Roof mounted LED bars & bad mpg, my resolve.
#1
Roof mounted LED bars & bad mpg, my resolve.
I have had a Go Rhino Sports bar and K.O. Off road LED bar mounted on my truck for about a year. The light bar has been killing my mpg. I've been getting around 15.2 avg. mixed. I purchased an SCT Tuner with 5 star tune, thinking it would help improve my mpg, it didn't. You just can't fight aerodynamics and wind draft.
I didn't want to lose my light bar, I use it on the occasional dark roads and trails. So I thought of the next best thing, having it fold down when not in use. I started to look into actuators, they're costly and would have required more hardware and additional electrical wires. What to do?
I went to Menards to see if I could come up with an invention. I wandered over to the gates/door hardware section and found some stainless steel spring loaded door hinges. Perfect!
I mounted the hinges to the sport bar and led bar in the closed position. This leaves the light in the same up right position. But, now with the hinge in place, I can pull the light bar back, (hinge open position) and the light bar is facing the rear (down position). I had a rubber tie, that I used to hold the bar in the down position. When I untie the tie down, the bar swings back up to the forward position. It's like magic:thumb up: I can also untie it from the inside of the truck by opening the the rear window.
Now for the result….my mpg went up to 17.9! That's the best I have ever gotten. Crazy what a simple LED bar can do to your mpg when mounted too high. I'm sure this goes for anything mounted on the roof. Anybody else experience horrid mpg due to roof mounted anything?
Before:
After:
I didn't want to lose my light bar, I use it on the occasional dark roads and trails. So I thought of the next best thing, having it fold down when not in use. I started to look into actuators, they're costly and would have required more hardware and additional electrical wires. What to do?
I went to Menards to see if I could come up with an invention. I wandered over to the gates/door hardware section and found some stainless steel spring loaded door hinges. Perfect!
I mounted the hinges to the sport bar and led bar in the closed position. This leaves the light in the same up right position. But, now with the hinge in place, I can pull the light bar back, (hinge open position) and the light bar is facing the rear (down position). I had a rubber tie, that I used to hold the bar in the down position. When I untie the tie down, the bar swings back up to the forward position. It's like magic:thumb up: I can also untie it from the inside of the truck by opening the the rear window.
Now for the result….my mpg went up to 17.9! That's the best I have ever gotten. Crazy what a simple LED bar can do to your mpg when mounted too high. I'm sure this goes for anything mounted on the roof. Anybody else experience horrid mpg due to roof mounted anything?
Before:
After:
Last edited by jesusv; 10-24-2014 at 02:12 PM.
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biff420 (10-24-2014)
#3
Senior Member
That's sick looking. I gotta get me one of those.
Plus, when its in the down position it doubles as bed lighting, something I've also been looking into. Perfect, you hit two birds with one stone there.
Plus, when its in the down position it doubles as bed lighting, something I've also been looking into. Perfect, you hit two birds with one stone there.
#4
<<<@!2!@>>>
I got the Go Rhino Sports bar from Amazon here :
The light is sold by http://www.dv8offroad.com/lights.html , but I got mine from ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/45-KO-Off-Road-LED-Light-Bar-180W-CREE-Flood-Spot-Dually-Rigid-12-000-Lumen-/191379504758?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c8f1b7e76&vxp=mtr
I got the Go Rhino Sports bar from Amazon here :
The light is sold by http://www.dv8offroad.com/lights.html , but I got mine from ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/45-KO-Off-Road-LED-Light-Bar-180W-CREE-Flood-Spot-Dually-Rigid-12-000-Lumen-/191379504758?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c8f1b7e76&vxp=mtr