Thread: Somers Rescue 146 - Lighting Upgrade

As the previous budget cycle came to an end, we were given a small budget to start upgrading the lighting package on our heavy rescue that was built in the Mid 90's.

Our career staff completed "Phase I" which was chevrons to the rear and replacement of all rear lights. I'll grab some photos and videos of that this weekend. Here is the "before".



Phase II was an upgrade to the Advantage Edge Lightbar. This bar had 7 rotators and a rainbow of lenses. Here is the before:
r146-before - YouTube



We didn't have the funding to replace the entire bar with a Freedom so we purchased 4 M7's to replace 4 of the 7 rotators. We switched some lenses around and used some from the rear bar to make the front Red/Clear. The M7s are mounted to some aluminum that was cut to fit the "groove" in the bar. The lights slid in perfectly. Here are some build pictures:





View from the top. Old sign material was used to fabricate the bracket





It was dark by the time we finished and I guess I didn't grab a finished photo. Here is a video. Will try to get a comparable video to the "before" at the same time of night.
r146-night - YouTube

Phase III will be to get a ULF44 for the lights in the bar to sync them with the new LEDs in the grill. There are strobes on the sides of the vehicle that will probably get upgraded at the same time.

Stay tuned for updates.

I like the idea... it will look clean and be very effective.

Cool truck!

I will ask this.. would you consider selling the rear lightbars whole and upgrading to LEDs with the $$..... I could really use them

Thanks to this site advantedge stuff is fetching big buck these days.. save your take out parts.


The rear bars would be a great platform for 700 series LEDs though....

Great way to improvise!Great job! looks good, nice video!

Originally Posted by JohnMarcson

I will ask this.. would you consider selling the rear lightbars whole and upgrading to LEDs with the $$..... I could really use them

Thanks to this site advantedge stuff is fetching big buck these days.. save your take out parts.


The rear bars would be a great platform for 700 series LEDs though....

The rear bar has already been removed and replaced with a Whelen D8 as part of Phase I. We used one of the lenses from the rear bar on the front and had to trim it to fit. I'm not sure if we have a complete lens kit and if we do, I think it will be 3 blue and 1 red section.

It is owned by the town so, need to see if something could be worked out...

I was about to go OFF()thinking that ya'll had butchered that AdvantEdge Firemaster model bar until I saw how you just slid the M7 panels in like you did. I think that was a really slick idea. Interesting how the lenses have strobe optics in them with halogen rotators. Are you going to leave all the rotators and trays in the bar like it was factory, with just the M7 panels in there, or are you going to remove all the insides?

Originally Posted by Lightbarnut

I was about to go OFF()thinking that ya'll had butchered that AdvantEdge Firemaster model bar until I saw how you just slid the M7 panels in like you did. I think that was a really slick idea. Interesting how the lenses have strobe optics in them with halogen rotators. Are you going to leave all the rotators and trays in the bar like it was factory, with just the M7 panels in there, or are you going to remove all the insides?

One of our career staff members came up with the idea for the brackets. Perfect fit.

On the officer's side, the rotators are intact and just unplugged. On the driver's side, we removed two of the rotators to allow easier wiring. It could all be assembled back to factory.

I knew the stuff was hard to come by but I didn't realize how "in demand" this Advantage stuff is.

Originally Posted by RobK

One of our career staff members came up with the idea for the brackets. Perfect fit.

On the officer's side, the rotators are intact and just unplugged. On the driver's side, we removed two of the rotators to allow easier wiring. It could all be assembled back to factory.

I knew the stuff was hard to come by but I didn't realize how "in demand" this Advantage stuff is.

People are finally realizing how cool a platform the bar was for it's time.

Slightly off topic but here is a photo of R146 operating at our mill fire back in June. Cool shot showing it lit up:

Somers, CT Somersville Mill 5+ Alarm 6/2/12 - Ten7tyFive Fire Photography by Matt Fernandez

Nice job Rob! Hopefully you guys can secure the $$ to finish off the truck!

Originally Posted by jasonefd19

Nice job Rob! Hopefully you guys can secure the $$ to finish off the truck!

Thanks for putting this project together and getting it off the ground!

Here are the other photos/videos as promised:

Final product video:
R146-Edited - YouTube




And the rear:

The 900 series halogens were swapped with LEDs. The TIR6s were added. The smaller Advantage was swapped with a D8 that flashes random.

Very nicely done great job

actually i liked the way the older bar worked,

there are several long bars available in east hampton

Originally Posted by kitn1mcc

actually i liked the way the older bar worked,

I may not agree with your opinion, but i want to make sure I understand.

I too thought the old bar was cool and was period specific to the truck but the reason for the enhancements was for safety. During the day this truck was hard to see.

Of course, that is a double edged sword....now the thing is blinding at night. We shall see if "lower-power" will be an option.

On another note (and I hope to start a thread on this), we're in the process of putting a spec together for a new engine. I've been told that the manufacturers do not want to include a low power option for "liability" reasons. I'll try and start another thread on this to keep on topic....

Originally Posted by RobK

I may not agree with your opinion, but i want to make sure I understand.

I too thought the old bar was cool and was period specific to the truck but the reason for the enhancements was for safety. During the day this truck was hard to see.

Of course, that is a double edged sword....now the thing is blinding at night. We shall see if "lower-power" will be an option.

On another note (and I hope to start a thread on this), we're in the process of putting a spec together for a new engine. I've been told that the manufacturers do not want to include a low power option for "liability" reasons. I'll try and start another thread on this to keep on topic....

Not sure what controls you have going up to the bar, but perhaps you could find a way to finagle going to solely rotators for your "low power" option? Those LED's are fantastic, but killing those while keeping the rotators going would reduce your front output significantly... while keeping a full about 270 degrees of warning coverage for whenever you'd want/need less intense front coverage.

Just an idea.

I think it looks great. I am a big fan of what i call monster garage time upgrading rigs. Sometimes people are too critical.

that came out great!

Originally Posted by AKRLTW

Not sure what controls you have going up to the bar, but perhaps you could find a way to finagle going to solely rotators for your "low power" option? Those LED's are fantastic, but killing those while keeping the rotators going would reduce your front output significantly... while keeping a full about 270 degrees of warning coverage for whenever you'd want/need less intense front coverage.

Just an idea.

Very good idea

great work on the upgrade; the rear looks completely professional

Love the sync! Nice job, I would have slowed down the pattern and tried for a larger directional arrow - but I know that arrow sticks are more often warning lights than anything else. Great refurb - love those true big rig style rescues!

love that you kept some rotators

in my opinion a mix of halogen and led is a great setup