California compliant Whelen crossbar
- Thread starter 1968
- Start date
dmathieu
Lifetime VIP Donor
JohnMarcson
Administrator
Whelen didn't have any specific way they made their crossbars CA spec. But, you could put anything you wanted on them, so the most common was a par 46 red to the front on the driver side and amber to to the rear on one or both sides. Many CA Whelen crossbars don't even use Whelen parts for the CA portion. Often a standard 2 strobe with center speaker bar had Unity or other company's equipment installed. Early Whelen crossbars used aftermarket takedowns and alleys, even when ordered from Whelen. I wasn't until the "enclosed crossbars" that an actual specific "C" model was offered. That just involved swapping the inboard lamps for incandescent par46 bulbs under red and amber cutouts or red and amber bulbs under clear cutouts/domes.
If you want to stay 100% Whelen with your project you could put par46 incandescent bulbs in a cast Whelen housing if you want. As far as historical accuracy for a crossbar an aftermarket set of red and amber par46 would be just as period correct.
If you want to stay 100% Whelen with your project you could put par46 incandescent bulbs in a cast Whelen housing if you want. As far as historical accuracy for a crossbar an aftermarket set of red and amber par46 would be just as period correct.
I feel like some of my threads may have compelled the making of this video.
I am a fan of California compliant Edge's, due to my liking of the steady red light and being from CT I've seen the same old boring Edge stuff on emergency vehicles. I expecially enjoy Edges with solid red and blue both sides.
My ideal Edge setup for a J-tube or turbo tube bar, would be standard red corner and inner strobes on drivers side. with a red steady Cal light, with passenger running blue inner and corner strobes and either a steady blue or flashing blue halogen center I'll either keep blank or run white halogen takedowns. rear is stand red strobe on driver side and blue passenger with duel flashing ambers.
I am a fan of California compliant Edge's, due to my liking of the steady red light and being from CT I've seen the same old boring Edge stuff on emergency vehicles. I expecially enjoy Edges with solid red and blue both sides.
My ideal Edge setup for a J-tube or turbo tube bar, would be standard red corner and inner strobes on drivers side. with a red steady Cal light, with passenger running blue inner and corner strobes and either a steady blue or flashing blue halogen center I'll either keep blank or run white halogen takedowns. rear is stand red strobe on driver side and blue passenger with duel flashing ambers.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
For a Crossbar I think I would do duel 88 series or 99 series beacons (depending on the year) with a red forward facing Unity spotlight and a rear flashing either on the bar, or in the rear window. In the center I would go with Federal CP-25 just b/c it's my favorite chrome speaker.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
First, I want to replace the PAR36 strobe in a 5250 with a red steady, but I also want a factory spec not altered 5250 too, so there's that... maybe one of each on a cross bar? Maybe two altered ones ona crossbar, one front red one rear amber? Split dome? I have a PAR36 Whelen internal bulb holder.....
I would add a speaker to this one
Maybe just solid red for the beacon, and I kind of like the idea of an off center smaller speaker between the blue PAR and the beacon.
With the older bars... well the dual sided PAR46 holders are intriguing...
Give me a crossbar and some PAR46 holders and I'd change my mind 20 times before it was built.
Never seen old school pre Edge strobes in action, so I don't know how effective they were depending on era and model. The one advantage to them for sure is how efficient they operated compared to sealed beams.
My local PD from my research began using crossbars in 1972 and they were senior blue senior strobes. Wonder how much impact they made compared to the Federal 184s and such that was used on the previous model cars.
have to admit I'm a big time 99 series fan, it may be my favorite all time beacon of any era.
I think one setup I would consider for an 80s era bar would be that 5200 with the stead red in it and a 99 series on the passenger side and a speaker in the center. Expecially if there was a real 5200-C model I thought I saw advertised on here once. Another option would be duel 33h's on both sides a 5200-C in the center and a speaker in between on driver side.
That's what makes 70s and 80s Whelen so much fun. They had everything from Strobes to sealed beam to Halogen and you can mix them all up however you like it.