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05-02-2014, 09:24 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: San Francisco/Nevada City
Posts: 3,769
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Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
Since I scored this bumper last year I've been noodling this around in my head... big round holes for lights, but I didn't want halogen or HID. I'm an LED kind of guy now.
So now that the bumper is on the new van, I designed these little brackets to retrofit an Aluminess bumper with surface mount Rigid dually flush mount flood lights.. and finally got around to getting them made up (I have no way to cut a circle).
Step 1. metal round with cutout for light and two mounting tabs:
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05-02-2014, 09:25 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: San Francisco/Nevada City
Posts: 3,769
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Re: Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
Step 2. powdercoat in 'Black Magic' - close enough match to Aluminess to work for me:
Step 3. Mount lights:
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05-02-2014, 09:26 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: San Francisco/Nevada City
Posts: 3,769
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Re: Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
Step 4. Install in bumper and wire up:
I only have the bolted on the stock lower hole on the Aluminess, but I designed them to be mounted on top as well. Taking them camping this weekend, we'll see how they work and maybe drill and bolt the top mount next week.
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05-02-2014, 10:15 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 3,283
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Re: Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
Looks sweet!
Where are you headed to this weekend? We spent all last week in Yosemite in the valley and even caught the beautiful snowfall Friday night into gorgeous Saturday. Spectacular. Not too crowded . Have to post some pics.
__________________
Ray
Beastie 3: 2002 7.3 EB Cargo: Agile TTB, CCV High Top, Custom Walk Through, Lots of stuff added. www.BlingMyRig.com
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05-02-2014, 10:21 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: San Francisco/Nevada City
Posts: 3,769
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Re: Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1der
Looks sweet!
Where are you headed to this weekend? We spent all last week in Yosemite in the valley and even caught the beautiful snowfall Friday night into gorgeous Saturday. Spectacular. Not too crowded . Have to post some pics.
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Off to Mendocino National Forest again.. Me, girl, dog and friends with a tricked out Tundra with Maggiolina.
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05-02-2014, 11:35 AM
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#6
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Northern California
Posts: 76
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Re: Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
Who cut and made the inserts? I really
Like them super slick!
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05-02-2014, 11:54 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 321
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Re: Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
This is a little off topic, but I have the Hella 500's in that spot, are the rigid industries (or any) LED lights better. I'm noticing lots of LED lights on the front of many vehicles lately, any insight would be great. Your mounts look super cool too! Can we get a pic of the entire front bumper to see what they look like?
Nice work!
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05-02-2014, 12:05 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: California
Posts: 1,012
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Re: Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
Tight!
__________________
2006 E350 6.0PSD 5R110, SMB 4X4, RB-50, ARB lockers front/rear, Aluminess galore, AMP steps.
Callsign KK6GIY
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05-02-2014, 02:56 PM
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#9
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Site Team
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,179
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Re: Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
Excellent idea. I've wondered when Aluminess is going to come out with a bumper designed around LED lamps.
You might want to add some ventilation holes in your adapter plates (maybe?).
Herb
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
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05-02-2014, 07:06 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Corvallis, OR
Posts: 5,300
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Re: Rigid LED Aluminess Bumper retrofit
Quote:
Originally Posted by c7train
This is a little off topic, but I have the Hella 500's in that spot, are the rigid industries (or any) LED lights better.
Nice work!
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Halogens can get as bright as LEDs, but the real benefit is output vs power draw. Also, the Rigid LEDs in particular have really nice optics. Better than the halogens I had before (i.e. even spread, useful pattern). Without the proper optics, LEDs may not put out a useful pattern, and that's really what separates Rigid from the cheaper makes. The others may have similar Lumens, but that's not all that matters when it comes to putting light to the road.
They do have one big flaw though: Snow. They don't get warm enough to melt it. I opted to retain a pair of Halogen amber fog lights for snow driving.
__________________
2000 E450 dually V10 wagon
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