets. I can grab the bar and shake back and forth and the bar don't move, the jeep does.

3. As far as the doorseal, no it doesn't even touch that, I did however drill holes in the rain gutter and door frame to get the wires inside.

4. I do like the bar a lot. I ordered it not knowing if it was going to fit or not with the thinking, if it don't fit, ill sell and go with bumper mounted lights when I do bumpers.. but I decided to cut into a 100 buck product 10 mins after it was at my door... lol

I have pics I took of everything I did when I installed it as far as wire routing and stuff like that I can post later, I'm on my phone at the moment. Being u have a grand it might make things different though but a general idea.

stomper27

Sweet. Great info, thanks for such a detailed answer. I think it looks good.

OverlandZJ

A set of lights with a "pencil beam" are what you want for the roof.

Lets see a pic of the lense.. you sure there not clear fogs?

Lyon

That's a sweet looking set up. I think I might change my mind on the liberty bar and go with this.

Converted96

here are some pics of my install..

here are the back of the lights, i had some 3/8" wire loom and ordered 1/2 inch clips and drilled 1/4" holes to clip them in



here is where i went through the rain gutter, got a 5/16 in there and black silicone all around it.



here i ran down a few inches and popped a 3/8" hole there for the wires with a grommet



here where the wires came through there was about a 1/4" hole and i reamed it out to 3/8", again with a grommet. from there i ran down and behind the knee bar as i call it, wired the switches just left of where a speaker could go in the bar.





here on the left are the 2 relays, I drilled yet another 3/8' hole on the driver side firewall in the area where the hood release cable comes out.



here are 4 shots with the lights, first is headlights only, then headlights and the 2 inner lights, and then all lights. sorry crappy pic of the jeep with my phone, these all were from my droid.