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Cleaned up, that blue is making me reconsider gray on my next car...
It's incredible, I was going to do dark gray again, but once I started looking into the Nautical Blue I knew I had to go this route. Just looked at it in the sun when I went to lunch and holy hell the metal flake just pops on this paint
I'm hoping to do a few test drives this weekend. Haven't seen Mazda's Depp Crystal Blue, but think it work well with the Chestnut on the Signature.
Not a fan that to get the blue on the Accord Touring, you have to take gray leather.
Yesterday I took the back hatch panel off to replace the rear 2 speakers in the liftgate, only to find out that the speaker adapters I planned to use from my old truck wouldn't fit the baskets on the new MB Quarts that I bought for this truck. I could have trimmed the MDF, but really didn't feel like it and was never a big fan of that style anyway, so I ordered another set of Taco Tunes adapters, freaking cost more than what I paid for the speakers
Finally got a nice day to rip the bumper off my nice new truck, it was nerve racking but I definitely took my time and made sure every bolt and clip was removed correctly and that nothing got broken.
A little before of the unmolested front end
And off we go!
Put it on a blankie for safe keeping
And voila! It took me a while to get the brackets mounted and widened for the larger screws, but I got everything mocked up and mounted
This is the same 32" light bar that I removed from my 08
The company that makes the light bar mounting brackets also makes this nice relay holder that bolts to the factory screw holes in the engine bay
Not sure what these holes are tapped for, but I'll take it!
Since I had the bumper off I also had to install my Black Morimoto XB LED fog lights as well
Testing the wiring out, these suckers are bright as hell
Fished the switch wiring and got the light bar all wired up!
And now time for the new switch
And here is the light bar hidden behind the factory grille, bumper wasn't bolted yet, just checking fitment
And all bolted up! You can see the new black LED fog lights as compared to the stock reflector housings
All back together
And boom!
I didn't actually get a pic with the LED fogs on because I blew the fog light fuse when testing the wires, so I have to pop that out today and replace it, but overall I'm super happy to have these pieces all installed and mounted to the truck. It's definitely feeling more and more like my truck, especially after getting my LED bar back in the grille where it belongs!
Last edited by 97BlackAckCL; 05-07-2018 at 10:38 AM.
There's no picture of the switch? Did you go with one of the AOB factory-esque ones?
I'm seriously contemplating a similar, behind the grille, lightbar for ours. Of course, I've had a roof light in the box for a couple years waiting for a few minutes to make a bracket and install, so I've got a bit of time. But this is inspiring.
There's no picture of the switch? Did you go with one of the AOB factory-esque ones?
I'm seriously contemplating a similar, behind the grille, lightbar for ours. Of course, I've had a roof light in the box for a couple years waiting for a few minutes to make a bracket and install, so I've got a bit of time. But this is inspiring.
Yeah, I used the factory sized ones, sorry I forgot to get a pic and it was dark. I'll snap one at lunch, I got one for the LED bar and one for next mod as well
Originally Posted by rockstar143
Looks good, Ckhris!
I wonder how much the grill blocking some of the led's will affect output...
I'm wondering the same, but doesn't seem like much at all, most people I've asked said it was very little. I've had this bar with no blockages on my last truck so I'll definitely be able to tell, just can't wait to get it out on a dark road and see. The grille does come out if I have to remove it, but I like this look so much better
are there any grill options intended for the bar? I kinda don't like it just shoved in behind it like that...
or maybe you can buy another one and cut and put a weatherstrip on it to make it look custom for the light bar...
don't kill me.
i have an opinion and an inability to keep it to myself.
Trust me bro, I've already looked into the other options since I had it open the last time and the grille mesh removed. The only grille that I know of isn't made for these mounts, but it's like 1500 bucks. Honestly I prefer it to be a bit farther back and protected by the bumper because I actually rear ended someone who cut me off and slammed on their brakes and my first LED bar and the mounts took the brunt of the impact, so having it further back behind the bumper is a bonus. Lookwise I know what you're saying, but I kind of like the stealthy look since it's more subtle and people have to go wait, is there a bar back there?
