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Best roof rack lights?


willdeh2
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Hello all,

I'm mostly new around here, I've got myself a '96 Legacy Outback and I want to put a couple of lights on the rack to bring out the wagon's masculinity. I've searched as much as I can on here but I've failed to find any threads on this topic.

 

What are the best lights for the money? I'm looking to spend under $100 for 2 lights and the whole shebang to rig it up. Are the Hella 500s the best for the money? I'm not looking for serious off-roading but I want some lights that will reliably turn on when I tell them to. Any suggestions?

 

Also what is the best way to mount and wire these while maintaining a respectable appearance? Is this easy to do? And will the stock roof rack work for this? Pictures are great too.

 

Thanks a lot for any response.

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Wiring can be run from along the driver fender back to where the door/fender/windshield corner meet, then run the wire up along the A pillar seal from there to the top, wrap around and onto the roof rack.

 

Hella 500 are good. Make sure you get Hella and not the fake "optilux hella" which Hella does not really mark there name on for a reason.

 

Cheap approach to mount is use the stainless hose clamps to tighten the brackets they come with to the roof rack bars. Those stainless hose clamps will clamp it nicely, won't rust, and they can take the shape of most anything, and are quite secure.

Edited by bheinen74
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There's an extra slot for a switch right next to the fog light plug. Could get an extra fog light switch from a junkyard and wire it the to new light's relay.

 

I think the slot needs to be cut out.

 

I got a $20 set of Harbor Freight ones because I beat the crap out of my lights.

 

I've been waiting two years now for them to break so I could get new ones. They just keep going.

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There are a TON of different ways to go with that. Just have to decide what you want, how much you want to spend, and how you'll use them.

 

If you're wheeling in the trees, roof lights have a pretty good chance of getting damaged. so I'd err on the cheap side.

 

 

 

Hella 500s are a pretty common option, seems to be a pretty good compromise of cost and quality.

 

Personally I'd just go to wal-mart/northern tool/harbor freight/local auto parts store and grab a set of generic off-road flood lights. That's what I had on the roof of the PoopenVagon. Worked great for lighting up the trails at night. I plan to do the same on the 4runner.

 

If you're mounting them on the roof, you probably won't be able to use them on the street without getting hassled by the popo, so no need for pencil/driving beams. I'd suggest looking for a fog/flood pattern.

 

 

As for wiring, I tucked the wires under the B-pillar trim, and then out at the upper-front corner of the rear door. Kept them out of harms way, and pretty close to the roof rack too.

Edited by Numbchux
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