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.)
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.)