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My Transformers Autobot. Avalanche Prime. Lots of Pics

One note about the light bars and such...

I know there was a point in time that here in Michigan you had to cover such lights. I believe this is still the case. It was a moving violation to have the lights displayed even if not on. Since they are off road only lights they have to be covered at all times while on the road. This may be one of those items that are only used when a cop wants to pull you over but just be aware that it might be a violation of your states vehicle code.

They also have laws on under vehicle lights here as well so you have to be careful what lights are on when you are on the road. I know some other states get strict with it as well.

Just make sure you are not installing items on a street driven vehicle that will be a moving or vehicle violation. In my town the out of service police cruisers have to have their light bar covered when being transported around town.

Rodney
 
Hanz
I wish I could tell you what brand they are but there are no branding on them.
I bought them from a seller of Amazon who shipped them from California.
There were no branding on the boxes or the light bars themselves

The Big Rig Ice are made by Recon and they are the lights under the cab that serves as courtesy lights and running lights.
Same goes for the white Lightning under the tailgate which was purchased directly from Recon

Both bars have a combination of flood beam and spot beam pattern based off the reflectors.
As for the light Bar performance I give the one in the Bull Bar 4 stars out of 5.
Performance wise it is very bright and I drive with it on often and have yet to be pulled over or questioned about it.
My only gripe is that there is a little bit off condensation in the lens and that bothers me.
I plan on taking it apart this summer cleaning it out and trying to seal it again with silicon when it gets warmer.

As for the one on the roof I give it 2 stars.
Performance wise the light itself is great but mounting location is my main beef.
I should mention that I don't get to use it much so it has not really served me as it should.
Again it is very bright but I am having come glare issues as it does tend to reflect on the windshield below it illuminating any dust or dirt particle that may be on it.
In this case I believe the fog beam pattern is working against it by dispersing the light too wide.
This one also has a bit more condensation than the one in the bumper.
I did try taking it apart 2 weekends ago but it was sealed with silicon in the screw holes and around the glass and the edges of the side I opened however condensation still managed to get in.
Again I'll get a hair dryer or heat gun and try to dry it a few weeks from now.
My last gripe is that it is definitely not aerodynamic. It is a lot more stable than the KC Hilites I had on the roof of my old 4runner eons ago but I can definitely hear the wind baffle against it where it is sitting.
I believe to combat both the glare issue and the slight wind noise I can now hear, I have to move it a bit further back and mount it on the roof rack as a member here did and see how that will work this summer.
 
redheadedrod said:
One note about the light bars and such...

I know there was a point in time that here in Michigan you had to cover such lights. I believe this is still the case. It was a moving violation to have the lights displayed even if not on. Since they are off road only lights they have to be covered at all times while on the road. This may be one of those items that are only used when a cop wants to pull you over but just be aware that it might be a violation of your states vehicle code.

They also have laws on under vehicle lights here as well so you have to be careful what lights are on when you are on the road. I know some other states get strict with it as well.

Just make sure you are not installing items on a street driven vehicle that will be a moving or vehicle violation. In my town the out of service police cruisers have to have their light bar covered when being transported around town.


Rodney
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up.
I did check my state laws on the lights under the truck.
They are amber and are considered legal as running lights just like you would see on the large trucks
They only turn white when you open the doors to get in and the ambers are only are only on when the parking lights turn on.
They also blink with my turn signals so they are considered those as well .

As for the lights in the bull bar, my state laws states that they should not be higher than 24" off the ground if I remember correctly and the beam should not be reflecting directly into oncoming traffic. To that end I have them angled downwards slightly rather than straight ahead or upwards. I sacrifices a bit of the distance on them but keeps me legal.

The ones on the roof, I know I'll have problems with so I never turn them on on the road except when some jerk cuts me off rudely. I usually get them out of my lane real fast with that.
That does open me up for exposure to getting pulled over if I am caught but then again putting the strobe lights on and the siren will have the same effect and get me in even more trouble than the lights would by themselves.

You have no idea how many people have cut me off only to move out of the way when they hear the blast of the siren or people in the process of trying to do so and think twice when the siren blares at them



 
I didn't realize you had a siren in your truck.

If there are any LEO here I am sure they can confirm but you NEVER want to have a siren in your vehicle and if you have strobes you want them to be physically disabled as in the box removed from your vehicle unless you have a valid reason to have them. If you DO have them they would need to be amber in color. You MIGHT get away with white but otherwise only Yellow.

