- May 25, 2022
- 541
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- Current Ride
- 2022 Bronco Raptor
- Current Ride #2
- 2023 Land Rover Defender 110
Just got done wiring pod light and light bar.
I thought this would be easy using the wiring points and tying my pods in under the hood and at passenger headliner.
On a positive note the switches work great and the wiring blunts are located at pretty logical spots for tie-ins to be located, but….
For all locations, could ford not given us three more inches of wire to work with? In each instance there is space to hide a plenty of excess wire.
This wouldn’t be so bad, but the short length combined with the locations turned out to be quite a challenge. I’m 6’2” and trying to reach over the drivers fender to splice the wiring was awful. Even with a ladder getting across the flare, over the fender well and down to where those shy little stubs of wire were was ridiculous.
After tearing apart the headliner trim, I located the blunt located there. Unfortunately the wire was pinned in the assembly and it took a little more swearing and further disassembly to pull it free. This only had about 2” sticking out, but because I had lots of slack in my light harness and it was at eye level, this wasn’t bad to connect.
Then after pulling out the glove box I got to the crown jewel. This was designed by a left handed sadistic engineer. The wires are up and under the dash, ridiculously short to tie together and since you’re coming in from the passenger door it’s impossible to get your right hand involved. Well not impossible, if you lay down the seat, slide it back, climb in upside down and work with your head and shoulders on the floor. So much fun.
All that said, I survived, the install is clean and the wires and switches function as intended.
Now that I own a Raptor I’ve also learned that if I want to work in the engine bay next time I’m going to erect scaffolding. The height and width come into play.
Sorry for whining, but I had to vent!
I thought this would be easy using the wiring points and tying my pods in under the hood and at passenger headliner.
On a positive note the switches work great and the wiring blunts are located at pretty logical spots for tie-ins to be located, but….
For all locations, could ford not given us three more inches of wire to work with? In each instance there is space to hide a plenty of excess wire.
This wouldn’t be so bad, but the short length combined with the locations turned out to be quite a challenge. I’m 6’2” and trying to reach over the drivers fender to splice the wiring was awful. Even with a ladder getting across the flare, over the fender well and down to where those shy little stubs of wire were was ridiculous.
After tearing apart the headliner trim, I located the blunt located there. Unfortunately the wire was pinned in the assembly and it took a little more swearing and further disassembly to pull it free. This only had about 2” sticking out, but because I had lots of slack in my light harness and it was at eye level, this wasn’t bad to connect.
Then after pulling out the glove box I got to the crown jewel. This was designed by a left handed sadistic engineer. The wires are up and under the dash, ridiculously short to tie together and since you’re coming in from the passenger door it’s impossible to get your right hand involved. Well not impossible, if you lay down the seat, slide it back, climb in upside down and work with your head and shoulders on the floor. So much fun.
All that said, I survived, the install is clean and the wires and switches function as intended.
Now that I own a Raptor I’ve also learned that if I want to work in the engine bay next time I’m going to erect scaffolding. The height and width come into play.
Sorry for whining, but I had to vent!