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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    182

    Default Light bar installed

    My jankiest of janky light bars is finished. It's constructed entirely of scrap metal that I had lying around. The main tube is a section of an upright post from a wheeled TV stand that I no longer needed. The rest is 1/8 in plate steel cut, bent, welded, drilled, and bolted together. Ground rules were: 1. that it needed to be easily removable. The lights aren’t cosmetic. I’ll only use them on off road trips. The V70 XC is parked outside and sits most of the time, and I didn’t want to leave the lights exposed to the elements for no reason. And, I didn’t want extra drag on road trips when they weren’t needed. 2. No holes could be drilled in the body. I don’t want to invite leaks into the interior. And 3. It had to fit under my ski box in case I needed the extra cargo space up top on an off road excursion.

    So, I ended up mounting it to the forward roof bar brackets. The “ears” that the bar mounts to are semi-permanent, and I had to butcher the roof rail trim pieces. Not a completely clean installation, but it was the solution I came up with. The requirement for the main LED bar to sit under the nose of the ski box meant I couldn’t just mount it across the roof rails. It needed to be low under the ski box which meant it also needed to be forward of the sunroof to avoid clashing with the sunroof when the rear was tilted up. Maybe I could have come up with a clamp and longer-reaching bracket to be able to clamp to the roof rail to give a completely removable mount. I might think about that for V2.0… The wiring runs along the roof rail to the back and through the hatch opening where it plugs into a panel-mount connector in the upper corner of the interior trim panel. The hatch weather strip closes cleanly over the wires. I didn’t see a big deal with running the wires through the hatch seal for short term trips. Maybe there could be some water leakage if it rains. I’ll just zip tie the wires to the roof rail for the duration of any trips. And finally, the power switch is mounted cleanly in the climate control unit with power routed through an auxiliary fuse box and relay in the spare tire well.

    The center LED bar is a 22 in Nilight spot/flood unit. The small side lights are Nilight 4 in flood lights.

    Brett
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_2956.jpeg   IMG_2957.jpeg   IMG_2951.jpeg   IMG_2953.jpeg   IMG_2958.jpeg  

    Last edited by Brett San Diego; 04-23-2020 at 05:37 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    182

    Default

    More pics
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_2955.jpeg   IMG_2954.jpeg   IMG_2959.jpeg  

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Virginia Beach
    Posts
    4,116

    Default

    Those are 3 demanding requirements and I love the solution. A bit of urban assault vehicle vibe in the look, but it’s clean and should work very well.

    How’s the wind noise at highway speed?

    I notice that even Volvo factory crossbars make a bit of noise. I’ve got Volvo factory bars on all three P2 wagons to fit the Yakima Skybox.
    Current Fleet:
    2016 Tundra Crewmax 4WD 1794
    2005 MB S600 (126K, Michelin AS4, HPL 0W40)
    2005 MB SL600 (55K Michelin AS4, Mobil 1 0W40)
    2004 V70R (143K, six speed M66, HPL 5W40)
    2004 XC90 (235K, HPL 0W30 Euro)
    2002 V70-XC (295K, HPL 0W30 Euro)
    2002 V70-T5 (225K, IPD bars, Bilsteins)
    2001 V70-T5 (125K, IPD downpipe, cat back and other mods)
    1932 Packard Sedan (straight 8, dual sidemounts, original paint and interior, Shell Rotella 15W40)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    182

    Default

    Wind noise isn't horrible. I'd say comparable to the ski box. I've got the long, skinny Yakima Rocketbox11 with cheapo crossbars from Amazon. I was most worried about the light bar whistling, but no whistles, thankfully.
    Brett

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Barcelona, Catalonia, European Union
    Posts
    37

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Brett San Diego View Post
    My jankiest of janky light bars is finished. It's constructed entirely of scrap metal that I had lying around. The main tube is a section of an upright post from a wheeled TV stand that I no longer needed. The rest is 1/8 in plate steel cut, bent, welded, drilled, and bolted together. Ground rules were: 1. that it needed to be easily removable. The lights aren’t cosmetic. I’ll only use them on off road trips. The V70 XC is parked outside and sits most of the time, and I didn’t want to leave the lights exposed to the elements for no reason. And, I didn’t want extra drag on road trips when they weren’t needed. 2. No holes could be drilled in the body. I don’t want to invite leaks into the interior. And 3. It had to fit under my ski box in case I needed the extra cargo space up top on an off road excursion.