I spent over an hour once with my old state police car on the side of the road and like 10 cop cars around me trying to explain why I was driving an old state police car. They were real asses about it. If I would have had ANYTHING in my vehicle that could have given them a reason they would have arrested me and impounded my vehicle. And all it was was a caprice that was painted michigan state blue. I had even removed the spot lights.

You can get the same effect with an air horn, train horn or just a plain loud horn. Again, you are asking to be arrested and your vehicle impounded if you have a Siren or colored strobes. ESPECIALLY if you use them on the road.

Would hate to hear about you getting jailed for impersonating an officer which can be a felony.
 
Cool man. Thanks for the info!

My buddy had lights above the cab on his RZR, and at night in the sand dunes you couldn't frickin' see anything with the windshield in it because it amplified the dust on the windshield so badly....

Thanks for the info. Build on brotha, build on.....
 
redheadedrod said:
I didn't realize you had a siren in your truck.

If there are any LEO here I am sure they can confirm but you NEVER want to have a siren in your vehicle and if you have strobes you want them to be physically disabled as in the box removed from your vehicle unless you have a valid reason to have them. If you DO have them they would need to be amber in color. You MIGHT get away with white but otherwise only Yellow.

I spent over an hour once with my old state police car on the side of the road and like 10 cop cars around me trying to explain why I was driving an old state police car. They were real asses about it. If I would have had ANYTHING in my vehicle that could have given them a reason they would have arrested me and impounded my vehicle. And all it was was a caprice that was painted michigan state blue. I had even removed the spot lights.

You can get the same effect with an air horn, train horn or just a plain loud horn. Again, you are asking to be arrested and your vehicle impounded if you have a Siren or colored strobes. ESPECIALLY if you use them on the road.

Would hate to hear about you getting jailed for impersonating an officer which can be a felony.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the concern. I would hate to get arrested myself however it was a necessity when I lived in NJ up to a little over a year ago.
I have the siren and the strobes hooked up to my Viper 791XV alarm to protect my investment and I must say it has done so pretty well. Air horns worked but they are nowhere near as loud as my siren nor will it attract attention like a siren would if my truck is ever getting broken into.
Simply put most women and a few guys standing next to my truck when I unlock the doors and the alarm chirps usually jump out of their skin so I make it a point of advising people of what is going to happen before doing so unless I intentionally want to scare someone.
I also cannot count the number of times I woke up only to find that cars in the parking lot of the apartment complex where I lived got broken into for stuff. This includes the people whose cars were parked on either side of mine in the parking lot yet my truck was never touched.

People generally ignore car alarms these days but a 150 watt siren wailing and strobe lights flashing at 2AM in the morning is pretty hard not to draw attention to if you know what I mean.
The fact that I have switches well hidden in the truck is just a bonus.

That being said I do not make it a habit of driving around with them on nor do I like to advertise that I have them.

In fact since I moved to MN I have turned my shock sensor and proximity sensor all the way down as I really do not need it to be so sensitive any longer.
Flashing the lights when I get cut off is also less likely to get me in trouble than the sound of the siren would.
 
Hanz Groober said:
Cool man. Thanks for the info!

My buddy had lights above the cab on his RZR, and at night in the sand dunes you couldn't frickin' see anything with the windshield in it because it amplified the dust on the windshield so badly....

Thanks for the info. Build on brotha, build on.....
Click to expand...

I am also considering adding a dark 3" tint strip under the factory tint at the top of my windshield to see if that helps
I'll do a little piece first and compare the difference before committing to it but I think a more solid roof rack to match the one I have on the bed covers with the lights mounted to it is in my near future.
 
Dluvr22 said:
I am also considering adding a dark 3" tint strip under the factory tint at the top of my windshield to see if that helps
I'll do a little piece first and compare the difference before committing to it but I think a more solid roof rack to match the one I have on the bed covers with the lights mounted to it is in my near future.
Click to expand...
do you know where i could get the parts to put a rack on the bed got a link that would be fantastic! thanks
 
Unfortunately no manufacturer has caught on after all this time to create a bike rack it for the avalanche however a lot of us have cobbled together parts and made it work.

I and others before me went with all Yakima pieces for my rack.
Once you get the base in place you can use any accessory you want with in.

I got the parts list and scoured my local craigslist for what I needed. I got all the parts, washed and cleaned them and painted over the pieces I needed to to get a fresh new look.

