I finally figured out the light bar situation, and made an adjustment to the wind faring one more time.
I moved the faring down so that the top of it sits below the lower front bar of the rack. It serves more of a visual role in this configuration, which is fine. I really just want it in place to hide the wiring for the lights. I ran a piece of weather stripping along the top where it meets the lower bar of the rack and it's actually very quiet. Makes no more noise than the rack does without the faring.
I also finally figured out the light bar situation. I was having a tough time mounting up my 40" bar, because it's actually 41.5" wide and the space between the roof rack sides is about 40.25". I originally fabricated some brackets using 3/8" thick aluminum angle bar (2" x 3"), which attached to the tabs that are already welded onto the Insain rack and held the bar out in front of the rack, above the faring. While I liked the light in this location, the weight hanging that far out from the rack made the light bar bounce (even though the mounts were STOUT) while driving, and I was also getting a weird high pitched hum noise while driving at highway speeds.
I finally found some PIAA clamps that allowed me to fabricate some new brackets that suspend the light bar down from the upper bars on the top of the rack. The light bar sits directly behind the front bars on the rack, which is fine with me. It looks a little funny at first, but has it's benefits - it'll keep the bar protected from branches and other damage, similar to the way a light cage does. I also utilizes a small amount of space that would otherwise be wasted, as the very front of the rack is angled and wouldn't really hold anything anyway. I also had to cut the ends of the light bar down by about 1/2" on each side using a hacksaw. Hard to explain this without photos (sorry, didn't take any) but I basically removed some of the mounting surface and shortened the overall length of the light bar by an inch in order to fit between the clamps. I also had to shave down the clamps in a couple of spots, and fabricate some small "L" shaped pieces to hold the light bar exactly between the upper and lower bars on the roof rack. This is because there is BARELY enough space for the 40" bar to fit in there, with about 1/8" of clearance on both the top and bottom. If I had a single-row 40" LED bar, this wouldn't have been an issue. I ALMOST ordered a new one, but couldn't find one that met the proper width requirements.
Next up - I'm finishing a new rear mounting bar that will hold my 20" LED light bar and amber strobe lights. Should be in place by the end of the weekend. I also ordered an ARB awning that I will attach to this new rack, and am waiting to install that before I'll tackle the side-facing lights.
Joe's Xterra
Joe's Xterra
Joe's Xterra
Joe's Xterra
