Michael Maskalans <dml@tepidcola.com> wrote:
: On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:25:01 -0600, Barry Oliver <barrysuperhawk@insightbb.com> wrote:
:>
:> Ok, I have had it with not being able to see behind me without firing up the spotlight. Where can I get retina-burning bright bulbs for my back up lights? I am hoping for something in the 4-600 watt range... Seriously, I need more than the truck came with......
: it's too bad you actually use the departure angle on your truck (I remember the bumper scrape you picked up last time you were in Rochester) otherwise sticking some utility lights on the hitch hardware works very well.
Yeah, that's what I initially thought of too. This may be a
long shot, but what if Barry could find a cheap linear actuator
somewhere (yeah, I know the term "cheap linear actuator" is an
oxymoron) ;-). That way, putting the truck in reverse could turn
on the lights and energize the actuator to drop or swing the lights
down, then when you take it out of reverse, they turn off and swing
back up out of the way. Maybe a bit overboard, but a possibility...
: I'm not sure the tail light housings could put up with high wattage bulbs, nor would I be sure of the wiring harness.... But if you want to get some H3 sockets and put some nice headlight bulbs in there, let us know if it works out!
That's an interesting thought. Something that came to mind is that
headlights and fog lights seem to use glass lenses, so its true that
there might be a heat issue there. One way to find out... ;-) As far
as the wiring harness goes, just run a line from the battery (10 gauge
or so?) and use the original backup wires from the harness as relay
triggers.
Another (long shot) thought I had was if you could find a driving
light small enough, you may be able to tuck it into the receiver hitch.
I'm sure there are places on the truck which could be used to
hang the lights by fabbing up a bracket or two, but at this point,
it becomes more a question of aesthetics than difficulty. (i.e.
you could put them behind the cab, on the outsides of the stock
bumper, on the back of the bed, etc. but they might look out of
place.
Buy about 15-20 of those 2 million candlepower spotlights, mount
them in the bed just in front of the tailgate, pointing backwards,
replace the tailgate latching mechanism with a couple of linear
actuators, and the entire eastern seaboard will know when Barry
is backing up. :-) Plus, think of the bragging rights - who
else can say they have 40 million candlepower back up lights?
And tailgaters? Fuhgetaboutit! :-)
--
-Jon-
.-- Jon Steiger ---- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com --.
| 1970 Barracuda - 1990 Dakota 'vert - 1992 Ram 4x4 - 1996 Dakota |
| 1996 Intruder 1400 - 1996 Kolb FireFly - 2001 Ram QC 3500 CTD |
`------------------------------------ http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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