Wanting some opinions gents.

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CertusExpo

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I bought both a 42" and 52" curved LED light bars for my Expo.

My son said that the 42" on the hood is a bit too much but I'm not so sure. Maybe just a two-row is too much but a 42" single row would be.... less gaudy??

Here are the test fit pictures :)

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Transporter

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Couple of quick questions:

What is the purpose of the Light Bar? Driving Lights, Off Road, Flood Beam, Spot beam, combination

The type and purpose is a big part of where its mounted.

What laws do you have regarding auxiliary lighting?

Is this a single purpose Light Bar or can you select or combine modes (fog, driving, spot, flood)?

Now for some observations:

Mounting on the hood really limits the aiming angle and range and in my opinion is only good for Off Road flood/spot use and you will lose some light and distance due to the hood interfering. Also if mounted on the hood, it has to be ON the hood because if its above it then you can't lift the hood. Also another question, did you turn it on while on the hood? I'll bet there is a big white out from behind the wheel depending on the beam type.
 
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CertusExpo

CertusExpo

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All good questions/observations. Thank you.

I have thought about the placement of the hood bar and yes, if I decided to mount it, it would not be with the stock brackets. I'd fabricate a bracket that mounts to the underside, bends up with an arm that bends from the side to mount the bar to. Kind of like the ends on the ones circled in red. I would of course make sure that proper opening of the hood is not hampered.

The purpose of both would be strictly offroad OR and ONLY in the case that I'm on some middle of nowhere road in Texas and want to see deer/hogs before they create a collision course with me but of course not if there's opposing traffic as they would be utterly blinded by all the lighting.

Both bars are flood/spot combos.

As you suggested, I do want to test run them at night to see if there is any wash from them that would degrade my visibility.
The hood is currently painted with flat olive drab so it would control the amount of reflection off of it.

I'm also considering the possibility of buying a roof rack and mounting the roof light bar onto it and not drilling my sheet metal.

Note: I know it's hard to tell from the pic but there is already a 30" light bar mounted behind the grille and the OEM fogs were replaced with 7" light bars as well.

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Gruz7

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Truck looks good... like the roof bar idea... whatever you do, do not put that 42" on the hood, your son is right, "gaudy".
 

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I have a 2003 EB also. What brand and model if you know it did you use to replace the bumper driving lights? I need to replace mine as soon as possible.

On the 52 inch curved, you can get those brackets that mount to the door jam and reach inward from both sides so you don't have to drill the roof. But also like you said, its a good excuse to buy a killer roof rack so you can mount your Light Bar.

With a flood/spot on the hood, its going to be more light in your vision then out on the road. You really need a bracket to mount it on the leading front edge of the hood if you want one on the hood. I had to move one of my weapon mounted flashlights from my pistol to my rifle because it was useless in the house on the pistol because of all the white-out and reflection off the walls because it was way to much light, sometimes less is actually better!
 
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