Lights in place of wind-deflector on 2006 model ?

Hey guys and gals -

My first post here. My employer recently bought me a 2006 XTerra X 2WD in Solar Yellow. I want to mount some lights right where the wind-deflector is at the forwardmost part of the rack, but of course the wind-deflector is plastic, so it's not suitable for attaching lamps to. I know it's easy to attach the lamps to the top of the rack, but I really want them right where the wind-deflector is, just in front of the basket.
Does anyone make a metal version of the wind-deflector on the 05-06 ? This would likely be stable enough for some lamps.
Another option is to remove the plastic wind-deflector, and fabricate a cross-bar that would attach to the under-side of the metal bars just before they meet the roofline. This would have to be fabbed up, of course.

Anywho, thanks for any info on this.

I love the truck. Excellent value!

Have a good one!

Search the posts. Someone has mounted lights to the plasting wind deflector and it worked fine. They didn't even use a backing plate.

Thanks. I looked a bit so far, but must not have used the right search terms. The lights I am going to mount are pretty heavy too, so I'll probably have to play with it.

i have no idea what the soultion is...

but...

what, in God's name, do you do that your boss bought you an X!?!?!

I would mount them to the front cross bar on the roof rack for one important reason... To eliminate glare on the windshield. If you mount lights too far forward you get blinded by them.

To answer Jake's question, I am the Southeast Key Accounts Manager for Hella. I'll be traveling all over the SE to customers, and of course trying to sell them lights. It helps to sell lights, if you have something to demonstrate them on. I had been looking at a few inexpensive SUVs, and the XTerra won due to *extremely* competitive lease rates that Nissan offers. The other two candidates were the Jeep Liberty CRD, and the new 2006 Toyota Rav4. The problem with the Jeep was that the lease rates from DaimlerChrysler were anything but competitive, and although I found some amazing deals on Liberty CRDs (like a new 2005 for under $20k), DC would not do a lease on a 2005 model, even though it was new. The Rav4 is a very nice vehicle, especially now that it has a 269HP V6 lifted fom the Avalon, and you can get a 3rd row seat (for midgets), and the fuel economy is great (EPA rating on the V6 of close to 30MPG), and the MSRP is very good, but being a totally redesigned vehicle, dealers are getting over list for them.
The X model I got had an MSRP of $22,700, and they discounted it down to right at $20k. This combined with the good lease rates made it the big winner, despite the not-so-good fuel mileage. Since they're paying for everything, including the fuel, that's fine with me.
I got the 2WD for obvious reasons. The truck will be doing almost all highway driving, and will likely never go offroad.
I really like the truck a lot, and can't wait to hang a bunch of our lights on this thing.
I'll probably have a new Manik Pre-Runner bar up front, but I really wanted to put the lamps where that wind-deflector is. If you stick them on top of the rack, you run into clearance issues sometimes, and it only adds to the mileage woes.

Glare on the hood from the overhead lamps is of very very little concern to me. The lamps will likely only be used for demo purposes, or the very rare use with the hi-beams. At worste, a flat-black hood section, either a decal or painted, would cure much of that.

Well then, bolt them puppies right to the air damn with a metal backing on the inside. Since they don't have to take the beating of off-road I am sure it would work.

Take a look at this.

http://thenewx.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=115

Yeah, I saw that, and that looks OK, but I'm looking to mount them directly in front of the plastic shield that says 'NISSAN', so that the bottom of the lamp is at about the same place as the roof-line.

Thanks again.

Use the same idea, just take the air dam off to mount them. Just watch cause I heard a rumor that the 4 screws in the front holding the air dam down don't like to go back in once they are removed.

Yeah, my only idea thus far has been to remove the plastic shield, then have my neighbor that's a welder fab up a piece of angle-iron and attach it to the two metal bars that run front-to-back, and use that as a brace.

I don't even think you need to fab anything. The plastic used for the air damn is the same as the roof bin lid. With that piece of aluminum bar stock along the back they won't go anywhere. You can get the bar stock at places like Home Depot and just cut it with a hack saw and drill holes in it.

