Community Forums

John H... · 03-19-2013, 09:27 AM

I have used the same lights and the magnets are fine, but wires rubbed the paint. You can use them without worry, but I would run the wires underneath the toad if possible....

Graniteman · 03-19-2013, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John H...

I have used the same lights and the magnets are fine, but wires rubbed the paint. You can use them without worry, but I would run the wires underneath the toad if possible....

Great Idea. I had to use them on our last trip to Florida on our '13 Unlimited (long story). I ran the wires under the hood, around the mirror, into the drivers door, through the cab, and out the rear window. Fortunately no damage. We now have the Mopar plug and play harness.

Dr4Film · 03-19-2013, 09:40 AM

I can offer two options for your wiring.

First, I wired up a 2006 Saturn Vue using a diode package and the wiring went under the car and not through it. It is well secured and I haven't had one problem since doing it 4 years ago. No drilling holes in the fire wall or taking the molding all apart to chase the wires.

Second, have you thought about using the lights and making a hitch light bar that would slide in and out of your receiver on the truck. Well, that's assuming that your truck has one. If not, then it's an expensive idea.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

1ciderdog · 03-19-2013, 10:29 AM

I've used magnetic lights without problem. This last set is nice in that it has yellow lenses on the forward side of the lights. The yellow shows up nicely on my rear view monitor so it is easy to know they are working.

Jim Estes · 03-19-2013, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorlininc

They have wireless magnetic led tow lights. I haven't tried them yet. But I bet they will work great.

They look pretty neat...I might try them...I see some Home Depot carries for around $120 bucks...

avid_dk · 03-19-2013, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graniteman

We now have the Mopar plug and play harness.

Travis,

What your Wrangler do you tow? Thanks!

BeltoneMagoo · 03-20-2013, 08:34 AM

Don't know about the newer Subi's but on my older (2001 Forester) I did a lot of digging and found a path for the MH to Subi light wiring. It was a blank rubber plug just above the floormat and just to the left of the steering column. It came out under the hood below the vacumn booster for the brakes. The plug was hard to find under the hood but I went very slow and identified it and pushed it out and retrieved it. I cut a slit in it and reinstalled it from the inside and ran my wiring thru it. Worked like a charm. Hope you are as fortunate as I was.
Good luck and safe travels!

BeltoneMagoo · 03-20-2013, 09:01 AM

BTW, I hunted high and low on the Internet and found the Subaru wiring info for my model. It identified what wire went where and the color code of the wire. I started tracing from the tail lights forward and found a good tie point for the diode packs under the back seat. Wasn't thrilled with the location but since it is only wife and I that is where I did my cut splice etc.
There are also good Subaru forums on the net just do a search for whatever model you have, ie. mine are www.subaruforester.org/forum and www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin.
Reason I spent all the time etc was same concern as you about magnets sticking and wiring wearing the paint. My Forester may be old (like me) but I intend to keep it around for a while longer.

DartmanK · 03-25-2013, 06:24 AM

I am about to begin my full time adventure this Saturday and will be using the magnetic lights for our towed vehicle as well. Just yesterday I did another practice load onto the dolly and placed the magnetic lights on the rear of the car. I just want to thank all of you for the suggestion of running the wires underneath or through the vehicle. I consider myself to be a resourceful individual, but the thought of running the wires in that manner never crossed my mind. Therefore, I thank you all again!

Cheers,

Ken

okie-dokie · 03-25-2013, 06:40 AM

I used the ones from Road Master, the magnets are very strong.

Sequim Guy · 03-25-2013, 05:13 PM

Harbor Freight has the regular bulb and for a few dollars more they have
magnetic LED bulb sets. I have used both and the magnets are fine, the
LEDs do show up better.
Do put something under the magnets as any little movements will mar the
clearcoat, and clean the spot where they will sit, dirt scratches.
I ran the wires under the hood, then into the front pass. door and out the top of
the tailgate. All those places have thick rubber gaskets that will not pinch
the wires and will barely touch the paint. This was on small SUVs, I guess on
a sedan you could run them out the top of rear door onto the roof or at
bottom of rear window. You will find the best path for the wires........

.

jimnkaran · 03-25-2013, 06:40 PM

I have seen several cars being towed on the dollies with no lights except for the ones on the tow dolly itself. We have just bought our DSDP about 2 weeks ago in Florida and bought a tow dolly at the same time. The tow dolly has lights on it and seem to be more than adequate at night. We came home with that setup and just wondering if another set of lights are necessary if the dolly has lights on it.

Hikerdogs · 03-26-2013, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimnkaran

I have seen several cars being towed on the dollies with no lights except for the ones on the tow dolly itself. We have just bought our DSDP about 2 weeks ago in Florida and bought a tow dolly at the same time. The tow dolly has lights on it and seem to be more than adequate at night. We came home with that setup and just wondering if another set of lights are necessary if the dolly has lights on it.

The dolly lights may be more than adequate as far as brightness is concerned. However most people expect the lights to be at the rear of the vehicle. In the case of the dolly they're about even with the back of the front door. The way people drive today it's possible that somewhere down the line some unattentive driver could be thinking the dolly lights are at the rear of the vehicle rather than half way down the side.

baraff · 03-31-2013, 06:54 PM

Well, I decided to go with the magnetic lights, but I am going to use them on the rear shelf inside the car. To attach them I am going to use 3M plastic "velcro" pieces. I ran the wiring in a sheath under the car, wire-tied to the frame and into the trunk through an existing rubber grommet.
I found that even just placing the magnetic lights on the rear truck lid caused scratches in the clear coat, and the car wasn't even moving! I can only imagine what the paint would look like after a long trip.
And I don't want to tie into the car lighting system, and installing separate sockets in the rear lights won't work without drilling massive holes in the inner wall of the trunk. Not gonna happen.
I think the magnetic lights on the interior rear shelf will work just fine, and I can remove them when I don't need them.
Thanks everyone for your input!