Defender Roof Rack and Lights (FINALLY) Installed

Now the long awaited installation of my roof rack and lights had finally arrived! I had ordered the Defender #45505 Roof Rack and their bracket kit # DS 24-6.


After One and Half Years from my order of the Defender Roof Rack, it finally arrived and was installed. Yes 1 ½ years…. To see why this took soooooo long and the problems incurred click here >


http://http://www.theultimatejeep.com/showthread.php?2269-Defender-Roof-Rack-update&p=41398&viewfull=1#post41398


So I know I will get a little carried away with this thread and post way to much. I know it is only a roof rack and some lights mod… but for me… it was a long time coming. So finally here is my install thread and photos .. >> LOL ;-)


My Rigid Lights have been waiting almost the same amount of time for the rack to come in. They include;

* One SR 40” and Two Dually D2’s (Driving) for forward and forward ¼ lighting.

* Two 10” E Series (Diffused), one for each side.

* One SR 10” and Two Dually D2’s (Diffused) for the rear.


So my rack was a 3 piece and I after I finally received all the necessary mounting pieces they included grade 5 bolts.



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Mounting BRACKETS (not all sent first time)



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I used Gulf550’s mounting technique and installed it as far forward as possible to help with the efficiency of the forward / driving lights and to hopefully avoid having a lot of metal over the top of my satellite antenna.


The mounting brackets where installed in the side rails.



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Then the angle piece that attaches to the bottom of the rack itself.


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Now the rack itself.


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I decided I would mount the lights before I installed the rack and bolt the sections together. The side scene lights would only fit between two sections so the mounts where installed and then the lights mounted after the rack sections were bolted together.


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Of course with anything custom you have to end up fabricating and customizing a few items to include some clamps. I’m embarrassed to say it took me a couple of hours ( in the 98 deg heat of my garage) to try to modify some of the PIAA clamps.


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And like all my new projects, they take me 3-4 times longer to do than anyone else. LOl..

Now I was thinking I would mount the front ¼ and rear Dually D2’s on the side rails the same way the rack is mounted. So I picked a piece of SS plate and cut it to the same width as the lower rack mount so it would angle down between the rails ( or slide in the ends).



I drilled and taped the lower plates. I then used a wider piece for the top ( with holes drilled to line up with the threaded lower plate). This would become a homemade sandwich type clamp with a mounting surface that could be made to go in any direction and length.



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For the rear I was thinking I could mount D2’s on top of the bar or I even considered having the bar long enough to mount the light below it. The SR 10 would be mounted on the rear of the back rack.




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For the front I would just mount the Dually D2’s on the SS bars above the plastic end cap at the front of the factory roof rail.


I had always thought about “running” lights on the top of my XK, and had considered different options. Now as an experiment I thought I might try a light that is normally found on the rear of pickup truck beds. I got one that had running, brake, backup and sequential turn signals. The sequential lights starts from the center and progresses to the outer end in the direction you are turning.

Not sure if I would like it or not but I knew I could always easily remove it later.




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So now I used a piece of aluminum angle iron and JB welded the light to it.
Left it clamped over night.




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I then coated it all with bed liner to better match the rack and help it last for the next 20 + years !

I also had to make new mounts for my emergency lights .



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The rear lights mounted on the rear 1/3 of the rack.




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Front driving light mount.




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Oh ya.. now just a couple of wires and I’m done. Did I say couple?



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I wanted to have connectors at the rack so if necessary I could easily (?) disconnect the electrical connections and then remove the rack with the lights on it.


The darn experimental rear running light had 8 wires on it alone. That was 16 wires just at the rack to crimp, heat to seal, apply liquid electrical tape, wrap in electrical tape and then cover in wire loom.


And they still had to be wired below !



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This all took a little ( a lot) longer than I had expected to say the least !




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Wires wires everywhere.. again…





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Now the rear lights are wired to come on automatically when I am in reverse or can be manually selected on.


The side lights, front ¼ and main front are individual controlled.



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For info on how I installed these light switches >


http://www.theultimatejeep.com/showt...llation-Option

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The lights then had to be integrated with my current emergency lights
More info on them see > http://www.theultimatejeep.com/showt...hts-etc…


And I had to add an additional flasher along with 7 relays, power distribution hub and a bunch of diodes.



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Hey I think I lost a red wire ??



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Ah heck, just tape it up for now I'll find it later !!! ;_)



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My spare controller button I found out (the hard way) was only able to computer control radio functions.




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Now I had to reprogram my light/siren speaker controller (mounted under the passenger seat) with my laptop. The work never seemed like it would end !

Remember all the time and work I put into making the four clap style mounts for my D2’s ???

Well I ended up reconsidering. ( yes ouch ).

For the rear I mounted them above the rear handles.



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For the front Dually D2’s I ended up mounting them on the rack with the PIIA mounts.




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My custom rail mounts at least, I know I can still use for mounting a variety of other things if the need arises in the future.


