Light Bar on MK4

MaroonB4

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Location
Central Texas
TDI
2011 JSW with three pedals
So a few months ago I decided to channel my inner 16 y/o and put dark smoked headlights on my Jetta. Worked and looked great during the day, but sucked when it was dark out. Since one end of my 55mi commute is always done in total darkness through back roads I felt I needed more light to avoid hitting those pesky deer. Well....about two weeks ago I tagged one on the passenger front and suffered a busted headlight lens cover, grille, and a dent on the hood. Overall, my MK4 held up well and I decided to take the opportunity to set it up for some high visibility travel. I replaced the dark smoked lenses with Hella glass lenses and then sprung for a light bar and wiring harness.

I bought this 20" lightbar- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KQXKG46
and this harness- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K1NS0PS

Install took about 2hrs. The included brackets are just long enough to clear the impact foam and have the light come out the lower grille opening when installing under the front crash bumper. I ran the cord from the light up along the intercooler piping and stored the excess from that end of the harness by the washer fluid tank.

For the switch, I installed it in one of the blanks next to my hazard switch on the center dash. I ran the wiring through the small grommet above the accelerator pedal (as an aside, is it still called the 'gas' pedal in our cars?;)). The excess wiring is looped around and stored by the brake booster. I think I have it aimed where I want, but I will have to wait until it gets dark out to make sure. I will post the lighting pics after it gets dark tonight.



 

TNguy

Banned
Joined
Sep 22, 2015
Location
USA
TDI
2005 Jetta BEW 5 speed
Interesting. I've considered doing the same on my car. You might have to remove the center grill insert to get better lighting
 

MaroonB4

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Location
Central Texas
TDI
2011 JSW with three pedals
It throws plenty of light. I was more worried about my license plate blocking the light (the 4 yellow anchors in the bumper); I couldn't tell a difference in the amount of light while behind the wheel. I can't get a decent exposure on my cell phone camera to post up some pics that actually show how good the lighting is. I did have to adjust it up slightly after install, but I am VERY happy with it.
 

TNguy

Banned
Joined
Sep 22, 2015
Location
USA
TDI
2005 Jetta BEW 5 speed
Looks like I need to just go ahead and do it. I have to remove my bumper in a week or two to install new headlights, might as well put a light bar on it.

Get some good pics of the lighting(and looking at the front with it on) so that we can all see!
 

MaroonB4

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Location
Central Texas
TDI
2011 JSW with three pedals
these are the three pics i took last night before adjusting it. as for a pic from the front, that damn led bar is BLINDING! I almost feel for those pesky deer....almost. the LED bar throws a LOT of light out front and I am considering using that on its own on certain stretches of my drive just for ****z-n-giggles to try it out. all the way at the bottom is the resulting damage which prompted this change.

low beams-


high beams-


led only-


and my after deer before light bar damage pic-
 

Fix_Until_Broke

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Location
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA
TDI
03 Jetta
I'm curious to see how you like it mounted so low. I'm suspecting that there is a lot of reflection off the ground close up which actually makes it hard to see farther.

That's my biggest issue with the light bar on my car - I don't need more light in the first 100ft, the headlights do a good job in that range. I want more light between 100 and 1000 feet.

I'd like to get a "hyperspot" version of my light, but can't bring myself to spend the money on it.
 

nokivasara

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Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Location
Sweden @ Lat 61N
TDI
Tiguan 4-motion, Golf mk7
I'm curious to see how you like it mounted so low. I'm suspecting that there is a lot of reflection off the ground close up which actually makes it hard to see farther.
That's my biggest issue with the light bar on my car - I don't need more light in the first 100ft, the headlights do a good job in that range. I want more light between 100 and 1000 feet.
I'd like to get a "hyperspot" version of my light, but can't bring myself to spend the money on it.
The light bars have evolved and the newest versions have individual lenses for each led which makes a huge difference in how far they throw the light. They point the light straight ahead so there should be less glare on the road, I think.
My 7" LED spot lights on the Transit put out 1 Lux @ 251m, which is on par with most of the (reflector type) light bars, and while that is just about enough there is too much light close to the car IMO, making it hard for the eyes to focus further up the road.
It all depends on the roads where you drive, slow and twisty roads calls for shorter range and vice versa.
So get a light bar with reflectors if you want much light right infront of the car and a light bar with lenses for a longer range.

Big 9" spot lights with HID's turns night into day, BTDT went for leds anyway :D
 
Last edited:

bennybmn

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Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Location
Long Island, NY
TDI
(Formerly) '11 Jetta 6 speed, Alltrack 6MT
I like the idea of a low mounted bar! Sure there are times when it's just going to hit the road as you come up to an abrupt rise or something, but when it snows it's nice to NOT have the headlights just lighting up the flakes right in your line of sight. That's what I love about the euro switch, I can just run fogs...
 

