Light under the hood

[gunner5355]

It has been long enough with out one and I think I'm gonna do one over the Christmas break.
I'm gonna try to decide on how to go about this and a few questions have come up while I'm planning this.
First off: Clip on portable/ removable light or perminant with wires run
The clip on to the battery clamps is a option possibly worth doing any way just because they are handy to have. 4 Ft of dual wire 12 gauge with +ive and -ive clamps to the battery end and an 1157 light socket similarly found on tail lights of any car, truck from 1980 to 2003 at the bright end (found at any automotive store).

Or

Running a wire tap off any fuse the ignition "turns on" with the key on, luminated switch (wire so that it's liminated when "off" so you can see it in the dark to turn on) but the hard part is where to mount- underside of the hood, fire wall, fender walls??? Has any one done this and if so where did you mount the light socket, and how?

Pic's would be cool but not a must.

[JData]

I believe someone did some LED rope lights for under the hood

[SoonerFJ]

Here is what I did a few months back:

I got tired of balancing flashlights under the hood of the FJ to see things in low light conditions. Fortunately, there are a couple of spaces on the hood that will allow for installation of some small fog lights (Hella Optilux 1402, obtained on blowout sale from Cabella's) that won't compromise anything when the hood is closed. Yes, it requires drilling/double sided automotive tape/electrical rubber sealant, and screws...... and No, I am not responsible if you do this and goof it up.

One of the spaces is between the radiator cap and the washer fluid reservoir, and the other is in front of the battery. There are corresponding hollow spots underneath the hood that you can use to mount the lights with short screws and double sided tape. I used electrical rubberized coating to cover the exposed drill holes and protect from rust. The lights are slim enough and can be folded back upon their bracket, so there is plenty of clearance when the hood is closed.

I ran the wiring up the driver's side hood hinge and then threaded it between the gaps underneath the hood as shown in the pics. There is a gap between the two sheets of steel that form that hood and this gap works perfectly to run the wires to each of the lights. Because the hood isn't grounded, I ran a common ground wire back from the lights to the driver's fenderwell.

The on/off switch is located in front of the battery and is easy to access. These lights suck as driving/road lights, but they are more than enough to illuminate both sides of the engine bay. Pretty good for ten bucks and two hours of time invested.

One tip: The Hella instructions are wrong on what size hole to drill that matches the screws contained in the kit. Use a 5/64th drill bit, not what hella requests. I can't remember what size they stated, but it was too big.







Here you can see the switch. It lights red when off and green when on. Easy to find in the dark.


Wires were ran up by the drivers side hood hinge and between the two layers of the hood.

[Mikey D.]

gunner5355 previously said:

It has been long enough with out one and I think I'm gonna do one over the Christmas break.
I'm gonna try to decide on how to go about this and a few questions have come up while I'm planning this...

Running a wire tap off any fuse the ignition "turns on" with the key on, luminated switch (wire so that it's liminated when "off" so you can see it in the dark to turn on) but the hard part is where to mount- underside of the hood, fire wall, fender walls??? Has any one done this and if so where did you mount the light socket, and how?

All of my Grand Cherokees had a light under the hood (mercury switch?) that went on,
regardless of the ignition switch, whenever the hood was opened.

I think that scenario would be best. My .02.

Mike

[DominicG]

saw his setup in person... super bright!!!

Underhood LED Lighting

[bluedog189]

what about those led tap lights that are used for the led interior mod? ! ? ! they just stick on and you tap them they are wicked bright to! Thats it i am doing this tomorrow!

[FJ Gooch]

you can easily mount a momentary switch also to the hood so it comes on as soon as the hood opens like on most cars

[gunner5355]

Thanks for the ideas, I've actually got a single low profile fog light , I might persue this rather than the origional 1157 bulb. An actuall fog light would be brighter and positionable to where your looking. I never thought of the rope light idea- good point. Thanks for the ideas.

[jstroud08]

Have you tried putting a murcury switch instead of the manual one??
Or even simpler, just a momentary on/off switch mounted somewhere along the edge of the hood?

[JoeUser]

Here's an idea that I'm considering: The older model Chevrolet trucks had a retractable hood light, which allowed the hood light to act like a trouble light (bulb was on a tether that retracted into a housing).

I think the original OEM Chevy supplier was Hobbs, so when Chevy quit using them Hobbs started marketing them to the public. At least the Hobbs unit looks identical to the ones I've seen as the original Chevrolet part:

Retractable Hood Light



There's times when it's handy to have some light focused in a particular spot, and having a small troublelight comes in handy (so that your hands are freed). This type of light fits the bill nicely in that regard.