Electrically actuated lightbar setup

[Jkrell]

I know it's been done before but there aren't too many pics out there so I thought I would post some in case anybody else was interested in making one similiar. Not too difficult, just a little time consuming. The linear actuator came from McMaster-Carr for about 200 bucks, rated to 300 pounds of static load holding.

[ZTFab]

Looks sweet Jon....how fast does the actuator move the bar and how much fine adjustment can you get with it?...
I built a similar set-up on our old 12 truck but due to our budget of $0, I used a power window motor from a Toyota....it was doing ok until we rolled the truck on top of it at the night race... :eek: ...I don't know how long the motor would've held up beyond that....looks like that actuator is fairly stout....

[WorkInProgress]

Thats pretty cool, I have seen it done before but never cantilevered inside the cab. Definately a good idea and with it inside the cab it isnt exposed to the elements as much or thieves.

[Jkrell]

Looks sweet Jon....how fast does the actuator move the bar and how much fine adjustment can you get with it?...
I built a similar set-up on our old 12 truck but due to our budget of $0, I used a power window motor from a Toyota....it was doing ok until we rolled the truck on top of it at the night race... :eek: ...I don't know how long the motor would've held up beyond that....looks like that actuator is fairly stout....

thanks, yeah i remember that setup on your old 12 truck you were one of the first guys i think to try it. The actuator moves fairly quickly maybe 2-3 seconds for a full stroke. As for fine adjustment - it has a 4 inch throw but the motion ratio at the pivot is 2/1 so theoretically it could go about 8". Fine adjustment is infinit - as quickly as you can bump the switch i guess.

jk

[ZTFab]

thanks, yeah i remember that setup on your old 12 truck you were one of the first guys i think to try it. The actuator moves fairly quickly maybe 2-3 seconds for a full stroke. As for fine adjustment - it has a 4 inch throw but the motion ratio at the pivot is 2/1 so theoretically it could go about 8". Fine adjustment is infinit - as quickly as you can bump the switch i guess.

jk

I wish we hadn't rolled the truck....I was hoping to perfect that design...at least we finished the race...we welded the light bar to the top of the crushed in cab and ran it!!! I miss that truck.... :(

[Brandon_Charley]

I don't understand why exactly you need a light bar that can adjust on the fly, can someone enlighten me?

[mgobaja]

It will allow you to race with it in a stored position until needed, lowering the chances of it getting destroyed before it gets dark, then with the flick of a switch it will raise to the useable position. Also allows you to keep the light bar on the vehicle all the time, so you dont have to worry about making it to your pit with the lights if you are running later then planned.

[desertracer]

On our 1 car when you are on and off the gas, the pitch of the car changes immensly. The ride angle will be above horizontal or below depending on how much you are on the gas. By having a fixed light bar like we do, you are limited to 1 setting. We set it as a happy medium so that the Top rack is on the horizon when we are on the gas. You want the most light you can get when you are going the fastest. The only catch to this is when you are off the gas or thru the whoops the lights are a bit low and don't give you as much coverage further out. You mess around more with having some higher and lower etc. So for this reason an electric adjuster would be great to adjust on the fly for when you are in the slower stuff vs high speed with the front end lifted. Thats my take on why one would be important.

[Brandon_Charley]

This forum is so awesome, guys like you giving informative answers like that, and not telling me to -explitive- off because I'm new is why this board rocks.

[BURLY]

This forum is so awesome, guys like you giving informative answers like that, and not telling me to -explitive- off because I'm new is why this board rocks.
Man you said it!! I couldnt agree with you more!!

[frankh]

also when you are going slow in a real tech part you want all the light just in front of you. but when you are going 80-100 mph you need to see way in front of you so you can stop in time for that big hole. alot of the 1 cars have a way to adjust them the lights to two pre-made points. One for each case.

[Jkrell]

or if your in a canyon and your about to go up a nasty hill - might be nice to have a looks at it before you start up it -- for how relatively simple it is to make i'm not sure why more guys dont have it.

jk

[baja619]

It may have been said already, (I skimmed) but the actuator is very useful for adjusting the postion of the lights beams depending on how fast or slow you are going.

[Ryan_P]

Any pics of it stowed? I was wondering how low the light bar sits to the roof.

-Ryan

[racer_dude]

im not sure about the whole "electric" since it is just another thing to go wrong when you hit water, but i do know that mechanical adjustable light bars are pretty common now days... i know a few other trucks have them too, but i am to lazy to check to find cab shots of them

[ntsqd]

I'd use gas springs with an adjustable stop. That way tree/bush branches aren't as likely to take out the lights and you don't have the complexity of the linear actuator.

As to the durability of the actuator, it appears to be an industrial unit designed for Automation applications. Should be a pretty robust device if it is. Still might want a rubber boot from mcmaster on the ram.