Gotcha...
looks like our minds work alike.
Sooo...why don't you try and make a cool one...could probably trim up easily and make a weatherstrip around the opening so it looks OEM. If you fuck up, that grill must be cheap.
The light loss is pretty negligible. There have been some nerds that have assessed it and while you do get more output with it not behind the obstruction, the bars put out so much light it really doesn't matter. I'd bet a donut that you'd only be able to tell the difference with a light meter and not actually sitting behind the wheel.
But if you get one of those black billet grilles with the integrated light mount and all the silver cap screws exposed, then you could match it with the same style Fuel wheels and have the start of a very thorough brodozer. So, you know, think about it.
Alright, so I snapped a few more pics. Here she is waiting for me at work (some dbag in a caddy parked on top of me)
And here is the OEM style switch since Cu2 asked for a pic, I will be moving these around next time I add another switch in there
And I got the fog light fuse replaced (the wires touched while I was testing the wiring direction) so I got these bad boys fired up you can see that they match the HID's perfectly
And some night time shots, you can see the nice fog light cutoff (gf was not impressed...)
And the fogs at night
And this is the headlights, fog lights and LED bar, there is no breakup from the mesh of the grille, we tried it on several dark roads and couldn't tell the difference from when I had it exposed in my last truck, I'm super close to the garage door so it looks more like a spotlight than a flood, I have a mix of both
Say cheese!
Last edited by 97BlackAckCL; 05-07-2018 at 10:24 AM.
See they have this one for $600 and I'm not a fan of it either.... looks like
Here's the $1500 one and it's with a smaller light bar...
I had wondered what it would look like with the mesh removed like I did on my 4th gen, but I don't like that at all....
So I will be sticking with this look, I have a couple more front end changes to make that I think will make you guys like this look better, I see it in my head, but need to put it all together and roll with it
I vote keep the current grille mesh over the above options.
Doesn't look quite right without the mesh there, and I'm not a fan of the integrated grille option. Though, it looks better on the T4R than it does on a 2015+ F150
Fixed the pictures, went ahead and uploaded them to Azine instead of using Google... Apparently there's some time limit on when you can link to google's hosting.
So finally got the new speaker brackets in from TacoTunes so I could do the rear hatch speakers, current count is 6 replaced, only the 2 dash tweeters are left, and I'm putting 3.5" coaxials in their place like I had in the doors of my 08
Here's a before of the crappy paper cone garbage
And all mounted up and ready to go
I go to a lot of concerts and do a lot of tailgating, so these will definitely get some good use, had to flip around a bit to get the holes lined up, no biggie
And got them both installed, took about 10 minutes once I had the right brackets lol
I replaced them in the rain, was nice to have the rear hatch as shelter, but it was just drizzling
Last edited by 97BlackAckCL; 05-07-2018 at 11:38 AM.
Looking good man. Still think that first grill wouldn't look bad especially if you are doing the wheels with a lip. If you are doing the wheels with no lip then I would stick with the stock grill with the light behind.
I'm sticking with the stock grille and my 32" light bar, the overpriced grilles would require a 20" light bar and a whole different setup, I'm happy with what I have and not paying $600 for a freaking grille, thanks though bruh
I have a few more things to go on, and then I think you'll get why I'm keeping that grille, it will flow better together
04-26-2018, 11:44 AM
Trust me bro, I've already looked into the other options since I had it open the last time and the grille mesh removed. The only grille that I know of isn't made for these mounts, but it's like 1500 bucks. Honestly I prefer it to be a bit farther back and protected by the bumper because I actually rear ended someone who cut me off and slammed on their brakes and my first LED bar and the mounts took the brunt of the impact, so having it further back behind the bumper is a bonus. Lookwise I know what you're saying, but I kind of like the stealthy look since it's more subtle and people have to go wait, is there a bar back there? 
