Fold back spottie mount on tray roll bar idea

[ausyota]

I am currently building my Lux tray and I am going to run 4 lightforce 170 spotties with HID globes in them on the rollbar. I was thinking of making a fold back mount for when driving down tight overgrown tracks so they dont get smashed off.

At first I was just thinking of a hinge with a spring loaded pin to lock it into place but that requires getting out to fold them back.
After watching too much "Monster Garage" I have thought of using some sort of ram to make it auto from an in cab switch.

So I am think either a air ram or an electric actuator.
Not sure if I am just asking for more leaks and unreliability in the OBA if I use air power.
Anyone know where I can find an electric actuator? I was thinking maybe custom car audio install shop?

Whatever I design it has to hold enough pressure against the light mounting base to stop it vibrating when driving.

Anyone got any sugestions?
Anyone got this type of setup want to point me in the right direction
I know I have seen some utes with this type of thing on here.
Paul.

[droopypete]

Central locking solonoids can be handy, but not a lot of force and not much travel but realy cheap, electric seat motors are great and quite gutsy with good travel but exxy, if you don't need so much grunt but do need more travel, electric car aerials are the go, if you realy want to go pneumatic (huge wank factor points ) have a browse here,
http://www.festo.com

Peter.
PS, sounds like a lot of work just to be diferent.

[chunderlicious]

hw about having it spring loaded in the up position and then an actuator/electric anteana to pull it down.

or run it on a gear and lever system.....map it out with mechano and then built it bigger and stronger.

or get off your ass and fold em down, whatever is easiest for you

[Nev]

you could even make it do the air locker pressure release sound when it goes up or down

[HIL01X]

Mine are hinged on bolts that are done up tight so if they hit something they fold back then I have to push them back up.
Not very exciting at all really but then I'm a cheapskate
I've seen comp trucks with air rams and they are pretty trick.

[Patroler]

Yea i thought about doing this except i don't have roof lights.... I set up a pnematic actuator for the engage/disengage on my pto winch, runs off the air locker compressor and insted of using a solinoid (imo too much complexity)
i just got a pnematic mechanical switch, i use smc 4mm od plastic lines and the push fittings, 1 line goes into switch two come out - one to each port on the cylinder.
When you flick the switch it just applies pressure to one port and releases the pressure from the other, flick it the other way and it just swaps - holding the cylinder in or out.
The only problem i could see is if your compressor died your lights would fold down - under gravity, unless you used a spring - over centre style or another cylinder to engage a locking pin.

[Tooheys]

I made a similar system for rollbar mounted aerials on my old falcon ute but what i had was basically a double pinned rotating hub with 1 pin for the up position and the other for the down. Both pins were spring loaded and the one that held it up had a bike cable attatched to it which ran to a lever in the cab.

So if you went into a car park pull the lever and both aerials flop down, although you had to get out to put them back up. Ive thought of doing this for lights but have 2 small gas struts so the lights flop back gently.

[midnight]

Why not:
1. Put a slightly bigger bar over the rollbar (where he lights will go), put your lights on somehow, but donot go through the 2 bars.

2. Fix identical cogs to each end of the bigger bar (the one with the lights on it).

3. Down on the | | bars behind the cab, fab up brackets to mount motors (with cogs on them and make them aligned with the cogs on the bar).

4. Put chains around the cogs (Like a bike )

5. Obtain a 3-way (Forwards, off, backwards) switch, oodles n oodles of wiring.

6. Wire up the motors to the switch > power....but wire one of the motors in revers so that it goes the same way (if that works with all motors...reversing the polarities)

7. Weld bars onto the outer edge of the big bar at any angle behind the ligts, so that when gong down, they 'tink' the back of th cab and the lights dont hit the cab........

8. Fold lights down whilst driving at night with d%^khead behind you on high-beam, and 'accidently' trn the lights on



7

[midnight]

Why not:
1. Put a slightly bigger bar over the rollbar (where he lights will go), put your lights on somehow, but donot go through the 2 bars.

2. Fix identical cogs to each end of the bigger bar (the one with the lights on it).

3. Down on the | | bars behind the cab, fab up brackets to mount motors (with cogs on them and make them aligned with the cogs on the bar).

4. Put chains around the cogs (Like a bike )

5. Obtain a 3-way (Forwards, off, backwards) switch, oodles n oodles of wiring.

6. Wire up the motors to the switch > power....but wire one of the motors in revers so that it goes the same way (if that works with all motors...reversing the polarities)

7. Weld bars onto the outer edge of the big bar at any angle behind the ligts, so that when gong down, they 'tink' the back of th cab and the lights dont hit the cab........

8. Fold lights down whilst driving at night with d%^khead behind you on high-beam, and 'accidently' trn the lights on



7

[Cliffy]

Just go to the local hyrdaulic shop.... smc air ram with an internal spring http://www.smcworld.com/2002/bp_e/content/init0405.html additional arb solinoid too easy. Add the ability to pin in the up and down position incase air fails....

There was a photo a couple of years back with this set up on a comp rig. I think it was in 4x4 monthly and taking a punt that it was the 8 day????

[Cheezy4x4]

We have got 2 trays we have done at work ATM with fold down lights.
I will get Mock to take some pics on Monday and post them up.

[ausyota]

Great ideas everyone.
And Cheezy you da man, pics would be good. So yours are with air ram?
Those spring return rams look the go only need air for one way and the spring does the other.
Paul.

[Cheezy4x4]

On these ones no as they are comp rigs and rely on things working everytime, not to say the air rams dont work but things go wrong (air comp not working, air line broken, mud sticks ect ect). Bling may be good but if you loose because of it then its bad . The manual ones we do have a rotating bar that the lights attach to.

[bru21]

i would use an over centre gas strut. it keeps them up goes over centre then keeps them down. pnumatic rams are good and relialable but imo not worth the $400 odd it would cost. there is not a suitable electric method available ALL will be far less reliable than a ram.

on the same point if you couldn't be bothered to fold down lights, lock hubs, work with 3 pedals and 2 levers you could automate it all and simply buy a tarago! that said i have an air ram i was going to use but ended up making the lights fixed as the exo was already too high for the shed!

[just cruizin']

http://www.linak.com.au/

Have 12V linear and rotary actuators that would be of use. They are a little axxy but a lot less hassel then air. We used they in an Ambulance and they were quite sturdy, really depends on the geometry of the setup on how they handle the vibration.

[jeep97tj]

Another cool idea that I have been thinking about for the buggy was to mount the lights on a slide and use a electric window mechanism to slide them up and down, this would keep mud and sticks from sitting on top of the lenses, as it would if they were flipped back.
My second option which i didnt thint was as cool was to hinge them like u say and use the electric window set up to flip them up and down, but the good thing about doing it that way is u can adjust them from in the cab to point up higher or down lower depending it u have a load in the back, so the second way might be better for u.

Air would only work if u had a stopper and when the lights were fully up they would be pushing hard against that stoper, because as u know air is compressable so they would vibrate when driving and point up the faster u go and start to point down as u slow down, and that would suck.