Cheap & easy DIY inteior lightbar mod..... pictures and video

kparr5

Member
Sep 15, 2011
153
US/Kansas
Welcome all! The following is just a little trick I came up with in my sleep. This mod should work on any interior light bar. The one shown is a 9 LED SOS nForce Red/Blue with take down. Mounted in a 2010 GMC Sierra Patrol vehicle I posted a couple months ago.  

Problem: I mounted this interior bar and no matter what I did there was still back flash. Making it hard to drive at night and interfered with the video quality on my 4re Watch Guard Video camera. The light was flush with the window, so much so I couldn’t even slide a piece of paper passed the rubber foam piece.

Solution: For this project you will need the following: Black Elmer's poster board, X-Acto knife, small fender or sheet metal screws and patience. The process isn’t too hard it’s just trial and error. Once you see the pictures I think you can figure it out. The results are awesome. I have almost absolutely no back flash, it doesn’t look too redneck (pretty clean if I do say so myself). I think this could apply to any interior light bar. Poster board is cheap so you go until you get it right.

  1. [SIZE=medium]Before installing the light bar, place one side of the bar on top of the poster board. Place the inner rear corner of the bar in the corner of the poster board so that the back of the bar and the inner side of the bar is parallel with the edges.[/SIZE]
  2. [SIZE=medium]With the rubber strip on the curved part of the bar, make a mark with a pencil, at the front of the rubber and by the inner side. [/SIZE]
  3. [SIZE=medium]Remove the rubber strip[/SIZE]
  4. [SIZE=medium]Now this part is all trial and error and will be different for different bars and vehicles. Measure a 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 inch away from the bar and make another pencil mark. [/SIZE]
  5. [SIZE=medium]Move the bar up to where to the curved part of the bar is in line with the pencil mark. The inner side part of the bar needs to me parallel to the side edge of the poster boards. [/SIZE]
  6. [SIZE=medium]Push pressure down on the bar so it doesn’t move. Take your X-Acto knife and cut along the edge of the curved part of the bar. When you get near the outside of the bar you will just kind of guess to the end of the board (LIKE THE PART THAT GOES AROUND THE PILLAR)[/SIZE]
  7. [SIZE=medium]Once you are down with this you should have a piece a of poster board that matches the back side and inner side of your bar. Then there should be a lip out in front of the curved part of the bar. [/SIZE]
  8. [SIZE=medium]You kind of need to install the bar to see if you left enough lip or not enough. Once you install the bar, turn in own and hold the cutout up to the bar. Move it around to see what you may need to adjust. [/SIZE]
  9. [SIZE=medium]If you don't need to make any adjustments take the bar back down and place some pilot holes in various spots around the bar for your sheet metal screws. Place your cut out down and gently screw it down to the bar. I guess if you wanted you could use glue for this part, but you couldn’t adjust the cutout if you need to.[/SIZE]
  10. [SIZE=medium]Re-install the bar and call it a day.[/SIZE]
I know these steps may be kinda hard to follow. It's one of those things its easy to just show somone then explain. This was my first one so its not that hard to figure out.

Before Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4SD8D9KE80

After Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MACPC0DaoVE

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tsquale

Lifetime VIP Donor
Oct 12, 2010
10,511
Minnesota, USA
Can you add to the original post what you did with the board? Did you mount it on the bottom of the housing and that solved the problem? Or did you take the light apart and rebuild it on the board.


The pictures are nice, but write in some detail what you did please.
 

kparr5

Member
Sep 15, 2011
153
US/Kansas
Can you add to the original post what you did with the board? Did you mount it on the bottom of the housing and that solved the problem? Or did you take the light apart and rebuild it on the board.


The pictures are nice, but write in some detail what you did please.
I added some steps. I hoped that helps.
 

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