Shorts,

The OP mentioned that he is removing the under hood insulation to attach the light bars.

 

Ooop, missed that Gracias DrD

 

I am looking at these for my underhood lighting

http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...xture/680/463/

 

That is exactly what I want to use.
B.T.W., do any of you think by not having the under the insulation that I'll have to worry about my exterior hood paint from fading or peeling from the engine heat this coming summer? It sometimes get's over 100 degrees! I just removed it yesterday and didn't notice any difference in engine noise.

 

I was planning to mount these over the insulation? Thoughts?

 

The lack of insulation should not be an issue. We have trucks that were not fitted with it from the factory and have no paint fading issues at all.

 

Take off the insulation cut a hole in the insulation to where the light are. Re-mount it and you can have the best of both worlds.

 

As you can tell it was time for this to be removed. You can almost read the Cummins name in the insulation! The lower left has been missing since I bought the truck several years ago.

 

I will look at my insulation as I do not think it looks like yours in regard to impressions of the various engine parts.

I was hoping mounting the lights over the insulation would help hold insulation on the hood better than it does with just the clips.

 

RamGazer was it hard removing the insulation under the hood? mines starting to fall also so I might do the samething

 

No not at all. I used a trim tool I've had for several years now. You just need something to wedge under both sides of the clip and pry it out. I didn't want to damage the clips in case I needed them again for another hood insulation pad.

Hood looks like without insulation (minus the staining from battery acid).

 

Great idea/nice job.
My under hood mopar light broke loose and stayed ON killing my batts. This will be a good fix
Thanks again

 

I'd like to do something like this too (also don't have an underhood light)... but what about the heat from the motor? I could see it melting those lights if you tow heavy a lot.

Rob

 

factory under hood lights survive the heat-can`t imagine LED`s would have trouble

 

LED's come in a variety of flavors. You have to be careful to match what you want for the conditions you're after.

Most LED's are NOT set up for external use. They're not heat or water resistant. Make sure what you buy is specifically rated for the engine bay. Years ago I cam across some rock crawler pods that looked pretty useful, but now I can't find them.

LED's also come in a variety of light temperatures. Get the brightest white you can get.

Having a strip or two on the underside of the hood is nice for things like checking the oil and stuff. But if you actually need to make a repair, they don't work well. The minute you stick your head and arms in there, you're in a deep shadow and can't see a darned thing.

Consider placing strips or pods on the fenders, and under the firewall ledge - low and close to the engine and other things that might need repair.

LED's can be very directional, with a tight cone of light. That works really well if you set them up right; less glare as you're working.

Wire them in parallel. If one set dies, the others will continue to work.

Of course, you need some kind of switch to turn them on. Mercury switches are out. But pin switches are readily available to turn the lights on whenever you open the hood. But a simple manual waterproof rocker switch works just fine, too. As long as you don't forget to turn them off.

They don't draw much power at all. Big pods and bars only draw about 200 mA. You can string a few of them together and run them for hours without running down the battery much.

You MUST have some sort of circuit protection. A simple in line 2-3A fuse will suffice. I prefer to use an automatic resetting circuit breaker. A little more cost initially. But can save huge hassle down the road.

But, if your goal is roadside repair, your best bet is an LED head lamp. Incredibly useful, cheap, reliable. $15 at target. The only down side is you have to carry spare batteries. http://www.target.com/p/energizer-6-...FYpaMgodGmgAnA