2013 Silverado POV Feniex/Rigid Industries / Updated 10/8 Almost Done

[bullfrog4ever]

Hey all!! This is my 2013 EC Silverado Volunteer FD POV. After much testing between Feniex Apollos and Cobra T6's behind 5% tint, I decided on Cobra's. This is what I came up with for now, still a work in progress. Let me know what you think so far!! Thanks!!

Current Setup:

Switching:

Custom console made to mimoc a Jotto console with switch panels for OTRATTW Carling switches, run off of up fitter connection from the MBEC panel

Switch Lineup: Master Power DPDT red (runs with ignition or constant hot) 4200 Day/Night control SPST, Aux Brights cutoff SPST, Aux reverse cutoff SPST (the last 3 have green lower leds when power is on and red upper when the switch is hot to match the 4200 green/red functions)

I have the inputs on the 4200 programmed for brights to turn on my Rigids in the fog light pods and for reverse to turn on my rear Rigid with secondary cutoffs for both.

Feniex 4200 w/ bluetooth

Front:

Headlights - Feniex Cannon 120's White

Grille - Rigid Industries Dually Pair Blue w/ Diffused lens in grille running off 4200 headlight flasher

Windshield - Feniex Cobra 2x X 2 Blue mounted in the headliner

Fogs - Rigid Industries Silverado Fog Mount with D2 driving White

Rear:

Taillights - Feniex Cannon 120's White

Window - Feniex Cobra 2x X 2 Blue / Cobra 800 Arrow Amber with custom headliner bracket (needs to be cleaned up, just too lazy to take it out for now)

Bumper - Rigid Industries SRQ2 flush mount Diffused White

Edited To Come (7/10/15):

Replace Rigid blues in grille with 4 Feniex Apollo F12's Blue/White on brush guard. Or 2 Feniex 7x3's (debating, but leaning towards dual color F12's)

2 or 4 (debating on quantity) Feniex Apollo F12's Blue/White mounted to the side of the grille guard for better intersection. Secondary mode will be hooked to turn signals as flood to see while turning at night.

2 Feniex F12's Blue/Amber on tow mirrors. Maybe. (Amber will be running/turn lights)

Whelen UFM8 LED Flasher to sync all flashing - Aquired, But unknown if I'll use yet...

Cobra ILB Blue w/ white flashing takedowns and move the Front cobra 2x to side windows.

Custom switch panel holder for the OTRATTW/4200 control head - DONE

Hook up 4200's HLF to brights.

Walk Around

 

[Edmontonsecurity]

I think other than the white to the rear, this is a great setup. Great install!

Are the lights on the bumper also emergency lights (rear)?

 

[bullfrog4ever]

I think other than the white to the rear, this is a great setup. Great install!


Are the lights on the bumper also emergency lights (rear)?

Thanks!

No, the bumper is reverse / aux lighting only.  I have to coming on automatically in reverse with the 4200, but I have a button for manual control to use as a work light or something when I'm out working in the yard or hooking a trailer.

 

[pdk9]

Looks great. Personally, I don't think the rear TA and the cobra 2x's are both necessary in the rear window. I love the pattern that you showed in the 2nd vid (that's my favorite rear window lightstick pattern b/c it's slow, bright, and effective), but I would've just gone with a BBAAAABB cobra 800 in the rear window and called it a day (I don't think that a TA necessarily has to be 100% Amber on a basic POV setup in order to be effective, so blue ends would be fine IMO + you get the benefit of a full 800 lightstick flashing while responding). Although the rigid grill lights are bright, I would've liked to see a larger grill lighthead with a larger blue footprint and a HLF up front


As for the proposed additions, I would go with blue apollos on the side of the grill guard (instead of T3s), b/c the linear optic would be more effective there IMO. I also am in favor of the cobra ILB up front, but I would consider moving the cobra 2x closer to the RVM (centered) in the meantime.

 

[Storm4200]

+1 for Apollos on the sides of grill guard. The T3s are too focused of a beam for that location

 

[theroofable]

Are the front cobras mounted with the feniex headliner bracket or is that one you made?  Overall it looks great.

 

[Mrlunchbox]

The pic pic of your upfitter switches is upside down... Looks pretty neat though! How/where did you get the custom  graphics?? Pretty sick!

 

[bullfrog4ever]

Not sure why some of the pics showed up upside down. The switches I got from OTRATTW.net. The have lots of different options for switches, designs and led colors. They can also do custom graphics and wording. Great people to work with!


This will be a long explination, but it's insight into my reasoning for lighting my truck the way I did.


The reason I went with a separate amber arrow is for if I happen to stop for a disabled motorist or something, I didn't want blue running if I wasn't running to a call or its not an emergency. I also don't run the arrow when running to a call, it's too much going on in the rear window and the amber drowns out the blue.


I compared the Apollo to the T3 and felt the T3 was more effective for intersection in the grille guard. I have to pull out 99% of the time on a hill to get to my station. The apollos just didn't look like they'd get the job done well enough compared to the intensity of the T3's. But, I will compare them again when my blue T3's come in before I make a final decision.


