baDWolf build

bluedragon1308

New member
Wanted to start a build string last year after I got my new two door Wrangler on November 04, 2014. I am going to try to get everything together and added soon.
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First clear day that I was able to take the hard top off and pull my soft top out from delivery. Had to take a ride with brother-in-law and his jeep.
That is his on my bumper....lol.:cheesy:

He wasn't impressed with the top off experience. It was only 45 degrees. I thought it was great.
 
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bluedragon1308

New member
First Modifications

The first thing I wanted to change were the headlights, because lets be real; Jeep have the worst headlights hands down. I tried Silvana Silverlight’s. They’re better than stock, but not by much.

I replaced the fog lights with led bulbs. Can’t remember the brand, just something inexpensive off eBay. They were so much brighter than the headlights. I started searching for LED headlight replacements. I really liked the JL Speaker Evolution, but at the time they were over $800 a pear. I just could not swing that much. I decided to add a LED light bar so I could see in the snow, because the headlights just barely worked on a clear night. I found a cheap 20” LED bar for less than $60 that came with switch, relay, wiring and mount.
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Shortly after I bought the light bar, I had decided to buy the bull bar from RubiTrux because they made the bumper for my jeep. Since I knew I was going to add a winch as soon as I could find what I wanted, I ordered a winch plate and vacuum pump relocation bracket. The relocation bracket was a suggestion from someone on the forum. After I received them and the use of a friend’s garage and extra pair of wrenching hands, we pulled the bumper, skid plate and cut the factory vacuum bracket off. Then attached the relocation bracket to the new winch plate and installed it. We then added the bull bar brackets. We put the bumper back on and went to install the bull bar, but could not get the brackets to line up with the holes in the bumper. Had to go home without it installed. A couple of days later I was able, with a lot of bracket manipulation, to install it. I was only able to get 4 of the 6 bolts in, as it is mostly decretive anyway. After that I installed the light bar.

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bluedragon1308

New member
More Light needed……?

All though the light bar light works great, it was too good. It is too bright to run during regular night driving. I decided to add a set of pillar lights. Not so bright as to blind oncoming traffic but still let me see more than the headlights. I also decided to add a set of switches for these and any other I add. I found a set that were not too large or bright.

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1700 lumens each, and Daystar switches and panel to replace the factory panel in front of the shifter console. The panel can hold up to five switches, so why not add future lighting options.

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I also wanted to set up a relay panel under the hood.

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While putting this together I found some inexpensive water proof led lights to use as rock lights $15 for eight double led lights and figured why not try them out.

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After getting them installed only one thing left to do…….try them out.:blush:

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Coop

Caught the Bug
Wow! You got some serious lighting going there! I want you in front for my next night trail run!
 

thardy

Banned
All though the light bar light works great, it was too good. It is too bright to run during regular night driving. I decided to add a set of pillar lights. Not so bright as to blind oncoming traffic but still let me see more than the headlights.

While putting this together I found some inexpensive water proof led lights to use as rock lights $15 for eight double led lights and figured why not try them out.

Just out of curiosity, did you ever think of just replacing the headlights instead of spending all the money on light bars? The rock lights look good. Be interested to hear how they hold up.

Wow! You got some serious lighting going there! I want you in front for my next night trail run!

Honestly, unless you're the lead rig, the only true useful light on a trail at night are the rock lights. I've had to tell people to turn their headlights off while trying to spot because I couldn't see anything.
 

bluedragon1308

New member
Honestly each has a different use.
I agree that to use all at the same time is a bit much.
I was looking for inexpensive supplemental lighting for my weak headlights. All the headlights I found were $300 or better. The 20" light bar was only $60 with everything needed to install and run. The pillar lights $20, brackets $27 & about $30 for the daystar dash cover, switches and relays.
 

bluedragon1308

New member
I have added a yellow transparent vinyl "actually 3 layers" to the 20" making it more of a fog light. Used it in the smoky mountains a couple of weeks ago and worked great.
 

bluedragon1308

New member
So far I have had the rock lights on for just over a year and just noticed one go out. Will have to check the wiring, but order 4 more just in case. I have only used on the trails once because the sunset before we got out.
I've been through mud and water up over the wheels. Haven't ran any hard rock crawling yet.
 

bluedragon1308

New member
Just out of curiosity, did you ever think of just replacing the headlights instead of spending all the money on light bars? The rock lights look good. Be interested to hear how they hold up.

I tried Silvana Silverlight’s for $60, but as you can see their dim compared to the leds.
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james2003w

New member
I'm interested in where you got your rock lights, shoot me a link?

Also how can it be a baDWolf build when it's not Tardis Blue? ;)
 
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