I have installed a few light bars. And this installation was the easiest so I thought I would share. First off here is a list of the parts.
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32inch Curved light bar. $100 Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ZF21ACK?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_titl
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1999-2013 Chevy 52inch Light Bar brackets $30 Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CMVPHKL?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title
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High beam low beam foot switch. $20 Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B079RCN6H2?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title
I had no idea how it was gonna work and but I knew if I had them in my hands it would make sense. I’m sure it was just luck on my part. But the Chevy light bar brackets ended up working out great. As you can see they mount inside the roof hoop.
I removed the rubber molding on the roof and the brackets slide right into this location. I marked the holes with black marker . I drilled and then used a tech screw and lagged the brackets right in. I’ll modify the rubber molding so it covers the screws and it should look good.
Jeeeze that worked out great. You must have been sweating the measurements unit you got all the parts in hand.
Yes I figured I would have had to cut the mount and get and bend it a bit and possibly re- paint it but it worked out great
Looks fantastic Grantwest!
Thanks grant! Perfect setup and I’m going to give it a go on my GEM.
Here is some tips or heads up. When you get the brackets, install them on the light bar. (Pay attention to I have them mounted from the pics) because actually using them backwards from how they are to be installed. The brackets are gonna need to be bent or tweaked just a bit to line up the way I have them in the pics above. Once you have the brackets on the light bar and you put it up where your gonna mount it, it will show you what you need to bend to make it work. Don’t worry about being super exact with your bends. As long as you can get the light bar to get close you should be good, because the light bar will pull in the brackets in together as you install or tighten up the light bar. But keep in mind the light bar brackets are nice and thick and are kind of over built for how you and I are using them so the more work you can do bending them into position off the car the better and smoother the install is gonna go. Wrap the brackets in blue tape to protect them as your bending them in a vice
Just ordered these brackets and hoping my lightbar comes in this week. I will let you know how it goes. Thank you so much for the photos and links. I have been weighing all my options and decided to go for it when I saw your post! Ill send pics of my final product.
cool, I’m glad my mod is gonna work out for you. Only thing I might do different is a smaller head Tech screw. The head is pretty ulgy, It get’s coverd up by the molding for the most part but a Philips Truss Head self tapper may be a smoother better looks
Still have to reset the molding and run the electric. Just have it mounted right now but it worked out perfectly. I went with a countersunk Phillips head and they did fine, just had to run them at a little bit of an angle because of the roof and where I wanted he bracket to sit. It should be covered up by the molding for the most part. Thank you again for the idea
**- it also looks a little far back but it is a curved light bar and the front of it comes to within an inch or so of the front of the roof. Hard to tell in the picture
Looks good: my light is right at the Window. I get a pretty good glare from the light off the window.
I wonder if your light being pulled back give less of a glare then My light bar. Just wondering if your bar cause it’s pulled back if the roof acts like a sun visor?
That was my thought it pushing it a little further back. I am finishing the wiring today, but when I put power to the light the other night it didnt seem to throw much glare at all. I will send some pictures and videos once I have it all wired up. Fingers crossed it’ll be ready to go tonight
And it is actually a little more than an inch back when I went back and looked at it, but no too far back. I actually like how it looks where it is sitting
When I come to think of it having the light bar further back made no difference. On my old car a 2002 with the light bar pretty far back I still got a fair amount of glare when it was turned on.
Keeping the window clean makes a huge difference. If the window is dirty or dusty the light gathers and reflects
Hey Here is another TIP. This $10 wire kit from Auxbeam is awesome. You have way more then $10 in just wire in this kit. It makes hooking up the light bar a 4 wire install
Red= goes to cars 10amp Key power
Black= Ground.
Black= light bar ground
White= Light bar power.
It come with a small dash mounted On Off switch that you can attach to your dash to turn the light bar on or off OR you can cut the switch off and attach it to the Floor mounted on off switch that I use.
Here is a link to the wire kit
And here is a pic of the Floor mounted on off switches I use
The white plastic is a spacer I make so that it mounts on the back side of the floor pan
