Telescoping/rear light

Inyo_man

Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.
The idea of having a work light that can be aimed in a variety of directions has been on my list for the Montero for some time now.
I wanted a light that would extend upwards past the top of the rear door and have the ability to aim the light as needed.
After slowly accumulating parts and working on it bit by bit, it has finally been completed.

Telescoping painter pole:
24'' collapsed/44'' extended
I found one at Home Depot that was made in the USA. Heavy duty fiberglass exterior with an alum. extension.

The light was mounted using eight mm nuts, washers, and bolt. Spray on Plasti-Dip was applied to most hardware.
To make the light pivot easily, the light bracket was sandwiched between two nylon washers.

The wire for the light was run through a drilled hole and connected to a "curly" cord down the pole which comes out the bottom.
Using 1.5'' adhesive shrink wrap, I covered the straight part of the pole.

There is a switch on the inside of the rear door and one on the dash. I also wanted to be able to turn the light on without the ignition, so it's run directly to the battery. After poking through the rear door, I spliced in the Rigid relay, ran the wiring along the harness into the body, and popped the headliner down. The wire is secured in the roof cavity and down the passenger A-pillar.

To mount the light I didn't really want to drill or cut the spare tire carried. Instead, I used a couple of hose clamps. First I cut a 10'' piece of stainless 3/8'' rod and encased it in adhesive shrink wrap. Next, if you look between the mounting bolts on the tire carried you'll notice two small slits. Pinching the hose clamps and slipping them through non shrinked shrink wrap allowed the clamp to fit through the slots between the tire carrier and rear door. I then passed the rod through the clamp on one side and the pole through the other. By tightening the clamps the pole is firmly secured. Worked a treat

The SRM light draws less than one amp, so running it without the vehicle on is not a worry.
Area lighting and additional back up illumination checked off the list.
(I'm pretty bad at documenting and detailing procedure in writing, so thanks for reading.)
 

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Inyo_man

Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.
Thanks so much for the compliment.
I think it will be very useful on all of our coming family adventures.
 

JamesW

Adventurer
I like that idea,I might put it on my long list of things I would like to do. I'd never have thought about using one of them rods for a paint roller though,I was thinking of using a hiking Pole though,but those painting rods have very good rigidity,so I'm guessing you could use it extended while driving without any fear of it breaking off
 

java

Expedition Leader
Where did you find the curly wire, or did you just coil regular wire? Great idea

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk
McMaster carries lots of different varieties.


And I like it too! We had a few of these on the local search and rescue base camp truck. Really useful for lighting a large area.
 

mapper

Explorer
That is probably the best lighting idea I've seen. You got multiple uses out of a simple, single light and the mounting is innovative, affordable and therefore relatively replaceable. Since it is mounted on the rear door rather than the roof you get even more options for positioning the light by opening the door. Also perfect work lamp for using a rear door mounted table.

Can you tell I like it! :sombrero:
 

Inyo_man

Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.
Where did you find the curly wire, or did you just coil regular wire? Great idea

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk

Trying to keep costs down, I sourced a cell phone charger (my dad keeps a box of old parts) from an old phone.
...clipped the ends off and wired it up.
The light gauge wire was not a concern, due to the very low power draw from the lamp.
 

Inyo_man

Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.
That is probably the best lighting idea I've seen. You got multiple uses out of a simple, single light and the mounting is innovative, affordable and therefore relatively replaceable. Since it is mounted on the rear door rather than the roof you get even more options for positioning the light by opening the door. Also perfect work lamp for using a rear door mounted table.

Can you tell I like it! :sombrero:

Thanks for the positive feedback!
It worked a treat this past week in the Sierras.
Although, due to the full moon it didn't get too much of a workout.
 

MadMedic

Technical Responce Medic
Where did you find the curly wire, or did you just coil regular wire? Great idea

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk

A nice cheat to know is if you wrap a straight wire around a form of some kind, and then heat it up with a hair drier/heat gun then it will stay in that form.


Sent using Tapatalk
 

MattL

Adventurer
Brilliant! I'm going to use the basic idea but add a hook where your light is to hang my lantern from. Thanks for sharing!
 

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