As of right now, I can't move the cobra 2x, I have them bolted under the headliner with cobra headliner bracket and I dont feel like dropping the headliner again unless I get the cobra ILB. I felt that having them more to the outside would help spread the amount of light while responding instead of having all light focused in one spot in the center of the truck. Giving me the ability to drift to the side and hopefully have them see the cobras and cannons in their side mirror and the rigids in their rear view mirror.


Update: I did just order the Whelen UFM8 led flasher, so I may now hook the brights to the 4200 HLF.


I know this was long, but just trying to give insight into my thought process.


Thanks for all the help and suggestions!!

 

[Mrlunchbox]

What do the switches say?? I can't blow it up enough to read them. Most especially interested in the Maltese cross one. [emoji106]

 

[bullfrog4ever]

Sure thing, graphics and writing are:


1 - Skull and cross lightning bolts "Master Power"


2 - Maltese Cross "Feniex 4200 Day/Night"


3 - Headlights "Aux High Beams"


4 - Led lights "Aux Reverse Lights"


Here's a link to the Maltese Cross switch:


http://www.otrattw.net/CONTURA-V-EMERGENCY-RESPONSE-LIGHTS-ROCKER-ONLY-VVPZCER-500.html

 

[Mrlunchbox]

That is awesome!!! I'm getting one of those! LoL. What a great idea!

 

[bullfrog4ever]

I got tired of my 4200 and switches just laying on the floor. And since I'm not able to afford the jotto console I want, I decided to make a temporary one in the same style. So with some leftover mdf, I got to work. It was kind of a pain to find the contour and correct angle to get it to sit right. But I managed to get it. I then rolled over the edges with a router. Then sprayed it with some spray-on bedliner. Not perfect, but it'll work for now until I can afford the jotto console or something similar.


Still more to come...

 

[pdk9]

That looks great, and the spray-on Bedliner was a nice touch. Have you added any new lights yet?

 

[bullfrog4ever]

That looks great, and the spray-on Bedliner was a nice touch. Have you added any new lights yet?

Thanks! Nope, no new lights yet. Keyword: yet. Ha ha. I'm still in the planning stages of a redo. Trying to figure a few things out before hand. They will be on the way though.

 

[FFParker]

Console looks great! Why buy when you can make what you want!

 

[Luismariadarlene]

I think your setup is awesome, love the console and the lighting looks very nice.  :salivate:

 

[bullfrog4ever]

** Preview Update ** So I finally got most of my stuff to redo my front lighting. I disconnected the Rigid Industries blue lights. I connected the 4200 HLF to my brights with a no splice connector. On the front of the brush guard, I have 4 Feniex Apollo F12 Blue/White. On the sides of the brush guard I have T3's with Apollo F12's blue/white as well. The T3's are on quad flash and the Apollo are on triple fast with off time I believe. They sync up close enough where it works well and doesn't look out of sync. I still have to reset the drivers side apollo, it decided to change patterns on after I had it set. The 2nd mode for the Apollo is straight blue single slow for white cut. I still have to order my Cobra ILB, which will be coming in the near future. Here's the preview video as I was getting things ready.

 

[Chris W]

Love it

 

[pdk9]

** Preview Update ** So I finally got most of my stuff to redo my front lighting. I disconnected the Rigid Industries blue lights. I connected the 4200 HLF to my brights with a no splice connector. On the front of the brush guard, I have 4 Feniex Apollo F12 Blue/White. On the sides of the brush guard I have T3's with Apollo F12's blue/white as well. The T3's are on quad flash and the Apollo are on triple fast with off time I believe. They sync up close enough where it works well and doesn't look out of sync. I still have to reset the drivers side apollo, it decided to change patterns on after I had it set. The 2nd mode for the Apollo is straight blue single slow for white cut. I still have to order my Cobra ILB, which will be coming in the near future. Here's the preview video as I was getting things ready.

https://youtu.be/3AsvIWlJzU0

Looks great. Can't wait to see the rest

 

[bullfrog4ever]

Thanks guys!! I really like the look of it. It definitely makes me feel better going through intersections now. I just need to decide what setup for the Cobra ILB. I don't know if I want flashing takdowns, whites in the center or just straight blue all across. I'm leaning towards straight blue, since I've got blue/white across the grille. Especially since when I do white cut, I then have 4 blue cobras in the front window. Not sure yet... hmmm....

 

[firebuff17]

Straight blue!!

 

[crt6mrt-265]

I had the same dilemma! I was trying to configure it in so many ways, it drives you crazy. if you are doing the whole bar, its a question of do you need the takedown or not. You have the apollos, will they be solid white for illumination? If so, why not have the flashing takedowns and added spot light with the flood light the apollos give.

Also, I have been wanting to put my cannons in the reverse lights, and this past weekend, got the bit out and the drill, and started, made a dent and just couldn't do it!!!

 

[dwk270]

From what I have seen: using Rigid lights as HLF's tends to be a very clean look and are extremely effective. If you were to wire the Apollos in the front and side of the brush guard with the rigid lower lights, this would provide for great scene lighting. I think that the Cannon's were also more effective and looked much better with this setup. 

