Under hood retractable trouble light install...

[benbeaux]

So here's the beast I set out to install in my truck. Not that Toyotas break down, but I like to have an under hood light to check the oil & what not on road trips.


The unit is made by Hobbs & is close to what GM had in their trucks up to about 2002 or '03. If you're on a tight budget, these are easy to find in junk yards. I bought 2 of these on fleabay for $30 each.

Installation was easy. I glued it on. Yep, the unit came with mounting tabs & sheetmetal screws, but there wasn't a good way to position it for easy use. The hood support structure consists of uneven members, so drilling & screwing would look kinda goofy, in my opinion.

I cut the 3 mounting tabs off with a dremel & cleaned up what was left with a razor knife. This will allow the unit to hug the support structure & make a cleaner looking install.

I used a sharpie marker to trace around the housing after finding a good spot to mount it. The Elmer's metal & plastic adhesive I used requires that their product be applied to both items to be glued together.


The mounting location & light housing were cleaned with denatured alcohol to remove any grease or crud that would cause a failure of the bond.

Adhesive was liberally applied to the back of the unit along with 2 pieces of double sided tape (red stripes in pic). The tape will hold the unit in place until the adhesive cures. Yeah, duct tape will work, but I don't want to fight it when it has to come off. I don't think painter's tape will hold.



About 3 feet of wire will need to be added to the light's wiring harness in order to be able to reach the battery. I connected my hot wire to the wire I ran to the back of the truck for my auxillary back up lights. I also fused this connect with a 3 amp fuse. The ground was made at my alarm siren bracket. An option is to run the ground wire to a hood pin switch so the light comes on when the hood is raised. I can easily reach up & turn on the light, so I didn't bother to do this. I may add that later...

After the light was installed, I used a coathanger to chase the power wire down the support structure. The exit is the larger hole at the bottom, right corner of the hood. The larger hole allows 3/8 inch wire loom to be shoved in it for a cleaner install.



Here's some finished install pics showing the magnetic base, suction cup mount & that the light reaches to the back bumper.