For my setup I went with

(2) 48" round bars  - $25.00 from Craigslist
(4) Q-Towers - $40.00 from craigslist
(4) Q30 Clips  - $20.00 for Ebay
( 6 ) SRS Locksets - $75.00 directly from Yakima

Once I got these I decided what style bike rack I wanted from Yakima's website and went searching Craigslist for the same.
I chose to go with the Yakima Frontloaders or similar so I would not need to move the front tire from the fork and picked up the Yakima King Cobra for $180 for a pair off craigslist.

Comparing prices from Yakima

(2) 48" round bars - $89.00
(4) Q-Towers - $189.00
(4) Q30 Clips - $ 156.00
(6 ) SRS Locksets  - $75.00

(2) Yakima Frontloader Bike Trays (replacement for the King Cobra that is now discontinued) - $ $358.00


I got it done really cheap.
 
I don't have close up pics at the moment so here's BigBlockBirch's old setup.
Hope he doesn't mind.

YakimaBikeRackMod001.jpg


YakimaBikeRackMod002.jpg


YakimaBikeRackMod003.jpg


 
Got my RFID Glass tag in the mail today.
Now the idea of implanting it into my hand doesn't look as pleasing any more.
I keep thinking, what if I get rid of the truck (hopefully that never happens) or what if new technology comes about that makes me want to do something different?
Can I get the tag back out 20 years from now if I decide I no longer want it there?
So many questions.
LOL

 
If you ever sell your truck you'll need to include your hand in the deal!  :cool:
 
enoniam said:
If you ever sell your truck you'll need to include your hand in the deal!   :cool:
Click to expand...

LOL
I actually thought of that even though I don't plan on ever getting rid of the truck.
I have 2 additional tags that attach to a key-chain as well as an admin tag that allows you to erase old tags or add new ones.
After all if I take in to a shop for service I can't actually stay there while they work on it especially if it has to stay there for a few days.

The hand deal is purely for the cool factor.
 
Dluvr22 said:
The hand deal is purely for the cool factor...
Click to expand...

I personally would be freaked out to have anything implanted in my hand?!  :eek: I am loving the way your AV is turning out! I just ordered my Dynobot decals for my AV haha...figured if it could transform I would love it to transform into a Dynobot ;)
 
2002blackedout2500 said:
I personally would be freaked out to have anything implanted in my hand?!  :eek: I am loving the way your AV is turning out! I just ordered my Dynobot decals for my AV haha...figured if it could transform I would love it to transform into a Dynobot ;)
Click to expand...

Shooot man if my truck was a transformer I would draw one and have it rendered and then be like look do that hahahaha then it could be exactly the way I wanted haha
 
You mean something like this?



I've been working on it off and on now.
Just need to find the perfect picture of my car with the all the accessories I want on it before adding that to image above.
I don't want to finish it and realize I made a major change to my truck that is different from what is in the picture
 
Here's a sneak peek of another mod I'm working on simultaneously.



I've been trying to keep it secret but it's so hard to do when you just want to share your work with folks.

I had the Transformers emblem etched into a set of projector lenses so that you can see the logo when the headlights are on.
I'm considering putting them in the high beams or the parking lights now with amber or white led back-lighting as the shadow in the light pattern was not part of the original plan.

I am also considering learning to live with it but I also feel if I am going to spend the money on it, I might as well get it the way I want and not settle for less.
Unfortunately that means etching another set or 2 and more money going into the project than I had actually planned on spending.

The actual look I want to go for is like the eyes in the image I created above but I don't want the cops to be on me about it so I think if I go with white led back-lighting, I'll go with the coolest white that has close to a blueish look to it like the 12000k HIDs do.
 
Dude that looks sick man. If you want a cool white with a blueish look go with 6k for less blue and 8k for medium and 10k for most blue, to me 12k is about useless, its too much blue. I have 6 k and dont like it that much cuz I want pure white- 5k. I will get new bulbs soon and swap those in
 
09chevyavy said:
Dude that looks sick man. If you want a cool white with a blueish look go with 6k for less blue and 8k for medium and 10k for most blue, to me 12k is about useless, its too much blue. I have 6 k and dont like it that much cuz I want pure white- 5k. I will get new bulbs soon and swap those in
Click to expand...

I understand. I was actually referring to white LED back-lighting in a cool white color so that when the HIDs are off they would glow. I just don't want them glowing blue as that would get me pulled over fast.
As far as when the HIDs are on, I'll stick with 6K for that as I never really liked the 8K HIDs I had tried in the past.
 
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