I know that you're talking about 05+ xterra, but I have mounted Hella Micro FF directly to the wind deflector. I haven't had any problems of the lamps getting loose or any. I'm sure you could do the same with 05+ deflectors...

http://community.webshots.com/photo/416928948/1416953552043574248yUQuWL (Copy & Paste)

is this out yet...and where do I sign up?

Well it's off of an early 2002 but just to give you an idea here's what I did to mine.

Front


Back


Don't know how big of lights you want to go, mine are 3.5" lights. They have seen lots of low branches and offroad abuse and are still holding up great. They have been on for the last 3.5 years. Hope this gives you an idea anyway...
If you are really worried about the weight of bigger light directly on the plastic you can pick up a piece of 1.5" flat stock (the lenght of the wind deflector) and use it as a brace in the back for strenght.

shinallb - My contact at Manik gave me a list of things available for the 2005-2006, and along with side-steps, tail-lamp guards, and a standard front bar, they also have the pre-runner bar in stainless or black. The stainless is part # 73260SP, and the black is 73260. I have a .jpg with the press release on it, dated June 2005, so I assume it's available, and why would he list it if it weren't? I would post the pic, but don't have a place to host it. I'll be glad to send it to someone if they want to host and post it.

XSAL - The Micro FFs look good. I always liked those lights, and they work very well. They actually make a strobe version of that lamp that is used in Europe called the BSX-Micro. We just started selling the Amber version here.

Pinoy - Your setup looks good, but I'm going to run 3 or possibly 4 Rallye 4000 Compacts. They're pretty heavy, I would say at least 5 pounds a piece, and 6.69" diameter, so I think that even with a bar behind it, that the plastic wouldn't work.

I talked to my neighbor last night, who's a welder and fabricator, and he said in the next couple of weeks he and I will get together and do something. We're probably going to have some tubing that ties into the side of the existing rack tubes, then comes up just above the plastic shield, then comes back slightly down, goes across, and ties in on the other side. It will likely also tie into two of the existing 4 holes in the front for the plastic shield, for added stability.He said if it works out, and if anyone else is interested, he might be able to make a few of them, but it's just speculation right now until we make one of them. I'll shoot some pics when we get it done.

Also, to answer Muzikman's statement, the 4 screws do in fact go back in. They're a bit tough to get out in the first place, because they seal them with a thread-locker originally. They use the threadlocker on all of the screws holding the feet for the rack on, as well as that front shield. Strangely, they do not use the thread-locker on any of the screws that hold the basket in, or that hold the basket support rails on the side.

Anywho, have a good one.

Check out this setup on the fourtreks.com customer photos page.
Light Bar Mount Scroll to the bottom of the page for a pic.

It uses the FourTreks cargo rack brackets with a custom made bar to mount the lights. Me likey.

That's a sweet gig! run Hellas on my SHHH Jeep and getting ready this summer to add Hellas to my X too. Hope you can wriggle the X for a Colorado Vacation. Plenty of trails that a 2X could do especially with a couple other Xs to help out.

Ouch - It ain't cheap!!!

<< Manik Light Bar Flyer Clicky>>

Holy $|-||T!!!! Might as well just buy a Shrock at that point and have yourself a real bumper to mount them lights to.

That would be great, but my territory is the SE, so Co is kinda out of the question. Even if they did send me that way, it would be by air being that far.
Sounds fun though!

Just an update.

I had my neighbor who's a welder/fabricator make a pretty neat rack that attaches to the outer retaining bolts that already exist to hold down the factory rack and front deflector. As soon as I get it powdercoated and mounted with lights, I'll post some pics.

Well I finally got some pics of the roof rack with the lights.

These are Hella Rallye 4000 Compact Driving Lamps. The rack was custom-made by a neighbor who's a welder/fabricator. I primed it and painted it satin black to match the plastic roof pieces. It mounts directly in the holes already there. 2 in front on the wind deflector, and two on the sides for the roof rack.
If anyone's interested in a rack like this, I can ask him how long, but it will run you about $175 or so.

Oh, and if I keep my foot out of it, I can still average almost 21MPG with these lights on the truck.









