I finally got aroung to mounting my hella 500's driving lights. They are installed on coustm mouts. Everything went fine except when I tried to aim/adjust them. They were on for about 15 minutes and then the fuse on the lead going to the battery blew out. Any suggestions as to why this might of happened? They are wired just as the instuctions say with one exception, I didn't wire them to the high beams. The wire going out of the rocker switch ( which was supposed to be tapped into the high beams) goes the fuse box and using an addafuse is tapped into an always hot fuse.

 

Those are really nice. I have a similar setup with custom mounts, but mine are mounted in the cooling holes just above yours, and are bolted into backing plates instead of drilling. I may consider your method for some fogs. Would you mind giving any measurements for the size of your brackets?

 

Very nice job.

 

I honestly cant say why the fuse would go out like that. Before you go and start fiddling with the lights you might just want to try putting a new fuse in, i have had that work before.

Otherwise just make sure all you connections are good and that you are using the right bulbs.

 

1st try another fuse. If that blows again, look at the connections on the inside of the lights. Pull the screw out at the bottom & the lamp will come out. Look & make sure the power wire hasn't come in contact with the ground.

 

Ok it's been a week. The bumper shell came off again, all wiring came out of the bumper, and was inspected vigorously for cuts or crimps. To my surprise every inch of wire was fine, so I mounted the lights and hit the switch, and once again the fuse blew. The glass tube fuse supplied by Hella was only 1 amp, so I tried a 2 amp, 5 amp, 10 amp, and finally a 15 amp which did not blow.
As far as the brackets go they are 3" by 3" aluminum, I have enough material to cut up about 20 sets of these brackets. If anyone is interested let me know. Act quick as I'm flying out to Europe on Thursday for 2 weeks.

 

Wow a 1 amp fuse. Sorry you had to go through all of that only to find a seriously under rated fuse. Go figure?

 

I'd possibly be interested in a set of brackets. No need to even drill them, since that's easy enough for me to do. I just don't have any workbench or tools to bend my own brackets, or else I'd make my own. The ones I did make, I made at a friends house, who lives 3 hours away.

 

let me know as well... you can ship them to max to make 1 shipping charge ;-)

 

chisss- don't be so cheap now.

 

Since this thread is centering around the subject of driving light brackets, has anyone seen or done an application (aftermarket or custom) where the brackets protrude in the space between the top of the bumper and the edge of the bonnet?

I'm seriously considering the above-bumper driving lights mod (stimulated by the excellent example and guidance posted by ImagoX) but will probably not do it if it means having to cut holes or slots in my black mesh grills (w/Aero Kit). Theoretically, it seems like there's enough of a gap to accommodate a bracket of sufficient mass to prevent vib and jitter in the lights.

Any pointers?

 

I think you could get a bracket through the gap between the bonnet & the bumper. But I think you will run into trouble because the mounting stud on the bottom of the light is likely to touch the bumper. I wouldn't do it because of the scratches your bumper will get.

 

I thought of that, and wondered if one could put a couple of extra bends in the bracket -- just enough to gain enough clearance above the top of the bumper for the mounting stud.

 

Here is what I've put together.



The bar is mounted thru the bottom slit of the grill to mounting brackets inside the hood. Remove two nuts and the whole light bar can be removed.

This worked great at night on the Dragon until I hit "that deer". But didn't hurt the light bar though.

 

Here is a closer look.

Drive into the light
I have a homemade set-up like "twistysister". The brackets mount on the hood. The light bar, which is black and flush with the grill, has long bolts that go through the grill and mount to the bracket. The lights do not stick out past the front bumper. When the bar is not installed, you see nothing but the Mini nose. The lights are 100 watts "Eagle Eye" cheapo's from JC Whitney($40/set) but give off 380,000 candlepower/set. They worked great at night while on the Dragon. Whenever our group went out at night they always put me in front.

 

From the pics I can't tell where the the mounts pass through the bumper cover...the location you have yours is wher I am considering mounting mine. How did you attach the brackets to the bumper?

 

Looks great, but it looks like your support brackets pass through the bottom slot of the grill piece. I don't think I can accommodate this approach with my mesh Aero grills -- I sure would like to avoid cutting into them if possible.

 

Colin's set up is very nice. There is one glitch. His lights act as a Bambi magnet.

 

Sorry about the delay, had to help my sons with homework etc. The 1/2" threaded studs pass through the bottom slot of a standard grill. I don't know if it will pass through a mesh grill with out cutting. I also, have added a small diagonal strut to keep the light bar/hood from vibrating. And yes, please be careful when driving at night, "deer" tend to attact Mini's driving lights. Does anyone have those deer whistles? Do they work?

 

I just re-checked the stud size, they are 3/8" thded studs.

 

MichalKub (or anyone with these mounts):

Do you notice any shake? I'm planning on mounting my lights like this with a 3x3 "L" Bracket but I'm little worried about shaking and bouncing of the lights. Have any of you had this issue?

Thanks in advance.

 

I think a lot depends on how heavy the lights are & the thickness of the brackets. Bouncing driving lights are very distracting, IMO.

 

A set of Hella 500's

Brackets
3in x 3in
Not even 1/8in thick

Looks like this:

 

Oh and also does anyone have measurements so I'm not guessing so much when mounting my brackets. I played with the brackets I have now a little and found it hard to figure out where they went. If anyone can help make it easier let me know.

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm afraid if you use that bracket your lights are going to bouncing all over the place. You'll need something more substantial.