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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
Has anyone had any experience with buying/installing after market rally lights such as these from IJDM toy - thinking about rally lights but dont want to pay $450 for OEM
I've installed generic kits and factory kits on GEN1 and GEN2
what's the question?
biggest issue is usually the brackets for mounting .... you CAN buy the factory brackets alone from outmotoring .... GEN2 and later cars typically require some cutting esp' of the grill ....
The Piaa in my sig are good. I used some ebay mounts and one of them bounces a tiny bit because its not resting on the grill (you have to slot the jcw grill to fit them).
Has anyone had any experience with buying/installing after market rally lights such as these from IJDM toy - thinking about rally lights but dont want to pay $450 for OEM
2 x Hella500 from any auto store, wiring kit & relay may come with them. Brackets from any of the vendors on here. All for about $100.
(3W LEDs are about as bright as a flashlight & about as much use).
Yes, I have experience with these having replaced the OEM rally lights with them. I just removed and replaced them utilizing the existing mounts. Quality is just as good as OEM and the light output far exceeds stock with the added benefit of bright DRL halos. Only had to run an additional wire for switched power to operate the DRL’s.
2 x Hella500 from any auto store, wiring kit & relay may come with them. Brackets from any of the vendors on here. All for about $100.
(3W LEDs are about as bright as a flashlight & about as much use).
Does anyone make inexpensive mounting brackets? All the major vendors I know of – Outmotoring, MiniMania, Craven – charge a lot. (Which is understandable, because it's a specialized product for a small market, so they have to charge a lot to recoup the time invested into creating the products. But that doesn't make it any less painful to me as a buyer. It hurts to spend $200 for mounts for $20 lights.)
A hammer, hacksaw, a couple of files, a drill, and a bench vise will get you there. I made mine out of 1/8" steel. See my gallery for photos. I did not modify the grill.
For anyone looking for an off the shelf, non-universal, made in good ol' USA solution, we've got you covered!
CravenSpeed Auxiliary Light Mounts
These should be going into production very soon, and I should have them available on the site in the next month or two. Will be sure to let you guys know here.
For anyone looking for an off the shelf, non-universal, made in good ol' USA solution, we've got you covered! […]
These should be going into production very soon, and I should have them available on the site in the next month or two. Will be sure to let you guys know here.
A hammer, hacksaw, a couple of files, a drill, and a bench vise will get you there. I made mine out of 1/8" steel.
I agree .... I have some fancier tools that get me there faster but you can do a good job with the above. Home Despots or Lowes or ACE has steel stock .... you can make a good set of brackets with some 1/8 thick 1/2 wide flat stock. A 3 foot piece is just a few dollars in alum', mild steel or stainless. The most important tool is probably the vise to hold the metal while you bend it (working like a bending brake tool https://www.eastwood.com/metal-fabri...tal-brake.html ) cut it and drill it.
The hard part is figuring out where & how to mount the bracket .... design the thing in other words. The actual bending and cutting of the metal is usually the easier part! Having a person who's bent some metal b4 helps .. but there's a first time for everyone . .
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p.s. I found ammodave's gallery (they are kind of buried on the site now) .... I'm not a big fan of attaching the brackets to the grill ... the grill is plastic which gets brittle with age and I'd be concerned with the weight of the lights. OTOH the new LED lights may be lighter so ...... but IMO the bracket is best mounted to a "hard point"
07-29-2018, 08:43 AM
my metal working skills and tools are limited to bits of lightweight, Home Depot grade aluminum.
