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I may be new to this forum, but I've been messing with/building Honda's for over 15 years now. I have a serious question, I am wondering if anyone here has, or has seen anyone put an LED light bar either in the grille or roof of a TL? My wife drives an '07 Type S, and she has issues seeing at night. We live about 10 miles out of town, so at night there are a lot of dark country roads to get to our house, and with it getting darker earlier, it's getting harder for her to see. With all these LED light bars coming out and getting cheaper, was debating on seeing about adding some more light to the car. It's the Type S, so it already has the HID's, but wanted more light. They make a lot of kits for pickups to roof mount these light bars, and I've even seen them on VWs, Subaru's, and other cars. Was wanting to see if anyone has done this to a TL? If not roof mount (which would probably give the most light), I could probably fit one behind the grille, that way it's a little more inconspicuous. I would throw a relay in and wiring it to come on with the high beams, that way I'm not blinding oncoming cars and adding in extra switches. I tried Googling it, but couldn't find much for our cars. I'm not looking for one of these to look "cool" or "redneck", it's for actual functionality. I realize they don't make a "kit" for our cars, but before I started getting too deep into it, wanted to see if anyone has done something similar? Below is an idea of something similar I was looking for...
This is just my two cents and personal opinion, but I would take advantage of having the separate foglights in your 07 to put some higher-temp HIDs in there. Maybe match it with the temperature of your low beams (unless somebody with an 07-08 can testify for there being a temp limit in those foglight housings).
Seems much easier than trying to find a place to put a lightbar, mounting it, and hooking it up.
Mounting one to a roof rack is a good idea, but I don't think I want to add a rack to the car.
I may start looking into this a little more and get more info on how the different roof mounts actually mount to the vehicle and see if I can find something that would work with the TL roof gutters. Then take some measurements and see if I can't piece something together...?
This is just my two cents and personal opinion, but I would take advantage of having the separate foglights in your 07 to put some higher-temp HIDs in there. Maybe match it with the temperature of your low beams (unless somebody with an 07-08 can testify for there being a temp limit in those foglight housings).
He said he was after light...not color...there is rarely any point in going to higher-temp bulbs if light output is the overall goal.
Originally Posted by nfnsquared
Belongs in the Rice subforum
Only rice if it isn't functional/usable. He isn't doing this for "looks"...but is asking a serious question to solve a specific issue.
I agree I hate when people install these and leave them on with normal lights it is stupidly annoying. Hooking to the brights as the OP has suggested sounds like a great option. I have no info to provide on how to accomplish this...but it can't be that difficult assuming you are ready to drill holes and make some custom mounts. You could probably find some smaller ones that fit in the grill.
What I do find odd is that you really feel you need more light output than what the factory lights offer. I rarely ever find myself wanting more light output than what the TL already has. First thing to check is confirm the lenses are crystal clear and your bulbs are good.
A good many of the truck brackets that mount the light at roof level, ahead of the windshield, are installed by drilling and add rivnuts to the A-Pillar area, right at the top of the door opening. The bracket then comes out and sort of wraps around to the front of the window.
There's nothing radical about how it's done. You should be able to do something similar with your car. Find a LED bar that is smaller than the car is wide and then have some brackets made up. You can find the rivnuts on Amazon. Run wiring from the light bar down through the weather strip inside the door A-Pillar, or down underneath the rubber seal next to the windshield, and into the engine bay. Install your relay box there. And complete your wiring.
You can find some decent weatherproof relay holders on Amazon. Expect about $75-100 for all the relay, fuse, holders, etc if you want to do it thoroughly. Less if you cut corners.
OPT7 makes a decent, affordable, LED bar that's throws as much light as the big names but for a fraction of the price.
