carritt11

Headlights

LED Light Bar

Headlights and light bar

So I decided to order a 24" LED light bar to add a little more of a rugged look while giving me more light when actually out in the sticks trying to avoid deer. There are a couple ways it could be done. I know one member installed a 20" light bar behind the lower grille but I wanted it visible to add to the look. First think I did was remove the lower plastic engine guard from underneath the vehicle. For my Journey(2015 Crossroad) I had to remove several rivets from fender well, along bumper to the next fender well. Next I crawled underneath and noticed that the lower grille was held in by tabs so I grabbed one end with one hand and held the bumper in place with the other and started pulling the grille off from one side to the other. It was much easier than I had expected. One thing to note is that there is a small sensor attached to the lower grille, be sure to pull this off before removing the grille so you do not damage it.

After I had the grille removed I positioned the Light bar with assembled mounting brackets in place to see where I could mount to get the desired affect. I came up with 2 options. 1). Not too far above the opening is the metal bumper. If I were to attach there I would have needed to make my own brackets to bring the bar down low enough to be useful and it would also be back further than I wanted. 2) Attach to plastic portion of bumper by drilling holes to mount the brackets.
I did not want to take the time to design and fabricate special brackets to mount to the metal bumper so I chose option 2. What I originally wanted to do was drill the holes, place 1/4" thick metal strips along the top of the plastic portion to give it extra stability. After wedging the light bar into place where I wanted I realized that the upper part was not taking a lot of weight. The light fit into this space so well that it rests on the bottom portion as well. If i had replacement bolts long enough I would have used the metal strip idea for extra support. Being mounted only to the plastic proved to be a pretty solid fitment. The bar is not going anywhere.

After fixing the bar to the plastic bumper I then measured from the gaps on both sides and above the light bar to cut out a hole in the lower grill to form around the light bar. I cut 5" from each side and 1 3/4" from the top with my dremel. My grille was now an "n" shape. I redrilled a hole for the sensor to pop back on and then I re-installed the grille. It was a tight fight around the light bar. I could have taken another 1/4" off of the top for an easier re-assembly but it popped back on with a little force.

As for the wiring, I ran the wires along the side of the grille keeping them away from the radiator. I fished them round the headlight along the fender well and connected to the battery post and grounded to a bold attached to the body. I ran a switch through a rubber gasket by making a hole in it and pulled through under the steering wheel. Right now I just have double sided tape holding the switch in place. When I find where the mounting bracket went for the switch I will attach it.
Overall I am very happy with how it turned out.

98 Dodge Stratus
01 Dodge Dakota-still own
11 Dodge Avenger
15 Dodge Journey
Raised Mopar, can you tell?
Other than me, for the last 15 vehicles my immediate family has owned in the last 27 years, all were Dodge/RAM other than a 1980ish GMC pick-up and an 05 Chrysler 300

So here's my next idea.
Since Dodge uses the same fog lights over several platforms, including the Jeep JK,
Rigid (and many knockoffs), sell brackets to replace the factory fogs with their dually D2, or any 4" fog (like the ones I have). I may go ahead and buy a set of brackets to see if they will work.
Found a cheap set of brackets on Ebay, but have yet to pull the trigger.
Thoughts anyone?
If I go ahead, I will start a new thread.
Cheers!

If your looking to use the license plate mount try on the bottom so the lights sit inside the lower grille. It would be a little more stealth. Not sure how well the bracket would hold up to the weight at highway speed though.

1972 Dodge Coronet Custom
1991 Dodge Monaco
2000 Plymouth Neon LX
2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport
2003 Chrysler Sebring LXi
2003 Jeep Liberty Renegade
2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X
2013 Dodge Dart Rallye
2014 Jeep Cherokee Sport
2015 Jeep Patriot Latitude(son's ride)
2015 Dodge Journey AVP
See a pattern? MOPAR or no car.

98 Dodge Stratus
01 Dodge Dakota-still own
11 Dodge Avenger
15 Dodge Journey
Raised Mopar, can you tell?
Other than me, for the last 15 vehicles my immediate family has owned in the last 27 years, all were Dodge/RAM other than a 1980ish GMC pick-up and an 05 Chrysler 300

98 Dodge Stratus
01 Dodge Dakota-still own
11 Dodge Avenger
15 Dodge Journey
Raised Mopar, can you tell?
Other than me, for the last 15 vehicles my immediate family has owned in the last 27 years, all were Dodge/RAM other than a 1980ish GMC pick-up and an 05 Chrysler 300

Carritt, here are some pics. Just a bent piece of sheet metal riveted to the original shield.

Carritt I did the same thing, and added a bit of sheet metal to make a good seal with the hood when closed. I don't care what anyone else says, I struggled to get more than 17mpg before I put the intake on. Now I consistently get close to 20, and when I went on a long trip mostly highway driving I saw around 27mpg. Just my $0.02.

Would be cool to see where everyone is.
https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=1818248&add=1#
You do not need to sign up for this.
Just click on the "additions" tab and then "add marker".
You can give a generic location, does not have to be your exact address.

