Mounting driving lights on a 2010 SH Forester

[pitrack_1]

G'day,

I was wondering about the best way to go mounting some driving lights on a 2010 SH Forester. As the number plate only mounts into the plastic bumper (too wobbly) I was thinking of putting one of those 'nudge' bars on. Car's under warranty so I'll get the lights wired by an auto-electrician.

Any suggestions on 'nudge' bars and which one/where to get a good 'un that fits? Or does anyone have a better suggestion? Note I'm not looking for a full-blown 'bull' bar...yet

Also, any suggestion on particular lights, they would mostly would be used for country on-road driving, dirt and tar. Currently have a Narva wide + long-throw combo set that could be used.

I'm based in Canberra but go to Sydney often enough. the Subaru dealer down here doesn't wanna know me for this (directed me elsewhere).

Cheers,

[taza]

Subaxtreme does nudge bars which look good.

Light Force do really good lights, they cost abit though but are worth it. The Striker 170's are good.

[FROG]

[quote="taza"]Subaxtreme does nudge bars which look good.

QUOTE]

$650.00 plus freight and fit
and yes they do look good

[pitrack_1]

Thanks for the recommendations guys, the Subaxtreme nudge bar is exactly what I'm getting!

Off to Brisbane and back (ex- Canberra) with the wife and bub for a couple of weeks, so:

1) Driving lights wired today (Tue)
2) Service tomorrow (Wed)
3) Milford Cargo Barrier (Thu)
4) Subaxtreme nudge bar- conveniently on the way to Sydney at Goulburn (Fri)!

Funnily enough, the lights Subaxtreme recommend (Narva pencil +broad combo 160x115) I already had bought previously (but not fitted) to our Mazda 3. Dunno if the rectangulars or rounds will look better- I have the rectangulars.

I'll try to let you know how the lights go and post a pic of the fitted bar when I can. If I need better, I'll keep the Lightforce lights in mind- perhaps for the Mazda- now my daily driver

Cheers,

[pitrack_1]

Returned from the trip last weekend, finally found time... here's the bar fitted and examples of the external mounting points. It might need a tweak to get it perfectly straight, but that's starting to split hairs. Looks good and goodness, it's solid- as a mount for driving lights it's totally overdone!

Subaxtreme were most accommodating fitting it at short notice.



I'll try and take photos with the lights fitted and post those later.

[pitrack_1]

Now I've learnt to use photobucket here's some images of the fitted driving lights and also the nice Narva switch which has a nice action and blends in nicely- doesn't look like an out-of-place add-on.

Switch is Narva part no 63026BL, see http://www.narva.com.au/products/detail ... pup-layout

Lights are Narva part no 71622, see http://www.narva.com.au/products/detail ... pup-layout

Note the driving lights aren't quite horizontal- the alignment process is tedious and I could either get them horizontal (and hopeless off vertically) or aligned vertically and a bit tilted. That was after ~1hr of mucking around. Not helped by Allen bolts designed to prevent tampering. Grrr!

Apologies for the dirt, haven't cleaned it off yet, also mega-close-up-macro makes the interior look much dirtier than it really is

[NachaLuva]

Apologies for the dirt, haven't cleaned it off yet, also mega-close-up-macro makes the interior look much dirtier than it really is

Are you kidding...thats half the fun lol. It says to every1..."i'm not just picking up the kids from school" lol

Exc job with the switch, looks very professional. Your right, looks OEM not aftermarket

Nudge bar looks VERY solid, but i wonder why they dont have a bar running across down low...it would help protect the underbody

Dunno why so hard to align them, shouldn't be. Just keep at it, well aligned lights make a big difference.

[pitrack_1]

Are you kidding...thats half the fun lol. It says to every1..."i'm not just picking up the kids from school" lol

Ta! Not just yet...kid's still in a rear-facing capsule

Exc job with the switch, looks very professional. Your right, looks OEM not aftermarket

There's a slight burr (below the switch aligned as it is in the image) where they rather hacked the switch hole underneath. But if that's all that's wrong, I'm not worried

Nudge bar looks VERY solid, but i wonder why they dont have a bar running across down low...it would help protect the underbody

You can/they do, but they are full width- see
http://www.subaxtreme.com.au/subaru/bul ... _bars.html

Dunno why so hard to align them, shouldn't be. Just keep at it, well aligned lights make a big difference.

Not so hard, just tedious due to the plastic ball-head fixing mechanism. You'll have it right, then it'll move/twist/warp under tightening.

[NachaLuva]

well i think they did an exc job. As the owner your always gonna notice the tiniest of flaws lol

I know what you mean bout the lights moving as you tighten them up...its very frustrating. If you have the time/ energy its worth it tho to get the maximum benefit from them.

Good luck...

[pitrack_1]

I've already posted in "Lights, globes, driving lights etc." thread, so here's a link to it for this thread's completeness.

showpost.php?p=178376&postcount=68

[pitrack_1]

Here's some close-ups pics of the Narva 160x115 driving lights installed.

1) Note the Allen head bolt and the narrow gap to access it between the nudge and bumper bars. You need to use a ball head allen key to access it at all angles of rotation and this limits leverage (the arm is small, those who know ball head allen keys will know what I'm talking about).

2) Note also the ball+cup type pivot joint which allows adjustment. The Allen bolt goes up through into a thread in the socket, this is pulled down tight to prevent movement, loosening allows adjustment. As you can push/pull and twist/turn, this makes alignment difficult as it will not only turn left/right or up/down, but tilt sidewards as well! Then when you tighten up the allen bolt, things move and the tension warps the position slightly. If you can have better access then you will have easier adjustment.


and


One other thing I've noticed, or as the case actually is, not noticed: although they are on top of the nudge bar, the lights are invisible from inside the vehicle due to the whopping great intercooler intake bonnet bulge. Thus they don't intrude into your vision field at any time or cause any reflections/backscatter from the lens edges at night. Excellent!