    So, I ended up mounting it to the forward roof bar brackets. The “ears” that the bar mounts to are semi-permanent, and I had to butcher the roof rail trim pieces. Not a completely clean installation, but it was the solution I came up with. The requirement for the main LED bar to sit under the nose of the ski box meant I couldn’t just mount it across the roof rails. It needed to be low under the ski box which meant it also needed to be forward of the sunroof to avoid clashing with the sunroof when the rear was tilted up. Maybe I could have come up with a clamp and longer-reaching bracket to be able to clamp to the roof rail to give a completely removable mount. I might think about that for V2.0… The wiring runs along the roof rail to the back and through the hatch opening where it plugs into a panel-mount connector in the upper corner of the interior trim panel. The hatch weather strip closes cleanly over the wires. I didn’t see a big deal with running the wires through the hatch seal for short term trips. Maybe there could be some water leakage if it rains. I’ll just zip tie the wires to the roof rail for the duration of any trips. And finally, the power switch is mounted cleanly in the climate control unit with power routed through an auxiliary fuse box and relay in the spare tire well.

    The center LED bar is a 22 in Nilight spot/flood unit. The small side lights are Nilight 4 in flood lights.

    Brett
    Another posibility is in put in the same front bumper, 12.000 lumens
    https://es.wallapop.com/item/volvo-x...10cv-231935431Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by Francesc; 04-27-2020 at 12:26 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Posts
    1,196

    Default

    How I did that.



    For the flood pods on the bumper I've used Volvo aux light attachment kit 30772053. They are on when fog lights are on.



    Lightbar is mounted on Yakima LoadWarrior basket. Activates together with the high beams if the button from the attachment kit is lit. The wiring is hidden under the windshield sill:



    For the in-town driving I remove both basket and the bumper brace.
    2002 V70 (sold)
    2005 XC70 (Telos Road took it. Did a chassis swap)
    2016 XC60 (sold, P.O.S.)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    182

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Francesc View Post
    Another posibility is in put in the same front bumper, 12.000 lumens
    https://es.wallapop.com/item/volvo-x...10cv-231935431Click image for larger version. 

Name:	bar_bumper.jpg 
Views:	11 
Size:	26.1 KB 
ID:	9280
    Not for my application. I don't expect the low mounting position in the bumper to illuminate off-road terrain usefully. And, The light might get crunched down there. On one trip, I filled the AC condenser with rocks scooped up through that bumper opening where you have the light mounted. That would have destroyed any light there. I smashed one of the fog lights in the bumper on another trip. Plus I like the idea of easily removing the lights when not needed, which is most of the time.
    Brett
    Last edited by Brett San Diego; 04-27-2020 at 01:26 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    182

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by vtl View Post
    How I did that.

    That's a nice roof rack set up. I haven't had the need for that much storage on the roof, yet. And, I wasn't sure about where/how to store the roof rack when off the car. I almost got one as I thought about putting the full size spare on the roof, but I've decided to build a swing away tire carrier on the rear. So, no full roof rack, yet.

    Is that Hi-Lift jack on the fender well? Have you reinforced that area? I can't imagine jacking the car on the fender. I just went though deciding on a jack. I didn't think a Hi-Lift would work anywhere on the car except maybe the trailer hitch in the rear. I ended up ordering an air bag jack since I just put an on board air system in the car. I'm also going to carry a single jack stand for safety getting underneath if needed. I think (hope) both will fit in the remaining space in the spare tire well.

    Brett

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Posts
    1,196

    Default

    Yes, Hi-Lift. The car is raised via wheel with help of Lift-Mate attachment: https://hi-lift.com/accessories/lift-mate/. Highly recommend.



    I carry food, booze, tools, 15 gals of gas, tent, folding bed, inflatable boat and outboard engine for a week+ long trip to the end of http://jamesbayroad.com/ttr/index.html and back, yet have to sleep inside the car whenever possible, so a roof-long basket is must have.













    Volvo XC70 is a superior vehicle for such overland trips, btw. I only have to weld the plastic bumper cover once in a while after bear-involved road accident ;-)
    2002 V70 (sold)
    2005 XC70 (Telos Road took it. Did a chassis swap)
    2016 XC60 (sold, P.O.S.)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    182

    Default

    Ah, I can barely see the straps now in the pic. That works for recovery if you're bogged down, but what do you do to change a tire? Do you still carry the factory jack? And, nice trip!
    Brett

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