One of our project goals for Trailhugger was to dramatically improve its exterior lighting. Not just forward-facing, but in all directions. We call this "full perimeter lighting," and we've found it to be worth its weight in gold on a dark trail.
This was one of the reasons we chose to install the Gobi Stealth roof rack (Oct '08). It has four built-in forward-facing light tabs and a pair of rear-facing tabs. The folks over at Gobi recommended installing PIAA 2100 Series Xtreme White Beam lights, so naturally we heeded their advice. We used four forward-facing driving-style lights (15-degree spot beam) and a pair of rear-facing fog-style lights (70-degree wide beam). We also wanted strong side lighting, so we mounted a pair of wide-beam PIAA lights on each side of the Stealth rack. All of these PIAA lights are halogen, 55 watts, have a silver PPS composite housing, glass lens, and a Super Multi-surface Reflector (SMR). Each kit includes two lights, a wiring harness, a relay, and a switch.
1. Here are some of the PIAA...
1. Here are some of the PIAA lights we installed on Trailhugger. Ultimately we installed 10 lights: Four driving beams and six wide beams.
The switches that come with the PIAA lights are really nice and are of the stick-on variety, but we didn't really want a bunch of switches inside the cabin of our truck. Matt Dinelli of Attitude Performance brainstormed a solution. He recommended a wireless-remote-control lighting system, and he knew just the guy who could create such a system. Enter Jerry Villa and the team at Showtime Audio in Chicago. Villa has been involved in the A/V world for the past 17 years, and as we found out he's the Emperor of Electronics. Walking into his incredible new shop in downtown Chicago is like walking into an auto show. Lamborghinis, Bentleys, and BMWs are commonplace, and they share space with cars, trucks, and SUVs of all makes and models. Villa said creating a wireless-remote-control lighting system would be no problem, and he provided us with a list of parts we'd need to make it happen.
Our next call was to Directed Electronics. These folks are the gurus of the electronics aftermarket. This 25-year-old California-based company has a massive product line that encompasses everything from home audio to automotive electronics. They're the folks behind Viper, Clifford, Polk Audio, and Directed Video to name just a few. Directed has thousands of dealers in the retail mobile and home electronics aftermarket too. Needless to say, they had the components we needed to create a reliable wireless-remote-control lighting system.
Installing a system like this is best left up to the professionals. It took the experienced team of Villa and Dinelli a full day to get all of the components installed. Following are some of the highlights of the install.
2. The components needed to create the wireless-remote-control system included a Directed replacement Super Code-Hopping transmitter (we got one for our key ring and one to mount in the truck), a Buss 80-amp circuit breaker, a Buss six-circuit ATC fuse panel, a Directed Electronics Effective Vehicle Security 450R receiver, and five Directed Electronics 40-amp relay assemblies.
 3. The first thing Villa did...  3. The first thing Villa did was head over to his in-house fabrication shop to create a "command center" to mount the electronics. He used 1/4-inch masonite and covered it with black Ozite speaker-box carpet. |  4. Next, he mounted the components...  4. Next, he mounted the components and wired the command center. Here you can see the back side of the unit nearing completion. |  5. The finished command center...  5. The finished command center ready to install in Trailhugger. It holds the 450R receiver, ATC fuse panel, and the five relays (Villa split the four forward-facing lights into two circuits). Notice the plastic grommets used in the holes where the wires feed from front to back. This will eliminate any chafing of wires. |
 6. Power for the system comes...  6. Power for the system comes directly from the battery. Villa used four-gauge wire to carry power to the Buss circuit breaker and then on to the command center inside the vehicle through a factory rubber firewall grommet. The Buss circuit breaker is waterproof, so it was OK to mount underhood. We chose to fasten it with Velcro to the top of the plastic battery enclosure. It won't hinder battery removal and the circuit breaker itself is easily accessible. |  7. We chose to mount the command...  7. We chose to mount the command center under the driver seat. In this location it is safe from only the most extreme dunking (if water gets there we have bigger problems) and it's easily accessible. With the driver seat moved all the way forward and the board pulled rearward slightly it is easily accessible. Here Villa makes the main power connection. |  8. Villa avoids drilling into...  8. Villa avoids drilling into the body whenever possible to decrease corrosion potential, but he had to drill a hole to install a self-tapping screw to ground the relays and remote. |