Flush mounted Baja Designs OnX6+ install

[Speeddeacon]

First let me give a big shout out to FRF members BigBlue and Loufish, who have done this install previously and have shared photos of their install on FRF. BigBlue also shared install tips with me so I had a good idea of the process going in. I’m posting this write up for any other FRF members who may desire the OEM look that I feel this install provides.

After living with my twin Baja Designs Squadron Pros in the fog pockets for a few months, I wasn’t really happy with the light dispersion with my particular setup. I had the wide cornering in the outside position and driving combo on the inside. This makes the most sense, but I found that due to the rearward taper of the bumper, light was being obstructed for the edges, particularly in the center. Compounding the problem was that the Ford Raptor Lights bezel that I use essentially place the lights inside a tunnel. I didn’t think it wouldn’t be a problem for the narrow beam pattern of the Spot lens though. I figured I could either ditch the very attractive finished look of the bezels and go with one of the standard mount or find a different solution for wide dispersion. That’s what lead me to the OnX6+ lower grill option. Fitted with their wide cornering lens and mounted in the straight edge, forward position of the front grill, it offers a good, non-obstructing location for a wide cornering setup. Since I want as much light as possible, I opted for the flush mounted location instead of the behind the grill for my install. All I had to do was order the parts and do the requisite install when they arrived.

I appreciate Baja Designs quality, flexibility and end user serviceability. To me they are worth the premium they charge over competing brands. However they do add a significant “Raptor Tax.” What I mean by that is the unnecessary upcharge for the Raptor lower grill install "kit". The light itself has an MSRP of $429.95. It includes the light, hardware (including a general mounting bracket), some wiring and connectors. The OnX6+ specific Raptor Upfitter Harness is available with a MSRP of $13.95. So theoretically it should only cost $443.90 to be up and running. However, there is a specific mount that allows the light to mount directly into the brackets inside the lower grill (where the front license plate bracket mounts perhaps). That mount is not available individually, according to my dealer. For that, you have to purchase the Raptor specific kit, which includes the $14 harness and costs $629.95. That is $186.05 for two brackets. When I ordered the Raptor Kit, it came in two boxes. One had the OnX6+ and the other had the Raptor specific mounts, harness and the wide cornering lens I specified with my dealer. Baja Designs could easily swap the Raptor specific harness for the universal. $186.05 for two small steel brackets is, in my opinion, a significant “Raptor Tax.” I don’t appreciate it, but I paid it after all.

That gripe aside, let’s move on with the install, which is relatively straight forward. The first thing you have to do, whether you mount the light behind the grill or flush with it, is to remove said grill. It is held in place by 12 tabs with metal clips on them that fit into slots on the bumper. To get the grill off, you simply have to pry those clip shod tabs out of the slots. I used a plastic trim removal tool that I already had, but you could use just about anything that you can wedge in behind the trim and the bumper. If it is metal, however, cover it with tape to keep from scratching your bumper. I started in the bottom corner and worked my way around.

 

[Speeddeacon]

Once you have the grill off, you will likely find that some of the clips remained in slots. Use your pry tool to pull them out because you will re use them when reinstalling the grill and they need to be on the tabs for installation.



The clips are held in place on the tabs by some very sharp teeth and if they stayed in the slots, you may need to bend the teeth back to get them onto the tabs.

 

[Speeddeacon]

Set the grill and clips aside now and turn toward getting the light ready to mount. The only thing you need to do is install those precious Raptor brackets onto the light bar with the supplied hardware. Leave them slightly loose so you can make adjustments as necessary once it is mounted.





This is the point where mounting depth comes into play. If you are mounting behind the grill you simply mount the bracket with the supplied hardware into the four mounting holes in the bumper. For a flush mount, you need to push the mount forward to get the depth where you wanted. This means you will need longer bolts and some sort of spacer. I chose stainless bolts of 1 1/2” length and used 3 stainless nuts on each as a spacers (the pictured ones were 2 1/2” but were too long for my taste). That pushed the light forward about 3/4 of and inch or so. You could use stacks of washers or something else rigid to accomplish the same thing. You will need to decide how far forward you want your light to be. Mine was perfectly flush with the grill (once cut out) at the top, but still recessed slightly at the bottom.



Once mounted, it’s time to run the wiring. As with my Squadron Pros, I cut off the factory mounted tap and fit a Weather Pack connector on the white hot wire. Also like fog pocket lights, the round grounding termination is too small in diameter to fit on the grounding bolt by the upfitter wires. Baja, you should fix this. I used a reaming bit to open them up before, but this time it sheared it right off. I didn’t have any around the garage, so for now I just grounded it with the bare wire. I followed the previously installed fog pocket wiring harness through the passenger side fender and out by the passenger headlight, then snaked it through the opening to the lower bumper area. BD used a three circuit Weather Pack here and it is a simple plug in connection. They do specify to use the supplied zip tie to secure the wiring to the bracket so it doesn’t interfere with the active grill shutters.



The third wire in this harness, which is green, is for an optional dimming switch install, should you prefer to reduce the output by 25% or so (in case battery voltage is reduce they say). If you don’t want to dim, simply cap it off and tuck it away. After swapping out from a two circuit to a three circuit weather pack at the upfitter, I put the OnX6+ on upfitter 1 (15a) and moved one pair of Squadron Pros down to upfitter 3. I confirmed the connection by firing up the motor and switching on the upfitter switch. Everything worked perfectly so I adjusted the alignment , tightened the mounting screws and turned to modifying the grill.



View attachment 119236

 

[Speeddeacon]

Now that the light bar is mounted in a forward position, the grill has to be cut where the light bar is. I held the grill up in place and noted where it needed to be cut. I used my jigsaw to do the job, which worked perfectly, but others have used reciprocating saws or dremel tools to accomplish it as well. Once the grill is cut out, the mounting tabs just above and below the cutout also have to be cut flush to the back of the grill. Once again the jigsaw made short work of it.


A quick test fit to verify alignment and I was ready to reinstall the grill. As others have mentioned, the grill’s integrity has been compromised by the cuts, but it doesn’t serve much purpose anyway, beside keeping debris from getting back in there. It should still do that job just fine. If I chose to sell the truck and sell the lights individually, I’ve ordered a spare lower grill so I can swap it back to stock.

Reinstallation was easy. I just aligned the tabs then pressed them back into their slots. I used a rubber mallet to make sure everything was good and tight then did a quick check once again. As night fell, I was able to confirm that the center area in front of the truck as well as the lateral dispersion was nice and uniform, just as I had hoped. I swapped the Squadron Pro lenses to all spots and am happy with the light pattern now.

 

[Big Blue]

Great details and it looks perfect.

 

[salts001]

Nice install and great job with the install instructions!

 

[OffroadAlliance.com]

Looks good! Fog lights too.

 

[ColoradoBoss]

So are you gonna relocate your intercooler now that it has restricted airflow?

 

[Speeddeacon]

No. No need. Remember the front license plate resides there in some states, which is
even larger.


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[raptor36]

Love it. Very functional and clean.


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