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So, I bought an Eyecon MRAP light kit from @MilStuffMike65 and decided to install it on my M923A2 "Big Bertha"
After receiving it, I realized there is a sever lack of information on the installation of these kits on anything but MRAPS, so I figured I would document my installation on Big Bertha to help those who come after me... if you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
The book that comes with the kit states one soldier can install in 8 hours, but it's better with 2 soldiers.
Between prep, modding brackets, figuring out how to mount and installation, it's taken 3 solid days so far. All thats left is to clean up the pass through I cut into the cab and storing excess wire lengths.
Also, I made some mistakes and had to take a few steps backward to correct them, so I hope this helps others from making the same mistakes.
So:
Day 1: Prepping and painting.
While all of the OG trucks are tan or camo, Bertha is black, and tan gear would mess my feng shui......
Painting brackets:
Taking the light bars apart to paint the housing to ensure I didn't get paint on any lights, lenses or important stuff inside:
Taking them apart does two things:
As stated, no paint on important stuff, and by not taping, you get good coverage in all of the nooks and crannies.
Also, you don't need to remove **everything**. If you follow the directions in the book for "light module replacement", you can take the lights out, tape off the ends of the connectors and tuck them back and get good coverage on everything.
I was originally going to paint everything matte OD green to set them off from the truck, but quickly realized there wasn't enough paint in 3 cities for what I need, so the decision was made to use high temp matte black.
After everything was painted, it was getting dark, so we wrapped for the day to allow the pieces to dry.
Day 2: Testing and layout on the truck
After everything dried, I wanted to ensure everything worked before I started cutting and drilling, so I laid everything out and used the batteries for the M37 for juice
The different components are labeled according to their location. For instance the drivers side light bar is referred to as the "Street Side Light Bar" and the connector end of the cable is labeled "SSLB". The search lights (which are remote controlled by the way!) are labeled "SSSL" and "CSSL" (Street Side and Curb Side Search lights).
The cables are all labeled to help with identification. For instance, the Street Side Light bar cable has a tag on it reading "SSLB", the Vehicle Interface Box has breakers on it, and the power cable for it is labeled "VIBPOW". Everything going to the Pass Through Plate in the cab has "PTP" at the end of the initials.
One of the confusing aspects was which end goes where, but after a little head scratching, I figured it out.
Once I had everything laid out, I connected the batteries, hit the master "On" switch... and nothing. No power to the control box.
After some serious googling and searching here in the site, I found one mention of a solenoid that needs to be energized in order to allow power flow to the box. In an MRAP, there's a plug that goes to the main breaker box that sends power to the solenoid when the master switch is on. That was bypassed in the other thread by bypassing the small white plug on the VIB and putting a toggle switch sending 24VDC to the solenoid.
I opened the box up to look at it and realized the ONLY purpose of the solenoid was to energize the breaker bus bar.
So out came the trusty screwdriver (at this point my sweet lady @IRIS_Always thought "Its brand new and he's gonna tear into it!?!?!" and had to walk away) and the solenoid went away....
I reconnected everything and angels sang!
That process easily ate up 3 hours, so hopefully if someone finds this thread, it'll save them that time.
I decided at that point to do the "easy" install of the "Front" and "Rear" light bars. Being as I won't need the rear light when I have the cargo cover on, I decided to mount it facing forward.
To mount the front light on the bumper, I had to remove the top shackles from my bumper. I took the long bolt out and reused the short bolts from the removed shackles to rescue the back of the bottom shackles.
I also worried about hood and hood locking bar clearance, so before I made anything permanent, I checked the gap:
It *barely* touches the bottom of the light bar in the front and the back is good to go.
The kit comes with a "spacer" bar with the bolt holes on it, so using that as a template, I drilled the holes and mounted the light.
Next was the "Rear" light on the roof. I used the bracket and drilled into the cab to mount it, using LOTS of silicone to seal it. After mounting it, I realized the MRAP apparently has an angled rear that it mounts to and the light wasn't level because the bracket is made for that angle.
So... down it comes and I mark 2 new holes in the bracket to mount it level and using my trusty cutting blade, lopped off the top of the bracket to make everything level and pretty:
So after about 6 hours, I had working lights and 2 of them installed.