So I decided to order a 24" LED light bar to add a little more of a rugged look while giving me more light when actually out in the sticks trying to avoid deer. There are a couple ways it could be done. I know one member installed a 20" light bar behind the lower grille but I wanted it visible to add to the look. First think I did was remove the lower plastic engine guard from underneath the vehicle. For my Journey(2015 Crossroad) I had to remove several rivets from fender well, along bumper to the next fender well. Next I crawled underneath and noticed that the lower grille was held in by tabs so I grabbed one end with one hand and held the bumper in place with the other and started pulling the grille off from one side to the other. It was much easier than I had expected. One thing to note is that there is a small sensor attached to the lower grille, be sure to pull this off before removing the grille so you do not damage it.

After I had the grille removed I positioned the Light bar with assembled mounting brackets in place to see where I could mount to get the desired affect. I came up with 2 options. 1). Not too far above the opening is the metal bumper. If I were to attach there I would have needed to make my own brackets to bring the bar down low enough to be useful and it would also be back further than I wanted. 2) Attach to plastic portion of bumper by drilling holes to mount the brackets.
I did not want to take the time to design and fabricate special brackets to mount to the metal bumper so I chose option 2. What I originally wanted to do was drill the holes, place 1/4" thick metal strips along the top of the plastic portion to give it extra stability. After wedging the light bar into place where I wanted I realized that the upper part was not taking a lot of weight. The light fit into this space so well that it rests on the bottom portion as well. If i had replacement bolts long enough I would have used the metal strip idea for extra support. Being mounted only to the plastic proved to be a pretty solid fitment. The bar is not going anywhere.

After fixing the bar to the plastic bumper I then measured from the gaps on both sides and above the light bar to cut out a hole in the lower grill to form around the light bar. I cut 5" from each side and 1 3/4" from the top with my dremel. My grille was now an "n" shape. I redrilled a hole for the sensor to pop back on and then I re-installed the grille. It was a tight fight around the light bar. I could have taken another 1/4" off of the top for an easier re-assembly but it popped back on with a little force.

As for the wiring, I ran the wires along the side of the grille keeping them away from the radiator. I fished them round the headlight along the fender well and connected to the battery post and grounded to a bold attached to the body. I ran a switch through a rubber gasket by making a hole in it and pulled through under the steering wheel. Right now I just have double sided tape holding the switch in place. When I find where the mounting bracket went for the switch I will attach it.
Overall I am very happy with how it turned out.

Also do not use frog tape it gels on the edges and gives poor lines. Regular blue painters tape is best

Ya frog tape is great for regular finish work but not plastidip haha. I use frog top all the time for regular paint jobs so I thought it would work with plastidip too but it doesn't. I tried it a couple times with different techniques but it still didn't give the clean lines

I looked at these shortly after purchasing my DJ. I decided instead of paying for something to stick on and hope it works I'd try plastidip since I had a few cans sitting around. For $6 and about a half hour to an hour of time the plastidip has held strong for about 9 months now. Even with multiple dogs jumping in and out.

The black plastidip is pretty subtle with the granite crystal, not to mention the fact that it's dirty haha
I didn't expect it to last this long, specially since I didn't do a super thick coating. I also used frog tape which is why the edges look a little serrated. I didn't want to peal it just so I could see how long it could last... And it's still not pealing at all

Also do not use frog tape it gels on the edges and gives poor lines. Regular blue painters tape is best

The black plastidip is pretty subtle with the granite crystal, not to mention the fact that it's dirty haha
I didn't expect it to last this long, specially since I didn't do a super thick coating. I also used frog tape which is why the edges look a little serrated. I didn't want to peal it just so I could see how long it could last... And it's still not pealing at all

I looked at these shortly after purchasing my DJ. I decided instead of paying for something to stick on and hope it works I'd try plastidip since I had a few cans sitting around. For $6 and about a half hour to an hour of time the plastidip has held strong for about 9 months now. Even with multiple dogs jumping in and out.

The black plastidip is pretty subtle with the granite crystal, not to mention the fact that it's dirty haha
I didn't expect it to last this long, specially since I didn't do a super thick coating. I also used frog tape which is why the edges look a little serrated. I didn't want to peal it just so I could see how long it could last... And it's still not pealing at all

I looked at these shortly after purchasing my DJ. I decided instead of paying for something to stick on and hope it works I'd try plastidip since I had a few cans sitting around. For $6 and about a half hour to an hour of time the plastidip has held strong for about 9 months now. Even with multiple dogs jumping in and out.

I looked at these shortly after purchasing my DJ. I decided instead of paying for something to stick on and hope it works I'd try plastidip since I had a few cans sitting around. For $6 and about a half hour to an hour of time the plastidip has held strong for about 9 months now. Even with multiple dogs jumping in and out.

Ya, I don't know when they started doing that. I got mine in February and all the vehicles I saw had the decals there along with the back. My dad's Ram that he bought a couple months ago had it also.

I guess it wasn't too far on the fender. If you zoom in its by the side mirror. As far as dealer decals go it's the best I've had on a vehicle I've owned. They have different colors for different vehicles so it's not as tacky as most, but they still had to go.