Semi-Covert Expedition

John Hearne

Member
May 27, 2010
346
Pontotoc County, MS
This vehicle was just pulled from service. I hadn’t posted pictures or details before as it is a semi-covert install. The vehicle served dual purposes, as a supervisor’s vehicle and as a takedown vehicle for plain clothes details. (This vehicle used a lot of recycled equipment as well.)

Its use as an arrest vehicle was intermittent so the idea was to be able “tone it down” when needed. The main goal was to make it covert from the front and sides with minimal concerns about the rear. Pulling the Slimlighter, putting a Harley Davidson tag on the front, and covering the RADAR antenna with a hat did the job. The overall warning package was amazingly effective with solid flash patterns and lighting on multiple levels.

The install was actually executed by Steve Jones of Citizen’s Page in Corinth, MS and they did a great job.

Equipment Installed

Front

Whelen Slimlighter on magnetic mounts

2x Whelen 8 head Dominator Plus (4Red/4Blue)

Sound Off PAR-36 Fog Lights (1Red/1Blue)

Headlight Flasher

Side

2 per side LINZ-6 on 10-8 license plate bracket (All Blue)

Sound Off Intersectors (1 Red/1 Blue)

1 Dual Tomar RECT-25 per side (1 Red/Clear - 1 Blue/Clear)

1 Off-Brand LED in Luggage Rack (1 Red / 1 Blue)

Rear

3 - Dual Tomar RECT-25 on luggage rack (1 Red/Amber – 1 Red/Blue – 1 Amber/Blue)

Traffic Backer Flasher

2 – Sound Off Ghosts (1 Red/1 Blue)

4 – Whelen Gen 1 LED’s visible with hatch open (1 Red – 2 Amber - 1 Blue)

Misc

Jotto Desk Console

MPH Bee III RADAR

Motorola Radio

To make the Dominator’s less visible, this aftermarket grill material was added and worked really well.

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_2009_20Expedition_grill_zps02d1998f.jpg

The Slimlighter could be removed very quickly. This was done by mounting rare earth magnets on the glass and a corresponding metal disc on the Slimlighter. A quick disconnect was added to the power as well. The Slimlighter also had a kill option on the Cencom to avoid flashback issues at night.

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_20186dbfa66933a804db4c63cc9a000b7f.jpg

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_2015c81163727c87a46a65c947be132c1c.jpg

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_2010bda98b49776c97807f27d0276da694.jpg

Originally, we had a Sound Off Ghost on each side of the license plate bracket. These did not hold up and we were able to squeeze two LINZ-6’s on to the sides.

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_20f570802dc0f151fa7c9269eecdfe5e74.jpg

My boss was able to find some off-brand LED’s that actually fit in the recesses of the luggage rack.

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_2019ee9813bba2dce559c31ba1f63cb369.jpg

The bulk of the rear warning was provided by this lightbar. It is a piece of angle iron with the Tomar RECT-25's mounted to it. It sat down low enough to only be visible from the rear but still produced a lot of warning.

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_20bf410f66baba040ce33c938d6a714cec.jpg

Sound Off Ghosts with a white body blended in nicely. The factory flash patterns sucked so they were run off an external flasher.

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_2027a4bdf4d6cdb9ec5884e2bf2e7723b6.jpg

We recycled some Gen 1 LED’s from old Patriot light bars and installed them at the bottom of the hatch area to give some warning when opening the door.

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_201e1a21155ba56faefab6c5e12ea5cfd1.jpg

Since we had them left over, we installed a dual TOMAR RECT-25 on the frame of the vehicle for extra side warning.

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_200de25c0db2a00a9214d7864af3e21716.jpg

To keep a long gun handy, a shotgun lock was mounted on the passenger’s side of the console. With a 14” Remington 870, it worked perfectly.

ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_209db8cb003d8542cec9476b5ede06b01f.jpg

I have some videos recorded but haven't but them together yet.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Storm4200

Member
Nov 2, 2011
2,912
NJ
looks great! love the slimlighter mounts. everything to the front and sides is invisible! great job! i look forward to seeing a video.
 

Storm4200

Member
Nov 2, 2011
2,912
NJ
I have a very strange feeling that all of the lights on this install are synced and flashed properly. John Hearne is one of the sync masters. Him and Andy L are the ones who taught me what SYNC was all about.
 

John Hearne

Member
May 27, 2010
346
Pontotoc County, MS
As promised:


ai1202.photobucket.com_albums_bb374_ajp3jeh_2012_20Vehicles_20f4b6843a2f6934b308816f14245430af.jpg


Misc Notes: We had a hard time synching the two Dominators. The double flash wasn't my first choice but it was the most reliable. The fog lights were synched using the factory function. The rear Tomars are synched as well but running too fast IMO. The Ghosts and the Gen 1's for the hatch are all run from the same flasher.


There is an interesting optical illusion with the Dominators. At a distance, the eye fills in the gap between the two sets and greats an effect of the foot print of light being larger than it actually is.
 

PJD642

New Member
May 20, 2010
1,543
east of Cleveland
Holy crap the front is wonderful! Actually, I like it all except for the traffic backers in the taillights. Flashing the white lamps is ok, but don't flash brake lights IMHO. (Not that I'd kick it out of my garage....)
 

Storm4200

Member
Nov 2, 2011
2,912
NJ
i like it, but i was hoping for some more sync!!
 

John Hearne

Member
May 27, 2010
346
Pontotoc County, MS
Storm4200 said:
i like it, but i was hoping for some more sync!!

Let me get the pics/video of our Utilities - everything but the interior lightbar is synched. Also, by reusing a bunch of equipment from a bunch of manufacturers, synching isn't always possible.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

John Hearne

Member
May 27, 2010
346
Pontotoc County, MS
The secret to the two dominators is definitely to flash them together.


Re the 3 year swap, it's a GSA vehicle so it's effectively a lease. Vehicle is swapped when they say. It does have almost 80k miles which is high for them.
 

Forum Statistics

Threads
53,963
Messages
449,808
Members
19,102
Latest member
Hilux01

About Us

  • Since 1997, eLightbars has been the premier venue for all things emergency warning equipment. Discussions, classified listings, pictures, videos, chat, & more! Our staff members strive to keep the forums organized and clutter-free. All of our offerings are free-of-charge with all costs offset by banner advertising. Premium offerings are available to improve your experience.

User Menu

Secure Browsing & Transactions

eLightbars.org uses SSL to secure all traffic between our server and your browsing device. All browsing and transactions within are secured by an SSL Certificate with high-strength encryption.