Here's the Hella page about the lamps themselves:

Hella Rallye 4000 Compact

So what can you sell to us at as a great deal?

Huge market here...

What do you have to show us?

Show Some more close ups of that light bar will you.

Not sure what you're getting at.

If you're talking about a 'deal' on the lightbar, I don't see where you get that from. It's not something the guy is gearing-up to mass-produce, or even to sell as far as I know. I mentioned it in passing that some others may want one, and he said it would cost at least $175 or so, but he would have to figure it out if people were really interested.
I know he worked about 6 hours on this piece, and that was with one part already being done off the shelf for another project.
If several people want them, he would have to take mine off and make a jig for it.
If I get a feel for how many people are seriously interested, I'll ask him and see what he thinks.
I don't think that $175 is unreasonable though, and no, I'm not making anything off of it. He's a neighbor and friend of mine.

And I'm sure Calmini will give you technical drawings on their stuff too.

I thought this topic was VERY funny, coming from a Hella rep.....

Why is the topic funny, or am I mis-understanding what you mean?
I obviously work for a lighting company, and I wanted to mount lights in a certain place, so I wanted to see if there was anything already available to do it. Since there wasn't, my neighbor made something up.

I think it worked OK, but that's just me.

He asked for close up pictures of the light bar not technical drawings. Calmini won't give you the drawings because it's their busines to manufacture the parts and make money. Your reply to blue02 appears contradict this statement.

Other members have fabricated things for the X and had no issue with sharing information.

How much more close-up do the pictures need to be? It's clear how the bar is attached to the truck, and I even stated somewhere that it is attached into 4 of the roof rack mounting holes, which you can see in the pictures. The guy's profile says he's a metal fabricator or something, if I remember correctly. If that's true, he should have no problem going off of the pictures I posted.
As I did not make this thing, I didn't feel it was my place to completely undermine any possibillity that the guy could ever hope to sell any in the future (if he ever wanted to), by giving detailed instructions on the thing, and basically giving away his intellectual property. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know where to begin since I'm not who made it.
People that complain about others not sharing information, when there's clearly enough information already to complete the task, are usually just looking to basically get something for almost nothing.
You can see by how long it's been since I've even looked at this post, or any others, that I have *way* more going on than allows me time to go out and take multiple angled hi-res pictures of specific parts of a roof rack, because some people would rather get someone else to do as much of it as they can get them to, rather than go out and attempt it themselves.

Some of you guys seem to have plenty of time to complain about 'not sharing', but strangely not enough time to go out and do something on your own. Not everything worthwhile is a bolt-on, guys.

gee...

you came looking for ideas... people willingly shared theirs with you... pics and all, and details of how to do it...

now that you've found your solution, you don't want to share...

nice...

How about reading what I already posted?! I DID share what I had, including about 4 pics that show exactly how the thing goes on there. I also stated that I did not make it, and know nothing about welding or fabricating, so I couldn't tell you the 'details' of how to make it. What do you want me to do, pull it off and make a CAD drawing for you in my 'spare' time?
Even so, if you look at what I provided, including the pics, and simply take that to a local welder, he should be able to recreate the same thing.

If I '...don't want to share...', why would I have even gone through the effort of posting the pics and telling anyone about it?

I've been in a few clubs and more than a few online auto forums in the past, but you guys really take the cake.

Get a life.

defensive little prick, aintcha?

nah, these guys don't take the cake... try some bmw boards on for size... these guys are minor leaguers compared to them... :rolleyes:

Instead of buying that expensive prerunner deal why don't you have your neighbor (who seems to be talented enough) build you one for way cheaper and probably alot better looking too?

We do a lot of stuff with Manik. We give them lights for show trucks, and they give us bars for our stuff, so it was simply easier, and of course cheaper.
My neighbor would have taken quite a while if I asked him to make one. He took all day making the thing for the roof, and it's pretty small.
I actually like the way the Manik unit looks, and it's a snap to put on.

Looks like you have your solution already, but here are my roof lights. They've been up there and used for 3+ years at least. Worked well for me.



Also.....you're a rep for Hella. I'm sure they would be thrilled to know of your outstanding discourse with potential customers.....maybe not your direct customers, but end consumers none-the-less.

