- Location
- Denver Adjacent
The first time I got to use all of my LEDs at night I noticed that the roof lights put a LOT of glare on the hood. And that is because 2/3 of the light is a flood pattern. So for the 24 LEDs that are up there 16 are flood and only 8 are spot. Not exactly roof light material. Then I got to thinking. What if I removed the spot reflectors from the grill lights and swapped them with one of the flood reflectors on the roof. That would give me 2/3 spot and only 1/3 flood up top. So I got out a 2.5mm Allen wrench and got to work.
Turns out, the smallest Allen wrench that comes with the lights is a better fit, so it would be preferred to use that. As long as you are patient with the torque, a regular 2.5mm works.
So here's what you start with:
All of the screws are held on by loose nuts in a track on the body of the light. So there's no need to take them all the way out. Simply loosen them and the side pieces just fall off.
I didn't know this was the case at first, so I did completely remove the screws top and bottom. Turns out if you loosen them enough, you can slide the top and bottom pieces out on the left or right side. This will save headache later at reassembly.
Once the front panels are removed you can take off the plastic lens, and you have this:
If you want to paint or dip the flat chrome sections of the reflectors, now is the time. Just make sure not to get any down in the reflection cone for the LEDs.
In the center of each reflector is another 2.5mm screw. This screw is what holds the reflector in place. When you start to remove it, the tension disappears on the screw and then comes back. Turn VERY slowly to get past the tension. Continue backing out the screw and the reflector comes right off.
What I didn't know is that it seems that they attempt to thwart this process by filling the threads of the screws with solder on the back side of the PCB. So when you back the screw out, it destroys the threads in the PCB making reassembly impossible. Or so they thought.
Enter a #6-32 tap & #6-32 3/4" stainless hex cap screws.
Simply re-tap the hole:
And reattach the new reflector with the #6-32 hex cap screw and snug it up.
To begin reassembly, place the lens back on. And ensure that it sits perfectly on the gasket. This will ensure the water proof seal that you really want. The lens should line up exactly on the edge of the rubber gasket.
Once that is done, bring the side brackets in first and tighten them first. That will hold the lens in place. Then tighten the top and bottom screws. This is where the little silver Allen wrench that comes with the light comes in handy. I fits the screws perfectly and allows you to get some good tension on the brackets.
Once completed, I'm left with this:
Repeated on the other light, I now have 100% flood lights down in the grill. Which makes sense and all of the inner lights on the light bar are spots.
This comes in handy if you have some of the little square ones and want to rearrange the lighting layout. Or simply tune the beam of the larger lights.
Turns out, the smallest Allen wrench that comes with the lights is a better fit, so it would be preferred to use that. As long as you are patient with the torque, a regular 2.5mm works.
So here's what you start with:
All of the screws are held on by loose nuts in a track on the body of the light. So there's no need to take them all the way out. Simply loosen them and the side pieces just fall off.
I didn't know this was the case at first, so I did completely remove the screws top and bottom. Turns out if you loosen them enough, you can slide the top and bottom pieces out on the left or right side. This will save headache later at reassembly.
Once the front panels are removed you can take off the plastic lens, and you have this:
If you want to paint or dip the flat chrome sections of the reflectors, now is the time. Just make sure not to get any down in the reflection cone for the LEDs.
In the center of each reflector is another 2.5mm screw. This screw is what holds the reflector in place. When you start to remove it, the tension disappears on the screw and then comes back. Turn VERY slowly to get past the tension. Continue backing out the screw and the reflector comes right off.
What I didn't know is that it seems that they attempt to thwart this process by filling the threads of the screws with solder on the back side of the PCB. So when you back the screw out, it destroys the threads in the PCB making reassembly impossible. Or so they thought.
Enter a #6-32 tap & #6-32 3/4" stainless hex cap screws.
Simply re-tap the hole:
And reattach the new reflector with the #6-32 hex cap screw and snug it up.
To begin reassembly, place the lens back on. And ensure that it sits perfectly on the gasket. This will ensure the water proof seal that you really want. The lens should line up exactly on the edge of the rubber gasket.
Once that is done, bring the side brackets in first and tighten them first. That will hold the lens in place. Then tighten the top and bottom screws. This is where the little silver Allen wrench that comes with the light comes in handy. I fits the screws perfectly and allows you to get some good tension on the brackets.
Once completed, I'm left with this:
Repeated on the other light, I now have 100% flood lights down in the grill. Which makes sense and all of the inner lights on the light bar are spots.
This comes in handy if you have some of the little square ones and want to rearrange the lighting layout. Or simply tune the beam of the larger lights.