More in the next post.
After receiving it, I realized there is a sever lack of information on the installation of these kits on anything but MRAPS, so I figured I would document my installation on Big Bertha to help those who come after me... if you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
The book that comes with the kit states one soldier can install in 8 hours, but it's better with 2 soldiers.
Between prep, modding brackets, figuring out how to mount and installation, it's taken 3 solid days so far. All thats left is to clean up the pass through I cut into the cab and storing excess wire lengths.
Also, I made some mistakes and had to take a few steps backward to correct them, so I hope this helps others from making the same mistakes.
So:
Day 1: Prepping and painting.
While all of the OG trucks are tan or camo, Bertha is black, and tan gear would mess my feng shui......
Painting brackets:
Taking the light bars apart to paint the housing to ensure I didn't get paint on any lights, lenses or important stuff inside:
Taking them apart does two things:
As stated, no paint on important stuff, and by not taping, you get good coverage in all of the nooks and crannies.
Also, you don't need to remove **everything**. If you follow the directions in the book for "light module replacement", you can take the lights out, tape off the ends of the connectors and tuck them back and get good coverage on everything.
I was originally going to paint everything matte OD green to set them off from the truck, but quickly realized there wasn't enough paint in 3 cities for what I need, so the decision was made to use high temp matte black.
After everything was painted, it was getting dark, so we wrapped for the day to allow the pieces to dry.
Day 2: Testing and layout on the truck
After everything dried, I wanted to ensure everything worked before I started cutting and drilling, so I laid everything out and used the batteries for the M37 for juice
The different components are labeled according to their location. For instance the drivers side light bar is referred to as the "Street Side Light Bar" and the connector end of the cable is labeled "SSLB". The search lights (which are remote controlled by the way!) are labeled "SSSL" and "CSSL" (Street Side and Curb Side Search lights).
The cables are all labeled to help with identification. For instance, the Street Side Light bar cable has a tag on it reading "SSLB", the Vehicle Interface Box has breakers on it, and the power cable for it is labeled "VIBPOW". Everything going to the Pass Through Plate in the cab has "PTP" at the end of the initials.
One of the confusing aspects was which end goes where, but after a little head scratching, I figured it out.
Once I had everything laid out, I connected the batteries, hit the master "On" switch... and nothing. No power to the control box.
After some serious googling and searching here in the site, I found one mention of a solenoid that needs to be energized in order to allow power flow to the box. In an MRAP, there's a plug that goes to the main breaker box that sends power to the solenoid when the master switch is on. That was bypassed in the other thread by bypassing the small white plug on the VIB and putting a toggle switch sending 24VDC to the solenoid.
I opened the box up to look at it and realized the ONLY purpose of the solenoid was to energize the breaker bus bar.
So out came the trusty screwdriver (at this point my sweet lady @IRIS_Always thought "Its brand new and he's gonna tear into it!?!?!" and had to walk away) and the solenoid went away....
I reconnected everything and angels sang!
That process easily ate up 3 hours, so hopefully if someone finds this thread, it'll save them that time.
I decided at that point to do the "easy" install of the "Front" and "Rear" light bars. Being as I won't need the rear light when I have the cargo cover on, I decided to mount it facing forward.
To mount the front light on the bumper, I had to remove the top shackles from my bumper. I took the long bolt out and reused the short bolts from the removed shackles to rescue the back of the bottom shackles.
I also worried about hood and hood locking bar clearance, so before I made anything permanent, I checked the gap:
It *barely* touches the bottom of the light bar in the front and the back is good to go.
The kit comes with a "spacer" bar with the bolt holes on it, so using that as a template, I drilled the holes and mounted the light.
Next was the "Rear" light on the roof. I used the bracket and drilled into the cab to mount it, using LOTS of silicone to seal it. After mounting it, I realized the MRAP apparently has an angled rear that it mounts to and the light wasn't level because the bracket is made for that angle.
So... down it comes and I mark 2 new holes in the bracket to mount it level and using my trusty cutting blade, lopped off the top of the bracket to make everything level and pretty:
So after about 6 hours, I had working lights and 2 of them installed.
More in the next post.
