Santa left me these goodies under the tree this year, along with some brand new titanium drill bits, so I couldn't help but install them yesterday despite the cold. Good thing he also left me a pair of Gorilla Gloves, those things are hands down the best mechanics gloves I've ever used. I can't stand wearing gloves, but sometimes I need to, and these are ultra thin, so you still have more dexterity than mechanix gloves, but your hands dont sweat like thicker rubber latex gloves, they can still breath, but they keep them warm enough in the freezing cold. More pricey than latex gloves, but cheaper than mechanix gloves, more than single use, not as long term use, so the price matches the use accordingly...I'm stocking up.
Okay I digress lol. Amazing how the simple gifts are sometimes the best lol.
Pic 1: Rigid Flush Mount LED Kit - Flood Pattern - White LEDs
Pic 2-3: Stock rear bumper
Pic 4: Tools required for install (dremel with sanding/grinding wheels, drill, heat gun (to dry the paint in the cold), angle grinder or cutoff wheel, files, GOOD drill bits (1/8", 5/16", 1/2"), Center punch, debur tools, marker, tape, hole size guide, blue tape)
Pic 5: Rigid gives you a cardboard template. The rubber gaskets can distort easy, so it's great they give you a thick card stock template so you know the location is perfect.
I've often seen guys put the lights close to the center bumper step on either side of the plate area. That's where most aftermarket ones stick lights, and it does look great there, but it doesn't make sense functionally to stick the lights in the center and overlap beams, especially for reverse lights where I need to not only see in the backup camera, but also in the side view mirrors.
I photoshopped a truck to put the lights on the very outside edges of the bumper, almost under the taillights, but it didn't look right visually. This would be the most ideal location, spreading the rearward light to the maximum area, but I couldn't dig the looks. Looked as if something was missing between the reverse lights and the tags with a big blank gray area in between.
COMPROMISE! Smack in the middle, split the difference. I centered the lights on the gray area of each side of the rear bumper. It also put the passenger side LED right above the exhaust tips which are centered in that area too (Roush), so it has rear-end fung-shwei
Now nothing looks like its missing from the bumper, it's a good balance of visual appearance, and functionality IMO.
Step 1, tape up your bumper in the area you're working.
Step 2, Tape on the Rigid template. I put the top of the light 3/4" down from the plastic bumper cap, and 9-1/4" from the plastic by the center of the bumper to the centerline of the LED.
Step 3, Use the marker to draw the outline.
Step 4, Use a spring loaded center punch to punch EIGHT marks. 1 for each bolting hole, and 1 for each corner of the square you'll be cutting out. Mark it 1/4" in from the outside edge, so when you drill with a 1/2" drill bit, you get a radiused corner. This is where I used the white hole template, I lined up the 1/2" hole on each corner of the template, to center punch the center of the 1/2" hole to get my mark.
Okay I digress lol. Amazing how the simple gifts are sometimes the best lol.
Pic 1: Rigid Flush Mount LED Kit - Flood Pattern - White LEDs
Pic 2-3: Stock rear bumper
Pic 4: Tools required for install (dremel with sanding/grinding wheels, drill, heat gun (to dry the paint in the cold), angle grinder or cutoff wheel, files, GOOD drill bits (1/8", 5/16", 1/2"), Center punch, debur tools, marker, tape, hole size guide, blue tape)
Pic 5: Rigid gives you a cardboard template. The rubber gaskets can distort easy, so it's great they give you a thick card stock template so you know the location is perfect.
I've often seen guys put the lights close to the center bumper step on either side of the plate area. That's where most aftermarket ones stick lights, and it does look great there, but it doesn't make sense functionally to stick the lights in the center and overlap beams, especially for reverse lights where I need to not only see in the backup camera, but also in the side view mirrors.
I photoshopped a truck to put the lights on the very outside edges of the bumper, almost under the taillights, but it didn't look right visually. This would be the most ideal location, spreading the rearward light to the maximum area, but I couldn't dig the looks. Looked as if something was missing between the reverse lights and the tags with a big blank gray area in between.
COMPROMISE! Smack in the middle, split the difference. I centered the lights on the gray area of each side of the rear bumper. It also put the passenger side LED right above the exhaust tips which are centered in that area too (Roush), so it has rear-end fung-shwei
Now nothing looks like its missing from the bumper, it's a good balance of visual appearance, and functionality IMO. Step 1, tape up your bumper in the area you're working.
Step 2, Tape on the Rigid template. I put the top of the light 3/4" down from the plastic bumper cap, and 9-1/4" from the plastic by the center of the bumper to the centerline of the LED.
Step 3, Use the marker to draw the outline.
Step 4, Use a spring loaded center punch to punch EIGHT marks. 1 for each bolting hole, and 1 for each corner of the square you'll be cutting out. Mark it 1/4" in from the outside edge, so when you drill with a 1/2" drill bit, you get a radiused corner. This is where I used the white hole template, I lined up the 1/2" hole on each corner of the template, to center punch the center of the 1/2" hole to get my mark.
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