Hey all,
Got a nice little side bonus at work, and decided it was time to finally get some real aux lighting for the XJ. So I picked up a pair of KC HiLite Driving lights, at 130w. I plan to mount them to my bumper, but wasn't sure of the best mounting location?

I have a set of cheap autozone fogs on now that the PO put on, and they're useless, I also feel like they're spread to far apart? Would you guys recommend mounting a bit closer together in the middle of the bumper?

Also...these little crap lights put off some light, and I'd hate to just trash em as they do work. Got any ideas as to where I could make some use out of them?

Thanks guys.
JJ

 

If are feeling a bit thrifty, u can leave the lights on bumper alone and drill holes on top of stock roof rack crossmember and mount the lights there. Or if u want to, u can fabricate a light bar.

Some people run lights on the a-pillar

 

The little lights that are there are useless with headlights on. There is 0 benefit to them, which is why I picked up the KC's, I'd like to get a bit more use out of my aux lighting. I live on the outskirts of a college town, and the town itself is still a "small" town. A lot of roads are still not lit, low traffic, and farm land.

I was thinking of mounting the new lights closer together on the bumper..

 

Put the new ones about 1-1.5 ft away from each other in the center and take the old ones and mount them on the roof rack. It'll look good and work great man.

 

This^^^

Instead of putting the existing lights on the front, put them on the back of the rack so you have some light if you need to work back there.

 

Thanks guys, that's pretty much what I was looking for. Now torn between mounting them on the rear or on the roof rack facing forward. Hmmm, toss up. Looking forward to some good lights up front though.

 

The cheapo lights would make good for rear aux/backup lights.Either up top or on the rear bumper.I have a set of stock fogs that I am going to use a rear aux lights.

 

Mount them at the rear corners, that way if you need work lights on the side of the jeep, they will rotate. And you'll still get to use them as reverse lights otherwise.

 

^^^ excellent idea

 

i drilled into the factory roof rack for my top lights that are just cheap 50$ off road lights from auto zone then on my front bumper i am running two KC HID 24v long range off road driving lights (got them really cheap) just switched out the 24v relay for a 12v and they are still vary bright but i have looked into getting a set of the A pillar mounts to drop the lights from up top for me they sit too far back

 

I have never liked the look of lights up top, 2 of them make it look like Mickey Mouse to me... 3-4 looks a wee bit better, but still not my thing.

Personally I have 2 cheap tractor lights on the bumper in the stock location and am in the process of making some A-Pillar mounts for 2 more that won't require putting holes in my A-Pillar

 

The problem I always had with mounting lights on the bumper with my cherokee was that mine would always run hot because the way the bumper was configured, it would block airflow if you hung them. So I put them on top of the bull nose instead of hanging them. I got used to it. I had quads up on the roof rack (I kinda commandeered the KC floods to replace the Hella 55W with 110W KC's on my pickup for night driving). I also have some tractor lights on the back of the rack for utility purposes.

I never have time (or patience to work on the XJ's electrical) but this summer some changes will be taking place. I'm wanting to remove the roof rack, integrate utility lights with the back bumper, LED light bars to replace all of the KC's.

I want to wire things similarly to how I had my last pickup wired. Rear lights are run on the 7th pin trailer wiring (automatically comes on when you put it in reverse), an extra relay tied to a switch in the cab so I can energize the aux lights on the rear. The driving lights on the front bumper get a switch/relay combo so they come on with the high beams if the switch is on.

I miss my old light setup…but I think it's about time I start implementing LEDs.