[DEZFAN]

Now someone needs to design a light bar that auto adjust to pitch of the car will driving. Similar to those luxury cars that can sence a dip or bump and adjust the shocks.

[jeff]

They already have "auto adjusting" lights. Some of the higher end cars / SUV's have them. They aim as you turn to provide more light as you go around corners. The same could be done for up and down too. http://www.hella.com/produktion/HellaPortal/WebSite/Internet_usa/ProductsServices/Performance_Lighting/Intelligent_Lighting/Intelligent_Lighting.jsp

Aloha

[desertracer]

I know the new BMW 5 series has the xenons that turn up to 15 degrees left and right as well as up and down. It is pretty nice when going around corners fast or up driveways. I already thought about it for the race car, execpt my mom would kill me if her head lights were missing;)

[Ryan_P]

BMW has had the auto adjusting headlights in the up and down direction for a while now. I believe Infiniti was the first to do the side to side in conjunction with the steering wheel position.

I think it's a really cool idea, but once again, one more thing to go wrong and/or draw that much more amperage.

-Ryan

[K-fab]

Man, this is an old thread - but it's relevant to my question. (I did the search thing and this seems to be the thread to stick my question in)

I have an adjustable light bar setup on my 10 car that I'm finally getting to test (man it's been a LONG road). I noticed that above about 50 mph that the actuator doesn't have the power to hold the lights in place - suddenly I find the lights moving out of vision and up to the sky - not good.

In this thread there's an actuator mentioned from McMaster-Carr (where I purchased the unit I'm using). I'm wondering if you happen to know which one was used? This is the one I have from Mc-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?pagetype=fasttrk&search=6509K83&resultsContext=ITMLOOKUP&resultsQueryStr=searchstring%3D6509k83%26tab%3Dfin d%26FastTrack%3DTrue%26ftctlgpg%3D%26FlCntxt%3Dfin dtab). Is this similar to the unit you're using?

http://www.yellowdogracing.com/DeztazII/DSC00244.JPG

Two other questions about the setup.

My lights pivot from the bottom of the bar and the actuator mounts to the middle back of the rack.

If I were to move the position of the mount to the upper part of the light bar, do you think it would lessen the leverage that the drag from the lights puts on the system enough that my current actuator will hold position? It will make the resolution of movement better - right now just a bump of the switch leads to quite a bit of motion - and when I'm in motion and bump the switch to move the lights up, the air flow keeps them on moving upwards.

The other question is how about locating the pivot position of the lights to the middle of the bar so that aero drag doesn't effect the system as much?

If you happen to have some input or experience with one of these setups, I'd appreciate some ideas. I'd like to hear a few before I start redesigning or purchasing new stuff.

I wonder if there's some way to put a feed back system on the bar's pivot point that makes the system hold in the last input position? - like R/C servos work.

[NoBrakes Drake]

[QUOTE=K-fab;410953]
If I were to move the position of the mount to the upper part of the light bar, do you think it would lessen the leverage that the drag from the lights puts on the system enough that my current actuator will hold position? [QUOTE]

No. Moving the pivot would lessen the impact of aerodynamic drag on your actuator.

[bajatex]

K-fab,

The actuator you are using is waaaaay to fast and only 25lb force. PM or e-mail me and I can fill you in on what we have learned about actuators through our testing.

Bajatex
tex@bajadesigns.com

[K-fab]

If I were to move the position of the mount to the upper part of the light bar, do you think it would lessen the leverage that the drag from the lights puts on the system enough that my current actuator will hold position?

No. Moving the pivot would lessen the impact of aerodynamic drag on your actuator.Yea, yea... :p We're saying the same thing.

If I move the mounting point of the actuator to the top of the bar, the distance from the pivot point to the actuator bar would increase about 5", thus lowering the amount of force needed to move the bar about the pivot point. Longer lever.

[NoBrakes Drake]

In any case, I'd take BajaTex's offer.

[Superfab]

I used an actuator that I purchased from Firgelli Automations in Washington. It cost about 100$ and they even had a rubber over-boot to protect it for 10 bucks. Works great on the 1 car.

[Msquared]

It will allow you to race with it in a stored position until needed, lowering the chances of it getting destroyed before it gets dark, then with the flick of a switch it will raise to the useable position. Also allows you to keep the light bar on the vehicle all the time, so you dont have to worry about making it to your pit with the lights if you are running later then planned.

Someone needs to forward this thread to R.G.!!....;)

[fashionbiff]

I used an actuator that I purchased from Firgelli Automations in Washington. It cost about 100$ and they even had a rubber over-boot to protect it for 10 bucks. Works great on the 1 car.

