the next mod i would like to do soon is four offroad lights across the top. Ive looked at the 4x4parts.com and it seems like their lights stick up pretty high. I want the bottom of them to be flush with the front rack wind visor. Anybody know where I can get a good light bar? Has anyone slid one of the cross bars up and drilled into that? any pics? help would be greatly appreciated.

I actually just finished fabbing my own bar about 30 mins. ago, haha!

The following is assuming you have a 2000-2004:

I used some angle steel from home depot(figured it would be stronger and wasn't that heavy) for about $10. Depending on what paint and primer you buy, it may cost you another $15 or so. I had some self-etching primer left from my rear bumper so Im up to about $15 total painted, primed, and ready to go.

It does mount the same as AC's but its black, so it blends in much better. Imo the actual lights pictured on AC's site seem really tall.

So, as long as you have the tools(I used a saw-zaw, drill and a sharpie), you can build your own for around $20-30.

Food for thought.

i have the one from 4x4parts and i put some cheap lights from walmart and i dont think they stick up that far.... but i also dont have the round ones i bought the rectangle ones.... and as far as the mounting goes where the light bar mounts in my opinion in the best spot it can be... if i need to i just unbolt two screws and walla its off..... but every man to himself with the way he wants to do things.... lol hope you find adesign you like..... ( and for the record AC light bar is just a peice of angle iron grinded at the ends, painted and has a couple of holes drilled into it for the lights but i didnt know that till i recieved it.... LOL ) ricer mounted his hella's on his front bumper..... upside down where his bumper seperates he has a 04... i was upset with the idea cause i have a 00 and my bumper dosent allow it.....

Here is a supercheap light bar BUT I'm not real fond of the mounting. The few I've heard from that have them say that it is a pretty solid mount though and hard to beat for the price.

http://www.magnalight.com/pc-283-27-nissan-xterra-mounting-bracket.aspx

cool I didnt think about putting rectangle ones up...I also park in a garage so im trying to watch that clearance also. explore do you have any pics? also when getting the light...is it really worth getting the kc/piaa high dollar lights? i dont do a whole lot of offroading so wouldnt cheap ones do alright?

http://www.clubxterra.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2096
Will take some more pics with my other cam.

cool I didnt think about putting rectangle ones up...I also park in a garage so im trying to watch that clearance also. explore do you have any pics? also when getting the light...is it really worth getting the kc/piaa high dollar lights? i dont do a whole lot of offroading so wouldnt cheap ones do alright?

Functional wise they will work just fine. The cheaper ones tend to skimp on the housing of the lights. Going with plastics etc. And I'm sure the bulbs are of lesser quality but they still serve their purpose and do a pretty good job. I've got two KC spots on my bumper and I want to add 4 55W square flood lights across my roof rack eventually. Think I'm just going to fab my own light bar mount though. I'm really not thrilled about what's out there right now. I have considered buying a third cross-bar for the factory roof rack and making it into a light bar.

Ill take some pics for ya once I finish painting and mount it :)

i dont see the why they would mount it to the basket..... i have never even had my basket up there..... ( hell i dont even know where its at ) but i guess it is alright due to the fact that it has alot of mounting points for lights..... just go buy you a peice of angle iron cut it to length and drill holes and there you go.... LOL

657


heres what i came up with, no paint yet but had to see how they work, let me know what you think

total cost $62

I just bought the angled steel with the holes already drilled ready to go and everything lined up. I dont really like the basket idea either, but thanks for the info

looks good.... was the 62 including the lights??????

Yep, lights were 25 a pair at Meijer (haha) and the steel was 10 at a local store. Had the wire and a switch already in the garage.(the lights also came with some) I put the swith beside the 12v source on the dash in one of the black covered holes...out of curiosity do thoughs have a purpose on any other xterras?

i paid 19.95 a pair for midne at walmart.... LOL and they work great.... at night i can turn them on and they light upbright. i have alot of thoughts bout my X.......

Looks good. Just finished mine, Ill take some pics tomorrow. Mine actually mounts to that rear bolt on the wind faring.

You may want to paint it black. Im really happy I did. It blends right in with everything else.

