Lightbar grounding

[cyrus104]

I'm installing a lightbar in my Braptor and planning to use the drill method but not use the factory wire, I'm going to run my own wires.

I would like to see if I can clean up the threads with thread die and then have this be an external ground point. My rooftop rack will cover the accessory location and make it look nice.

I've included a picture of the location I'm talking about for reference.

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[Brian_B]

I don’t think so. If I recall, those plates with the bolts are just glued to the aluminum body there and that probably wouldn’t be a great ground.

that said - I haven’t tried it - so maybe it works fantastic. But if it were me I would just plan on running a ground with the hot wire

 

[604Bronco]

I don’t think so. If I recall, those plates with the bolts are just glued to the aluminum body there and that probably wouldn’t be a great ground.

that said - I haven’t tried it - so maybe it works fantastic. But if it were me I would just plan on running a ground with the hot wire

Agreed - There’s been posts here showing that piece broken off. I’d barely feel confident mounting a roof rack there…

 

[V1Rotate]

I don’t think so. If I recall, those plates with the bolts are just glued to the aluminum body there and that probably wouldn’t be a great ground.

that said - I haven’t tried it - so maybe it works fantastic. But if it were me I would just plan on running a ground with the hot wire

I'm almost sure they're very very delicately plug welded but could be wrong. Thought I'd seen evidence of that in those threads of all the ones falling off under the weight of Roof racks and stuff

 

[Brian_B]

I'm almost sure they're very very delicately plug welded but could be wrong. Thought I'd seen evidence of that in those threads of all the ones falling off under the weight of Roof racks and stuff

Could be, there are the indentations that could be a plug weld. That said, I still wouldn't ground through the aluminum that's around the window there.

 

[V1Rotate]

Could be, there are the indentations that could be a plug weld. That said, I still wouldn't ground through the aluminum that's around the window there.

100% agree with you on that

 

[cyrus104]

Thank you for the feedback. It would be nice if there was already a hole with a plug there for us to use.

 

[Brian_B]

Thank you for the feedback. It would be nice if there was already a hole with a plug there for us to use.

Ford did put a wire up there, but it's small and limits what you can do with it.

 

[The Beaz]

There is a ground above the side curtain airbag, easy to get to by removing the air bag cover

 

[projectbadlands]

This is exactly where I grounded my KC Pro6 light bar and have had absolutely no issues.

 

[cyrus104]

That looks great, what way did you bring that in from the outside? I see you have the positive wire heatshrunk so are you bringing in more from the outside? One for the ground and then another for the positive?

There is a ground above the side curtain airbag, easy to get to by removing the air bag cover

 

[The Beaz]

I came in though the accessory location, drilled through, then fed into the top of the airbag space. The extra wires are for the backlight function, I'm not using that. I split the wire loom once I had it inside and routed the positive to connect with the factory wiring behind the glove box. Didn't want to pull apart the whole loom, so deadheaded it at the end with the ground.

 

[cyrus104]

Ok, so you did do the drill method like in my first post. That makes me feel a little better.

I have the trailrax w/ pax on and I've been investigating the C pillar at the bottom. If you look right at that location there is a seal that if you open it up there goes in between the body and right to back inside. I'll just have to make sure after the wires are run that I add some silicone to the seal to make it whole again.

What I haven't tried yet is running 2x 12awg wires right here. The seal pops off so I'm going to take it off and test and then go from there, hopefully a no damage test.

I came in though the accessory location, drilled through, then fed into the top of the airbag space. The extra wires are for the backlight function, I'm not using that. I split the wire loom once I had it inside and routed the positive to connect with the factory wiring behind the glove box. Didn't want to pull apart the whole loom, so deadheaded it at the end with the ground.

 

[The Beaz]

I was not stingy with the silicone for sure! I made sure to get a nice amount down in the hole, then around the outside to help keep the wire from flexing.

I would have added a grommet but didn't have the right size on hand.....

May want to check out this for a no drill route, I just wasn't partial to the wire so exposed, but that is a chunky wire....

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/easy-roof-light-bar-wiring-diy.89644/post-2271809

 

[cyrus104]

I decided to go with the driver side c-pillar. This is my first attempt, I already have an idea to do it better.

The door doesn't rub on the wiring, I do wish there was a little more space there or another way to run it that's better. These are for

The braiding was me messing it up NOT the door closing.

Do you guys think this will be a good enough ground? It looks like it's already a ground to the frame so I think it'll work.

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