--Yo TripleJack--You're first mistake was to mention that you're a HELLA rep-you're second mistake was to answer some of these BAJA 1000 experts (brain dead) questions-I think you're presentation was appropriate --JIMBO

OT: Brad, i didnt get a chance to check out your truck a whole lot in richmond, but that thing is badass.

And what about anything I have said here is inappropriate? Some of the people on here accuse me of things, insinuate things , one calling me a prick, and I simply stated the facts.
I wonder if *their* employers would be thrilled to know of their outstanding discourse with people in general.
Is it different because I stated that I worked for Hella, and do not hide behind the perceived annonimity(?) of the Internet? I didn't come on here to sell product, I came here to find useful information, and to meet people and socialize about a common interest.
I worked for 6 years in Customer Service, and I assure you that I am very good at it, and go out of my way, over and above what is required of me, or the company, to take care of either a direct customer, or a consumer, but when someone says something that isn't correct, just like here, I will call them on it. Just like when a guy called here saying that a set of our lights caused his alternator and batteries to fail, and he wanted us to pay the bill to fix it. I knew he was feeding me a line, and even talked to the shop that fixed the truck, who told me he was just trying to get someone else to pay for it. Do you think we rolled-over for that one?
On the other hand, there have been countless times when consumers have called here saying something was broken, and in many cases, it was either not a defect, but damage caused by them, or the item was *way* out of warranty, or as is usually the case, they don't have their receipt. In 9 out of 10 cases, I will usually just give them the part they need, or whatever it is. I even had a guy call here after the first of the year who told me he dropped a lamp when installing it, and broke the lens. Obviously not a defect, but I sent him a new one anyway.
I know how to deal with people, and get along with 90% of people in this world, but I will call a spade a spade.
I just guess that the other 10% happen to all be concentrated in this forum.

Oh, and while I disagree with your opinion, I do think you have a nice rig.

So how about if you were to ask your neighbor if you could post close up shots? If he doesn't plan on making any more of them, I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing a few details. I'd like to see the mounts at the roof rack if so.

Thank you both.

And I will now apologize to TripleJackInGA for my knee-jerk response. I did not completely read this thread before my reply, and made my answer in reference to that quick review of the thread. I w was not completely informed before stating.

Enjoy your new X. Congrats on the light bar solution.

Im not clear on why folks are giving Triple Jack' flack. The light bar mount is not his idea to share, which he stated. Thats all good, now maybe he will talk with his neighbor about fabbing up some more for purchase,or maybe not after the red carpet treatment he got.

Triple Jack' the bar looks good, damn good. Dont sweat what a few have to say. Enjoy the ride

Hey TripleJackInGA, the lights look awesome!! I have a couple questions for you...

1)How much would you estimate your entire lightbar setup would cost? Including lights and necessary accessories.

2)How were you able to run the wiring from the lights into the cabin for the on/off switch?

3)Have you spoken with your neighbor lately about him "mass" producing the bar you have?

Thanks for your time. and once again, great lightbar !

Doesn't look like they are wired at all. Makes sence too if they are just for looks to promote for the company. Although, if they are wired, i'd like to know how you did it too, because it sure looks clean.

1) As far as the total cost, it's hard to say since he would be making the bars, but let's assume it's $175. The lights I have on their go for about $114 each, minus the wiring going up to them, relays, switches, etc. You can get away with running just two relays if you run 55 Watt bulbs in them. The relays will run you about $8 a piece, and the switch is a part # 96517, which will look almost factory. It will run you about $7 (you can use one switch for the whole thing). Not including the wiring, with the lights I used, you would be looking at about $770.
That being said, the lights I used are about as expensive as any Halogen light comes, and is top of the line. You can certainly use something less-expensive, such as the model 500 Driving Lamp, and they go for $45 each, which would drop the total down to about $424. You can also now find these lamps at Wal-Mart (the 500s), so you may be able to get them even cheaper, or check eBay. lots of people sell it on eBay.
Of course you can also go with fewer lamps, and if you simply do not like Hella lamps, you can use something else entirely.