Anyway, looks good F150!

yea i will defiantly paint it come spring time, ill put conduet on the wire too. I was also thinking of putting a couple strobes in the extra holes in between the lights...ya know just for foggy days lol, hopefully the alt and battery can hold up to the lights and stereo

well the thing with the batt.... i have a system that will take your breath away..... with that said even with my Cap my headlights still dim when a low not hits and i can run my system headlights and top lights all at the same time and my scanguage will read that the voltage drops down to about 11.9 to 12.5 then back up to about 13.7 - 14.0... i plan to get a optima yellow top batt and that should do away with the lights dimming..... i have been told that when i am comming twards someone and i have my system turned up at night it looks like i was changing from low to high beams..... LOL..... also i have ran it like this for almost a year now with no problems..... (knock on wood)

I wound up going to Nissan and buying another cross bar for mine. It works well the only problems and the metal it pretty thin and the paint started to chip. But all in all it holds up pretty good.

I have a 3 farad cap on my system and my lights arent dimmin yet...I only have a alpine 500rms amp too though.I had a yellow opt battery on my old expedition...I also held the record for ohio in the two 12" class...believe me when I say the battery will not help your head lights dimming. Really the only thing it does is you can drain the battery over and over and it can handle it. So if you want to get rid of the dim do the big three wire upgrade from your alt...or a larger alt. Dropping into the 11's isnt to bad...my caps reading with everything on around 12.3...my old trucks use to drop into the high 8s before i did the big three wires haha

03X I was looking at your light bar yesterday trying to figure out how you did lol..I was thinking of buying a thrid cross bar too, looks good

Heres my pics as promised.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/PICT0008.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/PICT0007.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/PICT0005.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/PICT0001.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/PICT0003.jpg

Enjoy.

lights look nice man, how do they do at night? is one a beam and the other a flood? the only thing i noticed w mine is the steel must be too flexible because i can see the beams "shake" while driving. I might have to but a support in the middle going to the roof or just make a different bar...i just wanted some lights up there before out big snow storm!!

^ Thanks man. They are as good as I need them to be. Im not doing any baja racing any time soon,so they don't need to be that bright imo. They are just pretty cheap lights but they work.

Yep, 2 floods 2 beams.

Yeah, I thought about that steel you got but I was worried about just that prob.. Like you said, you may need to find a way to brace it or just build a new one. Idk, depends on how bad the "shakes" are. Where there's a will there's a way.

Ha, yeah I was worried about snow storms here(central FL) too ;)

i know my cap is only a 1.5 i need to get a bigger one just never got around to do it LOL...... how do you do the wire upgrade???? never heard of it...

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?TID=73496&PN=1

should explain it pretty well...its basically replacing the three wires from your alt to put out a higher current...most alternators use 8 guage wire, so upgrading to 4 guage will give much more power depending on the out put of the stock alternator. Out of curiousty does anyone know of the stock output of the alt? is it any different for the SC?

thanks for the wrightup on the big 3

i remembered anthony has upgraded to the nissn quest alt.... the stock one is 100 amp and the quest is 125 amp... here is the link....
http://www.clubxterra.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1252&highlight=quest

no problem...i did notice when I flip on my lights you can here the engine rev down from idle...making the alt work harder...Ill most likely up grade to a high amp alternator...since I have some stereo plans down the road

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m142/nonmi9/DSC00127.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m142/nonmi9/DSC00130.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m142/nonmi9/DSC00128.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m142/nonmi9/DSC00129.jpg

the only bad thing about that bill is that you cant really move the lights around and have them light up diffrent areas.... and if you remove your basket they come out to.....

nice lights bill haha they light up pretty good. If I had my basket in use that would of been an option because I like how the lights are flush. looks good man

the only bad thing about that bill is that you cant really move the lights around and have them light up diffrent areas.... and if you remove your basket they come out to.....
I've had the X for a year now and the only time i take out the basket is to take it to the car wash. and the lights move. it was very cheap to do. I like how they turned out. I did it this way so they are flush with the air ram, other options have them sticking up more.

the reason i dont have my basket in is becacuse i have the SE with the moon roof so it is pointles if you know what i mean.....

That is the only down side, but I was only able to see 1/2 of the sky with it, thanks to the air dam.

i just wish i had a sunroof...i have the se sc...unfortunatly im the second owner so i didnt get to pic it haha, maybe an aftermarket sunroof or rag top down the road

you could get a aftermarket moon roof but from what ive been told you cant get a actual sunroof..... due to the way the roof is...

Sorry. Hate to res. an old topic, but I figured Id post my finished bar with my new Hellas here instead of starting a new topic.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/100_0176.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/100_0177_00.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/100_0179.jpg

looks good, alot better than the one i bought... LOL

Looks pretty nice, they dont stick up too far either. How do they light up? Im replacing my bar with a 1.5" angle iron, itll stop the shaking lights while driving. Looks good!

the one i bought is angle iron.. my lights dont move at all.... but its big and bulky.... LOL

Very nice!

