- First Name
- Colby
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2021
- Threads
- 9
- Messages
- 838
- Reaction score
- 2,671
- Location
- MB
- Website
- www.cspencephoto.com
- Vehicle(s)
- 2022 Badlands 2DR
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
- Thread starter
- #91
With all of the business in the front, I needed more party in the back. Who better to call than @Diode Dynamics
While the Hitchpod was slick and effortless, it left me feeling as if it was a hassle. I understand the ease of removal and all, but any weekend that I wanted to take the camper out or go snowboarding (soon to be biking too, all needing a hitch rack/hookup) it required the owner to get underneath and tie up the extra wiring. From the get go I thought that the Pro level pod should’ve been used, not Sport… as a single central LED, it certainly could use more output.
So, I did what any rational person would do. Ordered some more lights and Swiss cheesed the bumper based on internet strangers! Shoutout to @BroncoAZ for the inspo, and I swear I saw another owner who did a SSC2/S2 below the tire (let me know if you know who).
Enter two SSC1 Pro Floods and a single SSC2 Pro Combo, all flush mounts.
Starting off with masking and measuring the SSC1's... the passenger cutout is "in space". There is really nothin but the "eyecrometer" and some ballpark measurements to guess where the hole should go. The driver side is pretty obvious as it only fits in one place. The first hit with a drill and there was no going back. I used a 2" hole saw for these and a rasp on a pneumatic die grinder.
After hollowing out the SSC1's, the SSC2 cavity was up next. Dead centre and aligning the top of the flush mount flange with the bottom of the plastic cap. For this I used a 1.75" hole saw and ever so slightly spaced out the holes to avoid the wrist breaking kickback when the holesaw bites. After the webbing was cutout and the rectangle shaped was appearing, I noticed that the plastic bumper cap has a couple of mounting tabs that are in the way of the cooling fins. I flipped the SSC2 flushmount flange to maintain legible writing and slip the angled cutoff of the fins in the space alongside the mounting tabs.
Dont mind my artistry... Now there was no way that I was able to get any tools in the bumper to mount the SSC2 with the tow package in the way. Off the bumper goes, probably for the best anyways.
This allowed me to spray paint the raw bumper edges and properly run wiring harness'.
A buddy came by with dome deustch connecters and we got to work looming and pinning. This is where it gets fun, I made the executive call to reuse the Hitchpod tap off harness to power the dual SSC1's. I sure hoped it worked, after all, 3A has got to be well within the system/wirings capabilities.
I also ran a line from the Engine Bay/Firewall Aux hook up to the rear - I really didn't want to pull the side panel today... This line got ran to the back, and was used for the SSC2.
The SSC2 wiring was left long to allow the bumper to be dropped without yanking on the line. The SSC1 had its own bumper harness. It all looked good and worked even better!
Now this is backup lighting!
This came together very well, had I had some actual time and temperature (-8ºC outside) I would've added some black silicone to the edges of the freshly cutout bumper and to fill the radius'd areas around the light and its gasket. I was more in a "lets get the done" mode and chose to truck along with the install.
The SSC1's in Floods are perfect for the corners where they are ever so slightly angled outwards and they come on with reverse while being very low profile. Even with the silver hardware! The SSC2 is angled downwards ever so sightly; being triggered with the Aux switch, it still can double as a highbeam deterrent for those clueless drivers behind me.
All in all, this is a 10/10 mod and I am extremely happy with how it turned out! I hope to see someone else re-create this with their own flare one day.
While the Hitchpod was slick and effortless, it left me feeling as if it was a hassle. I understand the ease of removal and all, but any weekend that I wanted to take the camper out or go snowboarding (soon to be biking too, all needing a hitch rack/hookup) it required the owner to get underneath and tie up the extra wiring. From the get go I thought that the Pro level pod should’ve been used, not Sport… as a single central LED, it certainly could use more output.
So, I did what any rational person would do. Ordered some more lights and Swiss cheesed the bumper based on internet strangers! Shoutout to @BroncoAZ for the inspo, and I swear I saw another owner who did a SSC2/S2 below the tire (let me know if you know who).
Enter two SSC1 Pro Floods and a single SSC2 Pro Combo, all flush mounts.
Starting off with masking and measuring the SSC1's... the passenger cutout is "in space". There is really nothin but the "eyecrometer" and some ballpark measurements to guess where the hole should go. The driver side is pretty obvious as it only fits in one place. The first hit with a drill and there was no going back. I used a 2" hole saw for these and a rasp on a pneumatic die grinder.
After hollowing out the SSC1's, the SSC2 cavity was up next. Dead centre and aligning the top of the flush mount flange with the bottom of the plastic cap. For this I used a 1.75" hole saw and ever so slightly spaced out the holes to avoid the wrist breaking kickback when the holesaw bites. After the webbing was cutout and the rectangle shaped was appearing, I noticed that the plastic bumper cap has a couple of mounting tabs that are in the way of the cooling fins. I flipped the SSC2 flushmount flange to maintain legible writing and slip the angled cutoff of the fins in the space alongside the mounting tabs.
Dont mind my artistry... Now there was no way that I was able to get any tools in the bumper to mount the SSC2 with the tow package in the way. Off the bumper goes, probably for the best anyways.
This allowed me to spray paint the raw bumper edges and properly run wiring harness'.
A buddy came by with dome deustch connecters and we got to work looming and pinning. This is where it gets fun, I made the executive call to reuse the Hitchpod tap off harness to power the dual SSC1's. I sure hoped it worked, after all, 3A has got to be well within the system/wirings capabilities.
I also ran a line from the Engine Bay/Firewall Aux hook up to the rear - I really didn't want to pull the side panel today... This line got ran to the back, and was used for the SSC2.
The SSC2 wiring was left long to allow the bumper to be dropped without yanking on the line. The SSC1 had its own bumper harness. It all looked good and worked even better!
Now this is backup lighting!
This came together very well, had I had some actual time and temperature (-8ºC outside) I would've added some black silicone to the edges of the freshly cutout bumper and to fill the radius'd areas around the light and its gasket. I was more in a "lets get the done" mode and chose to truck along with the install.
The SSC1's in Floods are perfect for the corners where they are ever so slightly angled outwards and they come on with reverse while being very low profile. Even with the silver hardware! The SSC2 is angled downwards ever so sightly; being triggered with the Aux switch, it still can double as a highbeam deterrent for those clueless drivers behind me.
All in all, this is a 10/10 mod and I am extremely happy with how it turned out! I hope to see someone else re-create this with their own flare one day.
My Instagram is Colby_Spence!Please let me know your handles and I can share your photos!
We appreciate the love!
The best blend of all worlds!Now that's awesome to see a fusion of our products, @Baja Designs, and @ORACLE Lighting all together in sync with amber accent lighting.
Sponsored
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