2) I've been traveling quite a bit lately, so I have yet to complete the wiring, but I do have it in place.I just need to make the final connections. I ran a bundle of 4 14guage (I think) wires through a hole I drilled in the roof directly behind the plastic wind-deflector on the front of the rack.I damn-near poked a hole in the headliner when the bit popped through the roof, even though I started with a small bit and worked my way up. I did it on the Driver's Side, and then put the wires into some plastic loom to protect them from shorting on the sharp metal. I also siliconed the crap out of it after I fed them through.To date, we've had some pretty hard rain, and I have yet to see any signs of a leak. I fed this whole thing down the Driver's Side A-Pillar, under the dash, and through the large rubber grommet on the firewall on the Driver's Side. I just made a new hole in it, which you can do by taping the end of your wires to a long flat-head screwdriver, and just pushing it through a thin spot of the rubber from the inside of the cabin, then going to the other side, removing the tape, and pulling the screwdriver back out, leaving the wiring where you want it, with a nice tight seal around it in the grommet. I'll have my relays mounted on the Driver's Side inner-fender, with a larger, maybe 10-12 guage single wire going from the relays to the Pass. Side to the battery.The two wires for the switch can be small, since the relay needs only very little Amperage to operate, and it isn't carrying the load for the lamps themselves, and easily routed back through the same grommet, and I will have the switch located in the empty switch blanks in the center stack, but you can put the switch anywhere.

3) I haven't spoken to him about that lately. I know if he does it, he said he will want to take mine off and make a jig for it. I'll try and get with him this week or this weekend, and ask him more seriously.

So a horse, a clergyman and a blonde walk into a bar and the bartender says, "so, you gonna mass produce those things?" But seriously though...

The bar looks good. Don't know what the big prob is. Just look at the photos...You can see how it was attached.. Nice job!!

TripleJackInGA,

Thanks for the detailed response... I've only had my X for 5 months now and I'm developing that never ending mod list. The lights look awesome, but Im always hesitant is drilling permanent holes anywhere.

I am too normally, but at what piont in the truck's life would anyone intentionally drive around with any part of the rack, including the wind-deflector that the hole is directly behind, removed? at worste, you have a 5/8" hole that can be welded up and fixed to where you would never know it was there if you absolutely needed to.

Oh, and to show you how not worried I am about it, this truck is leased. Do you think the leasing company will take it apart to find the hole? I've turned in leased vehicles before, and at best they take about 2 minutes to walk around the car and look for obvious damage.

At any rate, it's up to each individual as to wether they want to do that or not. The only alternative for me if I hadn't drilled a hole would have been to run all the way to the back of the rack and down through the lift-gate. Doing this would have required a *much* bigger guage of wire, since I would be going about 30 feet or so with the wiring, and voltage-drop would have killed the power.

I only saw my neighbor once briefly this past weekend as I was busy painting the inside of my house (and still am). I did mention it, so I'll try and get with him again and see if he came up with anything.

OK - I finally got a chance to talk to my neigbor about this yesterday. He says he can do them in raw steel for $150, and he can get them powdercoated for $175. When I made mine, I just primered it with Rustoleum primer (pretty heavy coat), and then satin or flat black Rustoleum, and it looks fine too. Haven't had any issues with it flaking or coming off.
He said the biggest thing is that he needs to do them in batches of at least 5 or 10 at a time, because a lot of it is just set-up time on the machines.Also, he's going to do this in his spare time, so don't expect it to be like some retail store and it ships the next day.
If anyone wants to start a list, PM me here, or shoot me an e-mail. Once I have commitments from at least 5 people, I guess we can go from there or something.

Have a good one.

Hey jack, the bar looks awsome, i've read this entire thread from start to finish and just to say it just seems that some of these fellas are a bit angry because you wouldn't go totally out of your way to please them, you're doing everyone a favor by talking to your neighbor in regards to the bar. maybe some people should back off a bit, if you're that angry over something that isn't even a issue, unplug your pc for seven to ten days and come back when you've had a time out.

Jack, I like the work, I think it looks awsome and I appriciate the bit of information you've brought here. Thanks, I just may contact you to be added to that list.