Hey - IExploreX - what light bar is that and where could I get one?

That looks good - been looking at Hellas as well. Walmart has Hella 500's - I guess those would be decent.

If I'm not mistaken Odin, he fabbed that light bar himself. It's not that hard really and will save you some cash. Go to Lowe's or Home Depot and you can pick up aluminum angle stock and flat bars or you could go with steel too if you want a sturdier platform.

IEXPLOREX - i see you bolted this down using the bolts from the existing basket. I thought I have seen someone mounting a single light using these same bolts, only they used the lower bolts further down on the "air damn" in front of the basket.

Anyone know how this is done?

hey guys where did you run your wires for the lights? Did you have to drill a hole in th roof or in the piller? Just curious.

i ran mine down the pillar.....

Odin, thanks for your interest. Drake's right, I built it myself and it was quite easy and cheap.

I went into my rack and then through the roof and behind my door trim.

Oh, and Oumoose, this was my OLD set-up

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/PICT0196.jpg

where did you get the lights at im thinking about fabbin up one my self

i nought mine from waly world... they are cheap... but they never let me down yet...

iexplorex - How were these mounted on your old set-up? Do you just use the bracket provided and the bolt from the rack?

hey boss how did ya run your wires to the inside???

my wire ir ran under the plastic valence on top in the rain channel, then under the rubber around the windshield...then it goes into the truck under the glove box then up to a switch by the cigar lighter. it was pretty simple...doesnt look that professional when the passenger door is open but eh the girl on sees that side so i dont care haha

thats the same way i have mine but only mine is on the drivers side not the pass......

Just got an 08 XT SE

I really enjoy the square-lights on WilliamRuiter's Xterra's Light Bar.
Is it possible to install a lightbar that doesn't block the overhead compartment on the roof?
I live in WV and would love to install a light bar, but hate to loose my upper compartment also.


Tips?

-Jordan

Drill holes in the roof wind fairing, place some strap steel behind it to hold the lights onto. Seen in done on a local X and looks good. Then figure out how to run the wires inside.

It would be the built Xterra in this thread (http://www.roninwheelers.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2151). I can't get the pic to upload to photobucket. Appears my employer is now monitoring my Internet usage. Whatever! Give me some freakin' work to do, and I won't be on the Internet then.

iExploreX that is a NICE looking light bar, you should make them and sell them.. I would buy one just so I wouldnt have to make it/paint it myself.. I have no problem making things I just HATE painting because I suck at it so much and being a perfectionist on top of it makes is suck even more..

I am almost finished with the lightbar I made for my X. I (much like many of the others) I used 1.5" aluminum angle stock from Home Depot. I made all the cuts using a Dremel tool with the abrasive cutting blades (only went through about 15 blades) filed them down and rounded the corners. I finished it with the store bought bedliner spray-on. It gives it a rugged look . I mounted my lights last night (Hella FF-75's, great for the low profile look) and ran the wiring to a trailer type 4 pin connector, so that I can remove it if neccessary, it also has the covers for both the male and the female connectors so as to keep water out. I will run the rest of the wiring this week. Pics to follow.

hey i like the trailer connector idea... i might just redo my wiring on my light bar.. thanks

I actually just finished fabbing my own bar about 30 mins. ago, haha!

The following is assuming you have a 2000-2004:

I used some angle steel from home depot(figured it would be stronger and wasn't that heavy) for about $10. Depending on what paint and primer you buy, it may cost you another $15 or so. I had some self-etching primer left from my rear bumper so Im up to about $15 total painted, primed, and ready to go.

It does mount the same as AC's but its black, so it blends in much better. Imo the actual lights pictured on AC's site seem really tall.

So, as long as you have the tools(I used a saw-zaw, drill and a sharpie), you can build your own for around $20-30.

Food for thought.

U/L the pics I wanna see this!

Scroll up chief or go back a page. He has them posted earlier in the thread. You may have just scrolled right by them before they got loaded. His lightbar looks good. I'm going to do one similar myself but I'm looking around for a "special part" to add to mine.

The "special part" I'm looking for will allow me to fold the light bar backwards and hide the lights behind the fairing for the DD duties. Basically I'm looking for a 90 deg. pivoting hinge I can fab to the bar.

Sorry. Hate to res. an old topic, but I figured Id post my finished bar with my new Hellas here instead of starting a new topic.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/100_0176.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/100_0177_00.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c303/prodigyclothingco/100_0179.jpg

what spacing did you put between your lights and on each end? im considering either making a bar like that or mounting em on the air dam. either way, the spacing would probably be the same.