Mdub707

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Location
Richfield Springs NY
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
That light output looks pretty dismal honestly. Compared to the others I've seen. I'm sure the grill is blocking a lot of it, but even still. The cheap-o lights on Amazon and Ebay just don't have the output of the top name bars either, but for the money invest, I'd probably do the same you did. I've thought about putting my 20" bar on my ALH as well, just because I drive in a lot of low light back road situations too. I contemplated mounting mine on the roof rack though. Or getting the single width lights to put between the grill instead of behind it.
 

MaroonB4

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Location
Central Texas
TDI
2011 JSW with three pedals
my phone just doesn't do the actual light output justice. i think my lower mounting height affects my downrange lighting, but i can sure see those deer all over the side of the road for a 100 yards. i ended up changing my switch out with just an indicator light and have the bar wired to turn on when the high beams come on. the high beam/light bar combo have the best long/short/wide light pattern for my needs.
 

nokivasara

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Location
Sweden @ Lat 61N
TDI
Tiguan 4-motion, Golf mk7
I just mounted a 20", 60W single row cree LED light bar in the lower grille on our mk5 Golf.
It's not very bright but widens the beam compared to stock high beams.
It's nice that it's barely visible behind the grille, I'm used to big spot lights so this is very stealth indeed :)
 

TNguy

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Joined
Sep 22, 2015
Location
USA
TDI
2005 Jetta BEW 5 speed
Mounted my 20" 126W light bar similar to the OP's this weekend. Love it so far. I have mine aimed more in front instead of on the ground. Works excellent lighting up the road and even the sides of the road.

Only problem I have is that when it's on, most of my radio stations pick up lots of static. The static goes away as soon as it's turned off. Battery is a month old and the alternator test perfect. I had planned on wiring it to my high beams, but I not until I get the static problem fixed.

Any ideas?

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jayb79

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 20, 2000
Location
Exeter,NH
LEDs do not cause the static.
It is actually caused by the driver for the LEDs. It is an electronic voltage regulator of sorts that sends the correct amount of current to the LEDs. LED bulbs only need about 3 volts each, some of the cheaper light bars will wire the LEDs in series so that each "bank" of LEDs gets about 13-14 volts and no driver is used so no static.
 

TNguy

Banned
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Sep 22, 2015
Location
USA
TDI
2005 Jetta BEW 5 speed
So all I need is a filter? Sounds simple enough

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TNguy

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USA
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2005 Jetta BEW 5 speed
What other solution do you suggest?

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TNguy

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USA
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2005 Jetta BEW 5 speed
I only have static when I turn on the light bar. It doesn't matter if my headlights are on or off

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jayb79

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 20, 2000
Location
Exeter,NH
This seems to be a very common problem with cheap LED products.
I have done a little bit of searching and found this:
" I bought 2 ferrite clamps or as some call them Ferrite chokes on e-bay, I got the clamp on style and made sure that the size was good enough for me to wrap the 12vdc power wire twice thru the Clamp,( note the wires have to be snug in the clamp or they will not properly filter the RF out.) I also did this for the ground/negative wire. I did this as close to the light as possible. I than tested and No longer do I have Static on my radio and the scope shows minimum hi frequency in the lines.
I hope this helps you guys out."
Keep in mind the above statement is done by putting a separate choke on both power lines, it won't work if you put both positive and negative threw the same choke.

It works for some people but did not help some others, all you can do is give it try.
 

jmaziarz

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Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Location
Tamworth, NH
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Would it be possible to wire this harness up to a euro-switch rather than use the toggle that comes with it?
 

eddieleephd

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Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Battle Ground, Wa
TDI
2002 jetta Wagon
Would it be possible to wire this harness up to a euro-switch rather than use the toggle that comes with it?
Yes, but there's a small catch.
I would never just add a load to a circuit. You want to power a relay of the battery for the lights and switch it on with the Euro switch.
LED doesn't draw a tremendous amount of power, however, power is accumulative.

One wire off the switch, or wire from switch, to the relay, relay to ground. Then wire from battery to relay, relay to light bar, then light bar to ground.

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jmaziarz

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Location
Tamworth, NH
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
One wire off the switch, or wire from switch, to the relay, relay to ground. Then wire from battery to relay, relay to light bar, then light bar to ground.
I’m such a noob with this kind of stuff. I have this kit from ECS that includes a relay and harness for their fog light kit (see https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-parts/bumper-fog-light-kit-with-euro-switch/1jo998011/). Unfortunately both fog lights were destroyed by a load of gravel that fell off a truck I was behind. Anyway, could that relay be used as you describe? Thanks for the info!
 
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