H3 Life hands you lemons - replacing my clearance lights

[lugantom]

Well, I guess I should have listened to that old "stitch in time ..." maxim. I didn't, I ignored that occasional rattle coming from my H3's factory clearance lamps, and one end tore off at highway speed. Good that I have a sunroof. I didn't want to tear it the rest of the way off on the shoulder, didn't have tools with me to remove it by the side of the interstate, so drove home with my son and I taking turns holding the loose end from ripping free by reaching through the sunroof.

Got home, and, as I had feared, had a combination of sources of failure. Some of the torx screws were loose, some of the plastic mount from the bar had apparently torn free or broken previously (I suspect during a 3rd party windshield repair some time ago), so I was not going to add a couple of washers and bolt it back down.

Here's what it looks like removed:

I've been kicking around some ideas and have been enjoying some of the clever LED light bar ideas that I've seen in these forums. Looking for some feedback on what I have in mind.

First - the problem - the fastener system GM used is lousy - the threaded bases in the roof sheet metal break free and spin with the screws. I had to pinch two of them with a needle nose plier while I broke the screw free.

The solution - what do you think about a tiny tack weld to hold the base to the sheet metal where they broke loose?

Second - the opportunity - instead of putting the clearance lights back up there, I'm thinking about using those six threaded mounting holes to mount a low-profile LED bar. My thought is to fabricate a bracket that bolts to the six locations used by the clearance lamp plastic bar. Then put the LED bar in the bracket. I'd use the existing wiring - just add a switch and a relay. Then could turn on the LED bar with a dash switch when the lights are on.

Here are the factory mounting holes:

Here's where the factory wiring runs:

Any suggestions for the LED bar? Do you think the amp draw would be significantly higher than the five clearance lamps, requiring stouter wiring? Any suggested brands?

Thanks for any help!

 

[benlaud87]

you could drop the head liner and use nuts and bolts or you could get a rivet nut tool with slightly larger rivet nuts and reinstall them. If you decide that you no longer want to use the marker lights im sure you could sell them on here easily. There are many people that want them, and they are no longer available.

 

[Kyle]

that wiring looks fine, LED bars dont draw that much like halogen or HID bulbs do.

 

[lugantom]

Options for the Switch

Super Buick Guy has an interesting description of his light bar mount and switch set up on his build thread:

this is the switch plate - I bought it from a Land Cruiser site (I guess they mimic the FJ switches - don't know, don't care, they work for my purposes - though, honestly, I think it was someone on here that originally pointed to the site).



here they are in the coin spot - I drove around with two switches in the plate just sitting in the coin box to see if it would work...


let there be light


I think I'll do something similar for my new lights.

My bar will be a bit different, as I will make use of the factory nuts already mounted in the sheet metal (once I repair them).

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

 

[3Hummers]

Like the switches and the light bar idea.

 

[Hans3T]

That's a great use for that otherwise pretty useless tray.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[Chocflip201]

My 50" LED bar is 288 watts ≅ 22 amp draw. You should have 12ga wiring leading to that. 14ga minimum. You'll probably melt your wires/constantly blow fuses.