I even had 1/4 of an inch to spare to clear my garage door without having to let any air out of my tires !!!





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That night I was like a little kid on X-Mas Morning !


I just had to go out and adjust them. I was gone so long my wife called me just to make sure I was OK ! LOl

I did end up adjusting the side lights slightly forward to better illuminate everything on the side of the vehicle, abeam the front doors.




The rack also ended up a lot closer to my satellite antenna than I had preferred. In fact the aluminum angle mount and the running lights ended up almost directly over the top of it ! The good news is I have not noticed any degradation to my reception.

I’ll take Luck over skill any day as long as it is good Luck !



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Yes I can finally say (like many of those before me have), that any night photos do not do the lights justice and they do turn night into day. I am also especially happy with the backup lights! I needed that because of my tint and that my remounted rear camera also has to also look threw the tint. It looks like … yes.. I have daylight now when I back up.


This photo shows the difference between the aftermarket backup and the stock backup lights ( that are also illuminated).



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It seems to me the back up lights are brighter and have a wider range than my low beams. :-).




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So far I think I like the combo position, brake and sequential turn signal lights. I like the idea that with them mounted high that other vehicles have an easier time seeing them.



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For emergency, camping or every “night” driving all the lights look like they will do their job very well.




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Years ago I never would have thought LEDs could be so bright.





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In fact a few days after installation they were tested at a mutual aid, large two story house fire call that went on into the night. With all the Commanders forward lights on, it was able to light up the entire front of the house and the fire scene!


The rack will allow me a lot more options to carry gear and an unexpected advantage, I really like, is to be able to step up on a wheel or slider and use the rack as a grab handle !


A Year and ½ later and …. It is finally done !!!!! YAaaaaa   


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Nice!!! ;)

What are the measurements of the roof rack?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lekmedm

What are the measurements of the roof rack?

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Good question... The part number is also a slightly encrypted dimension. Its 4.5' Wide By 5' Long ( part number 45505). I think the last number references a one piece vs a bolt together. A "4" on the end is one (or welded), a "5" = bolt together.

Can we trade Jeeps? Please?

That's sweet man!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

man that is so sweet

Not that I need a rack at the moment, but, damn, this has been banging around in my head...

So I have a few follow up questions:

1. How many mounts come in a box? I'm assuming 1 pair, so you ordered 3 pairs?
2. What made you order the bolt together as opposed to the 1-piece?
3. How strong is it? Dare I ask, are you able to stand on it?
4. How has it been holding up?

I like how low it keeps to the roof as opposed to other racks that use the factory crossbars.

OK, I just answered question 1 on my own. I see the box has a set of 6 brackets. Not every vendor has that level of detail in their descriptions!

I recently got the bolt together defender rack from pjmjr. It is a very sturdy rack, I can stand on it no problems, each cross bar alone that makes up the "floor" of the rack can support my weight (~150 lbs.) on their own. I have even created a setup so that I can hang my hammock off the rack, parallel with my XK, with no external mounts (trees, posts, etc.).

Ever since I got the rack I have caught the fabricating bug, I even made a little side ladder, which gets a lot of looks. I'm happy that I got the bolt together rack, as I'm hoping to eventually create more identical sections to be placed in between the current ones, so that the rack will extend completely to the windshield of the XK like a large "safari" type rack.

-Ross

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lekmedm

Not that I need a rack at the moment, but, damn, this has been banging around in my head...

So I have a few follow up questions:

1. How many mounts come in a box? I'm assuming 1 pair, so you ordered 3 pairs?
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2. What made you order the bolt together as opposed to the 1-piece?
   
   I only have three total people to help me with my projects. Me, Myself and of course I ! The bolt together was shipped for free at the time and I had heard and I would tend to agree with that it is easier to lift up and install in 3 sections by myself.
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3. How strong is it? Dare I ask, are you able to stand on it?
   
   
   I have crawled over it in the past and after your question yes I did go out and stand on it. Seams pretty solid, but I didn't do jumping jacks on it either LOL.
   
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4. How has it been holding up?
   
   So far so good. I did notice the other day that on the inside of one of the corners where the packing material had rubbed during shipment had started showing some signs of surface rust. I hit it with the rattle can. Other than that so far it is doing great! I had thought about spaying it with bedliner before I Installed it, but the extra cost at the time and the excitement to finally have the rack in my hands led to an installation at my first available free time!

I like how low it keeps to the roof as opposed to other racks that use the factory crossbars.
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I also liked that look.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by psycho787

I recently got the bolt together defender rack from pjmjr.

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psycho787 I must admit I have a slight emotional attachment to your rack Lol.. I believe it was first owned by Gulf550 and it was on his rig that I first saw it and then made the decision that was the rack I would like to install on mine. He then sold it to superacerc (Gulf550 eventually got another one) who then sold the Rack to pjmjr! Its a special rack! I like and will follow your mods to your rack also.