 

[bullfrog4ever]

So, I got my Cobra ILB and installed it finally.  The demo video shows the bar through 5% tint. It's still incredibly bright though that.  I almost wonder what would happen if I took the tint off.  B)   

Anyways, here's some of my observations I have for the bar:

1) Cable Length: The cabling is way too short.  It wouldn't reach all the way back to the rear of the cab of my truck. It's only an extended cab truck so it'snot that far.  Luckily I had some left over cabling so I could extend it all the way back. But I'd always rather have more cable than less.

2) Fit:  The fit was decent, but not as tight as I would've liked it.  I had to bend a bracket to get it to sit tighter against the windshield and not have so much flash back.  I still need to add some material to cure the flashback at night.  The flashback is still pretty bad.

3) Flash Patterns:   Would love some different flash patterns. I would love some straight quad flash, maybe an whelen action type flash, etc.  You all get the point.  Would also love a way to have a sync wire and same patterns on all lights, then one could sync a ILB with the rest of their Feniex lighting with out an external flasher. Or make the 4200 with a built-in flasher and siren. That would make me very happy!

4) Multiple Modes: Probably the biggest issue I have with it is multiple modes.  I would absolutely love to have a response mode, scene mode, and even a 3rd "I just feel like something different mode" etc...  I don't understand the lack of modes.  The Apollo ILB's have 2 modes, the new Cobra exterior bars will have 2 or 3 modes, so I don't necessarily understand why they can't have the same in Cobra ILB.  Just a thought, I know they're still working on a lot of things, but would definitely make a lot of sense to have.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with the Cobra bar. It's an extremely bright, small and effective ILB and have no regrets purchasing this bar.

I also took the chance while installing this to clean up some of my wiring.  It was a terrible mess back there as I've been adding things a piece at a time and I get tired of taking my seats out all of the time.  It's definitely still not as clean as I'd like it, but it's better for now.  I eventually want to do a complete rewire when I get everything else that I want and that needshe to be wired and just take a few days and redo the whole truck.



Let me know what you all think. I'll have a full day time video and pics probably early next week.

 

[crt6mrt-265]

:2thumbs:

 

[bullfrog4ever]

OK, I've had this done for a while, but haven't uploaded any videos yet. Been meaning to, but just really never got around to it.

The setup is as follows:

Front: Feniex Cobra ILB All Blue and 4200 HLF

Front Brush Guard: 4 Feniex Apollo F12 Blue/White

Side Brush Guard: Feniex Apollo F12 Blue/White w/ Cobra T3 Blue (I know the two sides are different, my drivers side Apollo decided to have a mind of their own while installing)

Rear Window: Feniex Cobra 2X Blue

Rear Taillights: Feniex Cannon 120's White

Still to come: Make a bracket for my other Cobra 2x's that were in the front head liner and move those to the rear side window. Just been lazy about that.

Here's slide switch 1 and 3 and white cut.  I didn't show slide switch 2, because that's rear only and you can see that in full response mode.

First video: slide switch 1, which runs just the brush guard lights.  This is my response for about a 1/8th mile or so to a gate that I have to unlock to get to the main road outside of my subdivision.

 

[hfdemt4095]

If slide switch 1 is just the brush guard, slide switch 2 does rear, and 3 is full response w/o front cannons, when do the front cannons come on? Are ther on a separate switch all together?

 

[bullfrog4ever]

If slide switch 1 is just the brush guard, slide switch 2 does rear, and 3 is full response w/o front cannons, when do the front cannons come on? Are ther on a separate switch all together?

The front cannons aren't really used any more, they aren't very visible with the HLF running.  I have all lights on separate switches.  The front cannons would be used in conjunction with the rear cannons and amber arrow if I stopped on the side of the road to help someone or something like that.  Something that needs some warning light, but doesn't justify running any blue lights.  At least, thats my thought for it.

 

[pdk9]

Great truck.  Have you considered the new 3x7 widelux for the grill guard? I personally think that 2 solid blue 3x7s flashing together would be awesome.  The apollos could then be moved elsewhere (i.e. Rear LP).

as for the T3, I personally don't see a point to it being right on top of a plenty-capable intersection light

 

[bullfrog4ever]

Great truck.  Have you considered the new 3x7 widelux for the grill guard? I personally think that 2 solid blue 3x7s flashing together would be awesome.  The apollos could then be moved elsewhere (i.e. Rear LP).

as for the T3, I personally don't see a point to it being right on top of a plenty-capable intersection light

I actually was going to go with solid blue 7X3's originally, I do think they'd look much cleaner.  But then I decided I wanted blue/white in the front.  Then, when the dual colored F12's were released, I hopped on those.  With the 7X3 only being the 12 with a single color or 6/6 for dual color, I passed for the time being. I was also disappointed to find out the larger heads were dual color side by side instead of dual interwoven.  I also wanted 12 blue/12 white per "group". However, If Feniex releases "extreme" dual colored 7X3, with 12 blue/12 white interwoven, I will be switching.

I agree the Apollo is a very capable intersection light and I love my Apollo's.  But, I also like having that longer range "punch" of a TIR optic as well.  I think it makes for a fairly effective combo. Just my thoughts though.