Perfect web site, I am working on a project for some non auto stuff and this helped me a ton. Thanks !

http://www.firgelliauto.com/default.php

[Fourstroker]

Perfect web site, I am working on a project for some non auto stuff and this helped me a ton. Thanks !

http://www.firgelliauto.com/default.php

Thanks for the link. That price seems way reasonable

[maxyedor]

BMW has had the auto adjusting headlights in the up and down direction for a while now. I believe Infiniti was the first to do the side to side in conjunction with the steering wheel position.

Car companies were doing that way back in the 1910s, Hudson was a major promotor of the turning headlight as a safety feature in the 1950s too, it was much easier when they could just run a machanical linkage to the steering knuckle though. Then somewhere along the line they forgot about it, and recently revived the idea.

Personaly, on a race vehical or with lights you'll only use offroad, I would just use some euro-beam lights on the outside of your lightbar and point them 30-45 degrees outward, lots of vision all the time. Mine are like that and it's great to be able to see things, like idiots on bikes with no lights, to the side of the road and down the roads that run perpendicular to the one you're traveling. If you're running slow enough through really technical stuff a pair of HIDs is more than enough light, I have 2 on my bumper turned down just slightly so that I can see anything I need to while rock-crawling (dual purpose truck) the lights on the roof can't be aimed far enough down to even come close to being as useful as some bumper mounted lights.

I do really like electricly actuated light bars on daily drivers and race trucks where the whole light bar can be folded down behind the cab to keep you legal on the streets, cut down on drag on the streets and the dirt, and save your lights should you roll it on dirt before the sun sets.

[grantdcol]

Perfect web site, I am working on a project for some non auto stuff and this helped me a ton. Thanks !

http://www.firgelliauto.com/default.php

I used a firgelli automation linear acuator too, and it is POWERFUL! It's also nice and slow.
This is the one I used:
http://www.firgelliauto.com/product_info.php?cPath=79&products_id=95

.3"/second, 240 pounds force (as labeled on the actuator itself). When it's running I can't stop the light rack by hand, and when it's stopped, it holds a static position. It also has built in limit switches that cut power when you get to the end of the stroke in either direction.

The only problem is that there is a little bit of slop in the clevis holes. I'm probably going to use a high pressure gas strut to take out the slop. The acutator will easily overcome the gas strut.

I'm also thinking of using a potentiometer on my dash to control the speed. That way I can quickly bring the lights up from storage position but finely tune in the lighting position.

I also bought the rubber boot for $9 and it fits very tight.

-Colin

[Superfab]

I made tight bungs for the ends and screwed in heims. That got rid of most of the play. Or use some old shock ends and bore them to fit the ends of the actuator and cross drill it to fasten.

[eXXXploder]

Man, this is an old thread - but it's relevant to my question. (I did the search thing and this seems to be the thread to stick my question in)

I have an adjustable light bar setup on my 10 car that I'm finally getting to test (man it's been a LONG road). I noticed that above about 50 mph that the actuator doesn't have the power to hold the lights in place - suddenly I find the lights moving out of vision and up to the sky - not good.

In this thread there's an actuator mentioned from McMaster-Carr (where I purchased the unit I'm using). I'm wondering if you happen to know which one was used? This is the one I have from Mc-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?pagetype=fasttrk&search=6509K83&resultsContext=ITMLOOKUP&resultsQueryStr=searchstring%3D6509k83%26tab%3Dfin d%26FastTrack%3DTrue%26ftctlgpg%3D%26FlCntxt%3Dfin dtab). Is this similar to the unit you're using?

http://www.yellowdogracing.com/DeztazII/DSC00244.JPG

Two other questions about the setup.

My lights pivot from the bottom of the bar and the actuator mounts to the middle back of the rack.

If I were to move the position of the mount to the upper part of the light bar, do you think it would lessen the leverage that the drag from the lights puts on the system enough that my current actuator will hold position? It will make the resolution of movement better - right now just a bump of the switch leads to quite a bit of motion - and when I'm in motion and bump the switch to move the lights up, the air flow keeps them on moving upwards.

The other question is how about locating the pivot position of the lights to the middle of the bar so that aero drag doesn't effect the system as much?

If you happen to have some input or experience with one of these setups, I'd appreciate some ideas. I'd like to hear a few before I start redesigning or purchasing new stuff.

I wonder if there's some way to put a feed back system on the bar's pivot point that makes the system hold in the last input position? - like R/C servos work.


MINE DOES THE SAME THING, I GOT MINE FROM IMCO MARINE I DONT KNOW HOW MUCH HOLDING FORCE THEY HAVE BUT THEY DONT LAST TO LONG THEN THE LIGHT START MOVING ALSO. ILL TRY FIRGELLI LET YOU KNOW HOW IT WORKS