87 J10 -- radiator support fog light buckets

[rallison203]

Has anyone tried using the inside light brackets to install fog lamps in these trucks?

They're obviously for some kind of light bucket, and they look to me like the same support used on the older Gladiators. Jeep must have made a bucket or light ring or something that fits these brackets.

[goldhammer]

Lot of people have mounted aux lites there over the years. As to mounts, you're on your own to fab up brkts to go with your choice of lites.
Depends on whichever grille you have, as to how effective they would be.

[rallison203]

Well if I have to fab it up, it won't look so good. I'd like to use OEM if possible.

There are screw holes for something. Jeep must have made a bucket of some sort for these brackets. Do you know?

I'm new to Jeeps and AMC.

Thank you again.

[Crankyolman]

If your talking about the holes that are covered by "pie pans" on the Kaiser era trucks it's unlikely you will find a factory installation. If there were any produced with lights there it wasn't a common option. The M715 used the same header and had some sort of lights mounted in that location.

There are several people who have added lights there.

When I converted to a rhino grill I added headlights to mine using the outside headlight mounting plates off a 1966 Chrysler New Yorker and trim rings off a '68 Newport.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showt...=184059&page=3

[rallison203]

Thanks cranky, yes that's exactly what I'm after.

I don't even know what to call these light retainers. Pie pans, buckets, trim rings, signal lamps, bezels, there are a million names to search under.

Yours looks fantastic. With your description i looked up M715 signal lamps which led me to a discussion of CJs and motorcycle trim rings and other substitutes for whatever was supposed to fit in that space.

My grill will be an obstruction but I don't intend to swap it out. Not sure exactly what to do yet. I'm still collecting ideas. I appreciate your thoughts.

[rallison203]

Ok, I get it, the "pie pans" are those stainless steel vents you see on the early Jeeps. I think I also saw turn signals in those brackets in an older style Cherokee Chief, with a delete plate Instead of the signal lamps mounted in the lower valance.

Thanks for the tip. Like I said, I'm pretty new to Jeeps.

[jeepdan]

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Cranky, your lights look great! Nice work

[rallison203]

Look what I ran into today...

Looks like he used the factory holes to mount a galvanized backing plate, and then used some kind of round light / lens. Pretty cool.

I'll upload more photos of this beast in a separate post.

[rang-a-stang]

Originally Posted by jeepdan

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Cranky, your lights look great! Nice work

Concur. One of my favorite front ends on this forum. I plan to copy him on my next truck (71 J4000).

[jeepman42]

Idea?! forget about buckets (Jeep did) and mount your grill.
Then add stock fog lights like on the GW's Mine has Yellow on the '85 & Clear on my '90 -Marchal was orig. but other brands available.
Look up pics of GW's to see how t could look.

[rallison203]

I pretty much came to the same conclusion. I already bought the bumper mounts. Waiting to find the right lights.

[rallison203]

Ok well these aren't stock lights, but they will do.

About a month ago I stumbled across these for $25 at a local thrift store. KC HiLites "Daylighters" from 1981. Original box and all, nearly complete, missing instructions and decals.





Tech support at KC had no information on them, other than they are "very old" and are missing the instructions and the decals. He said they were manufactured when the company had 3 employees.

I also learned that "KC" was so named for the first letters of the first names of the husband and wife team who started the business in 1970. Kim and Carol, I believe.

The lights were lightly used. Everything else is pristine except I tore the box. The original switch and 30A circuit breaker are dusty NOS.



KC sells a harness for like $50 bucks, but the connectors were for the lights they currently sell, so I'd have to do some surgery anyway. Plus I wasn't sure the length was right for my truck, so I just made my own.









This is not aircraft quality wiring. (Nod to Cranky.) It took me four days to build the harness, with a little help from my friends (nod to Rangastang).

I bought the new soft covers from KC. I also have some yellow KC rock grills and some hard plastic covers coming. The switch is from a Chevy Tracker or Suzuki XL7, can't remember which. I botched the LED wiring so I'll have to find another one. I may also use a different light bar on the front; I'd prefer the lamps a little closer together but they were right up against the grill. Very pleased overall.

[rallison203]

Also I found this at a junkyard in an old C10 or something. It sat in a parts bucket for a couple years until I saw that Jeep actually used these in J trucks. So I installed it, too!!

[rang-a-stang]

Awesome! Those KCs look sooo right on your truck! I added one of those fender liner lights to mine too. The cable is long enough to reach the rear tires if you need it too. It's also magnetic so you can stick it on stuff while you are working.

[Crankyolman]

The lights look awesome. Nice score on those. I want to find one of those under hood lights.

Originally Posted by rallison203

This is not aircraft quality wiring. (Nod to Cranky.)

Have you seen the wiring on my truck? It's not exactly aircraft quality either...although most of the splices are. I am planning on cleaning all that up some day though.